Building Work You Can Do without a Licence in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You own a house or flat in Portugal and plan repairs, a shed, a wall, or solar panels.
• You want to know whether the town hall must approve the work first.
• You bought a property with an extension or outbuilding and want to check it is legal.

Not for you if: you want to know whether a home may lawfully be lived in. Read Understanding the Licença de Utilização instead.

Many small home works in Portugal need no permission from the town hall (câmara municipal). Repairs, interior changes that leave the structure and outside alone, and some minor works are exempt. That list includes a shed of up to 10 m² and 2.2 m high, a boundary wall up to 1.8 m away from the road, and solar panels within your roof area. The exemptions do not apply to listed buildings or homes in their protection zones. A swimming pool is not exempt. Your own council's rules may allow more, so check them first.

The three levels of council control

The law sorts building work into three groups:

• Licence (licença). The full procedure, for example for new buildings in areas without a detailed plan, or any work on a listed building.
• Prior communication (comunicação prévia). A lighter procedure. You file the project with the council before you start. Since 2024, if this route applies, you cannot choose the licence instead.
• No prior control (isenção de controlo prévio). You need neither a licence nor a prior communication. This guide is about this group.

Exempt works still have to follow the planning rules and building standards (see below). Exempt means you do not ask permission first. It does not mean anything goes.

Works that need no permission

These works are exempt from council control:

• Maintenance and repairs (obras de conservação). The law expects owners to carry out maintenance at least once every eight years.
• Interior changes that improve, do not harm, or do not affect the structure. They must not change the building's height, the shape of the façades or roof, or remove façade tiles (azulejos).
• Minor works (obras de escassa relevância urbanística). These have their own list, below.
• Rebuilding or extending without raising the façade height, even if you add a floor inside or gain floor area. This has applied since 1 January 2024.
• Works the council has ordered to fix poor safety or hygiene conditions.
• Works covered by a favourable prior information decision from the council, where it covered the main planning points.
• Demolishing an illegal building.

If interior works do affect the structure, for example removing a load-bearing wall, a qualified technician must sign a responsibility statement (termo de responsabilidade). It declares that the works, taken as a whole, improve or do not harm the structure. You do not file it, but an inspector can ask to see it. Keep it with your property papers.

Minor works: the measurements

The shed height test is either 2.2 m or the height of the ground floor of the main house. The 10 m² limit and the rule about the road apply either way.

Replacing old single glazing with double glazing is usually exempt, as long as the frames look the same from outside.

When the exemptions do not apply

Listed buildings and protection zones. The minor works list does not apply to buildings that are listed, or being listed, as of national or public interest. It also does not apply to buildings in the protection zone around a listed building, or within a listed ensemble or site. Work on a listed building needs a licence, even maintenance. In a protection zone, building, extending, changing the outside, or demolishing needs a licence. Protection zones are often larger than residents expect, so ask the council before you start.

Your council's own rules. Each council has a municipal building regulation (regulamento municipal de urbanização e edificação). It can add other works to the exempt list. It can also set wider limits for outbuildings, walls, and greenhouses than the national ones. The national list is the starting point. Your council's regulation tells you what applies on your street.

Exempt does not mean anything goes

Exempt works must still respect:

• the municipal master plan and any other land-use plans;
• easements and public-interest restrictions, such as road or river setbacks;
• technical building standards;
• the rules protecting cultural heritage;
• the national agricultural reserve (Reserva Agrícola Nacional). If your land is inside it, a separate prior communication may be needed.

A shed that needs no licence can still be illegal if it breaks your council's plan. Ask the council's planning department, or look at the plan online, before you build.

What you may still have to file

• A notice for a wind turbine. Before installing one, notify the council. Give its location, height and blade radius, its noise level, and a signed statement that you know and follow the rules. Solar panels need no notice.
• The structural statement for interior works, if they affect the structure (see above). Keep it; you do not file it.
• A prior communication before using a new building or unit. If exempt works create a new building or a new unit, you must file a prior communication before anyone uses it. It confirms the use is allowed and the building is fit for it. You can start using it 10 days after filing, unless the council rejects it or orders an inspection in that time. It goes through the council's online planning platform.
• An update to the land registry (optional). You can update the property's registry description by declaring that minor works were done. It is worth doing before you sell. See Getting a Certidão Permanente (Land Registry Certificate).

Common works that are not exempt

• A swimming pool linked to your house needs a prior communication.
• A change of use of a building or unit, even without works, needs a prior communication. An example is turning a shop into a home.
• Rebuilding that raises the façade height needs a licence.
• Work that removes façade tiles (azulejos) needs a licence, whether or not the façade faces the street.

Step by step before you start

1. Check whether the property is listed or in a protection zone. Ask the council's planning department.
2. Read your council's municipal building regulation. Look for its list of minor works and any wider limits.
3. Check the land-use plan. Confirm the work is allowed where your property sits, including any agricultural reserve.
4. Measure against the limits. Height, area, distance from the road, and roof area for panels.
5. Get the paperwork you need. A structural statement for interior work, or a notice for a wind turbine.
6. Keep dated records. Photos, invoices, and delivery notes show when the work was done.
7. Update the land registry when you finish, if the work changed the property.

Since 5 January 2026, every council must use the national online platform for planning procedures. Ask your council how to file on it.

If something was built without permission

The council must act when works were done without the permission they needed. It can stop the work, order corrections, order demolition, or stop the building being used. It can also legalise the work.

Legalisation (legalização). If the work can be brought into line with the current rules, the council tells the owner to legalise it by a deadline. If no further building is needed, you do not have to supply several documents a new project needs, such as the works schedule, construction insurance, or the site logbook.

Some technical standards can be waived where meeting them today is impossible or unreasonable. This applies if the work met the standards in force when it was built. You must prove that date, so keep dated evidence.

Before you start, you can ask the council how the legalisation should proceed. The council must answer within 15 days. If you do nothing, the council can legalise the work itself and charge its fees, but only where no structural calculations are needed.

Fines. The council sets each fine case by case, within these ranges:

Attempts and negligence are also punishable. The council president decides the case, and the fine goes to the council.

If you are buying a property with extensions or outbuildings, compare what is built with the registry and the council's records. See Buying Property in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Planning rules vary by council; check with your câmara municipal before you start work.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

• Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa, Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação (Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99), consolidated text, first page: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=625&tabela=leis (article 3 municipal regulations; article 4 licence and prior communication, including 4(2)(d) listed buildings and protection zones, 4(2)(e) and (i), 4(4)(j) pools, 4(4)(k) change of use, 4(6) no choice of licence; article 6 exempt works and 6(8) rules that still apply, 6(11) structural statement; article 6-A minor works, limits, heritage exception, municipal limits, registry update, wind turbine notice; article 8-A platform compulsory from 5 January 2026; the consolidated text does not yet show the August 2026 changes to the use rules), checked 2 October 2026
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026, of 29 May: https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2026/05/10400/0024600377.pdf (amended rules on using new buildings and units after works, in force 3 August 2026: prior communication, use 10 days after filing, council may reject or inspect), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa, Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação, consolidated text, second page: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=625&tabela=leis&ficha=101 (article 89 eight-year maintenance duty and council orders; article 98 fines and attempt and negligence; article 102 measures to restore legality; article 102-A legalisation, 15-day reply, council legalisation without structural calculations), checked 2 October 2026
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024, de 8 de janeiro (Simplex Urbanístico): https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2024/01/00500/0000500052.pdf (changes to articles 6 and 6-A in force 1 January 2024; revocation of article 98(1)(a)), checked 2 October 2026

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.