Portuguese building terms explained for owners

Portuguese building law has its own vocabulary, and most of it comes from one decree-law, the RJUE. This guide shows how the main terms fit together and where each one is defined, so you can read a permit, a plan or a contractor's quote with confidence.

Which law applies now

The legal regime for urbanisation and building (RJUE, Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99) was republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026. A later decree-law set its entry into force for 1 October 2026. The new text applies to procedures started after that date and to earlier ones still in the initial screening stage (art. 12.º of Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026), so ask the council which version applies to a file already under way.

The three routes for building work

Licença (licence): the council approves the project, and its silence past the legal deadline counts as approval (deferimento tácito). The deadline is 20 days for building works, 30 for urbanisation works and 45 for subdivisions.
Comunicação prévia (prior notification): you file the project, pay the fees and start, with no permit to wait for. It applies where a plan or subdivision already fixes the main rules, and in some other cases.
Exempt works: conservation, interior alterations that do not touch the exterior or the stability, rebuilding, and minor works (obras de escassa relevância urbanística). You still follow the plans and technical rules, and tell the council before you start.

The old licença de utilização no longer exists under that name. Using a finished building now depends on a comunicação prévia, or on a comunicação prévia com prazo when no recent works lead to the use.

The people involved

The dono da obra is the owner who commissions and pays for the work.
The empreiteiro is the contractor, who must be qualified by IMPIC.
The diretor de obra directs the works on site and keeps the livro de obra.
The authors of the projects sign a termo de responsabilidade saying the legal and technical rules were followed.

Words for size and plots

Decreto Regulamentar n.º 5/2019 fixes the standard meaning of measurements used in municipal plans, such as cércea (building height), altura da fachada, área de implantação, área de construção and cota de soleira. It also defines the types of dwelling, such as moradia, and plot words such as prédio and lote. A destaque detaches one parcel without a full subdivision (loteamento), under conditions set in the RJUE.

The building contract

The Civil Code regulates the empreitada, the contract in which a contractor builds for a price. The owner may supervise at their own cost and must check and accept the finished work. Defects have to be reported within 30 days of discovery. For buildings, the contractor answers for defects and collapse that appear within five years of delivery, or within the guarantee period agreed in the contract.

What varies by municipality

Each municipality sets its own urban fees and the formula for bonds. It can also list further minor works that need no permit, and decide which operations have an impact similar to a subdivision and so require land cessions. Check the municipal regulation for your property.