What does projeto de arquitetura mean in Portugal?
The projeto de arquitetura is the set of drawings and description of a building's design, which the council assesses first. For a licence it is checked only against a fixed list of legal rules, such as plans, easements, restrictions, permitted use and infrastructure capacity.
- Rests on
- RJUE, art. 20.º n.º 1 and n.º 3, art. 14.º n.º 2 b)
- 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
- The council has 30 days to decide on it, counted from the end of the initial screening or from the last outside opinion (art. 20.º n.º 3).
- Exterior appearance is judged only where municipal plans or regulations set detailed rules (art. 20.º n.º 1 h)).
- If the specialist projects were not filed with the application, they are due within six months of the approval (art. 20.º n.º 4).
- Only technicians registered in their professional body, and able to prove it, may sign projects (art. 10.º n.º 3).
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