What does obras de conservação mean in Portugal?
Obras de conservação are works that keep a building in the condition it had when it was built, rebuilt, extended or altered, such as restoration, repair or cleaning. They are generally exempt from licence and notification.
- Rests on
- RJUE, art. 2.º f), art. 6.º n.º 1 a) and k)
- Law
- Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99 (RJUE), as republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026
- Version
- In force since 1 October 2026 (Decreto-Lei n.º 155-B/2026)
- Official text
- data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/108/2026/05/29/p/dre/pt/pdf
- Sources
- data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/108/2026/05/29/p/dre/pt/pdf
data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/155-b/2026/07/31/p/dre/pt/pdf
data.dre.pt/eli/declretif/29-a/2026/07/27/p/dre/pt/pdf - Checked
- 2026-11-05
What it means for the owner
- Conservation work done only inside a building needs no start-of-works notice (art. 80.º-A n.º 3); other conservation work does.
- On listed buildings, conservation work is exempt only with a favourable opinion from the heritage authority, filed with the start notice (art. 6.º n.º 1 k)).
- The owner has a standing duty to carry out conservation works at least once every eight years (art. 89.º n.º 1).
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