Understanding the Ficha Técnica da Habitação in Portugal
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What the ficha técnica da habitação is, which homes must have one, what changed at the deed in 2024, and how to get a second copy from your town hall.
Last verified: October 2026.
Who this is for
- You are buying a home in Portugal and want to know which documents to ask for.
- You own a home built or rebuilt since 2004 and never received its technical file.
- You want to check what a developer promised about how your home was built.
Not for you if: you want to know whether a home may lawfully be lived in. Read Understanding the Licença de Utilização instead.
The ficha técnica da habitação is a home's technical file. It describes the technical and functional features of a home as it was finished. It is required for homes built, rebuilt, extended, or altered after 30 March 2004. Older homes do not need one. Since 1 January 2024, the notary no longer has to check it at the deed, so many buyers never receive it. The law requiring it still applies. If you do not have yours, ask your town hall (câmara municipal) for a second copy.
What the ficha técnica is
The ficha técnica da habitação describes a home's technical and functional features at the moment the building work ended. It covers the building as actually built, not just as designed.
It exists to give home buyers clear information and to make the property market more transparent. It follows an official model form. The construction regulator IMPIC, the consumer authority, and the national civil engineering laboratory (LNEC) must make the model available.
Two people sign it and answer for it:
- the developer (promotor imobiliário), who must prepare it; and
- the technician responsible for the building work.
If what it says does not match what was built, both can face fines and claims for damages.
Which homes must have one
You should have a ficha técnica if your home was built, or rebuilt, extended, or altered, after 30 March 2004.
You will not have one if your home:
- was built before the national building regulations of 1951 (Regulamento Geral das Edificações Urbanas) took effect; or
- was built after 1951 but already had a use licence (licença de utilização), or had applied for one, by 30 March 2004.
So an older flat that has not been substantially rebuilt has no ficha técnica, and that is not a defect. For a newer home, a missing ficha is worth asking about.
The developer must prepare it, not the construction company, if they are different businesses. The developer must also deposit a copy at the town hall that handled the building's licensing.
What changed in 2024
Until 31 December 2023, a notary could not sign the deed for a home without checking that the ficha técnica existed. The buyer received it at the deed.
From 1 January 2024, that check was removed. The rule that forced it was repealed as part of the government's simplification of planning and building rules (the Simplex Urbanístico). The aim was to cut steps at the sale that added no value.
What did not change:
- the developer's duty to prepare the ficha técnica;
- the duty to deposit a copy at the town hall;
- the seller's or estate agent's duty to make a copy available when the home is for sale;
- the developer's and technician's responsibility for what it says.
The result is a gap. Nobody checks at the deed, so the file often does not reach the buyer.
The government decided in 2017 to move this information into an electronic building work logbook (livro de obra eletrónico), with a view to ending the ficha técnica. Until a new law replaces it, the ficha técnica still applies.
Your rights as a buyer
When a home is for sale, the seller, the estate agency, or whoever markets it must make a copy of the ficha técnica available. If the final version does not exist yet, they must show the provisional one. Parts that identify private individuals by name can be left out of your copy.
Ask for it before you sign the promissory contract (CPCV). Nobody will offer it now unless you ask. If a seller of a post-2004 home cannot produce one, that tells you something about the building's paperwork. See Buying Property in Portugal.
How to get a second copy
If you have lost the ficha técnica, or never received it, you can ask for a second copy (segunda via). The owner must keep the file in good condition. If it is lost or destroyed, the owner can ask the developer or the town hall for a second copy.
The town hall route usually works even years later, because the developer had to deposit a copy there.
- Find the right town hall. It is the câmara municipal where the building was licensed, normally the one for the area where the home is.
- Have the property details ready. Use the council's request form. It helps to have your ID, the address, and the property's tax registration details from the caderneta predial. If you know the licensing process number, include it.
- Apply. Most councils take requests online, at the counter, or by post. The owner, the developer, or a professional selling the home can usually apply.
- Pay the fee. Each council sets its own fee in its fee table, so check locally.
- Receive the copy. Timing varies by council.
An example. Porto's town hall issues the second copy on the spot at the counter, sent by email, when its records are digital. Online requests take about 5 working days.
If the home was built after March 2004 and the developer followed the rules, a copy should be in the council's files. If the council has none, ask the developer.
If the information is wrong
The developer and the technician answer for what the ficha técnica says. Including information that does not match the home's real features is an offence. They can also be liable to pay damages.
If you think your ficha técnica is wrong, you can complain to IMPIC, the public institute for the construction and real estate markets. Send:
- the evidence you have;
- the full details of the developer;
- the location of the building and the flat or house;
- a copy of the ficha técnica;
- the date the use licence was requested from the town hall, and the date it was issued.
Get the ficha técnica before any dispute about defects. A complaint about walls, pipes, or windows is stronger when you have the signed description of what should be there.
How it differs from other property documents
| Document | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Ficha técnica da habitação | How the home was built, as finished |
| Caderneta predial | The tax record and tax value |
| Certidão permanente | Who owns it, and any mortgages or charges |
| Licença de utilização | That it may lawfully be used as a home |
| Energy certificate | How energy efficient it is |
The energy assessor may also ask for the ficha técnica when rating your home.
What to do
- Buying a post-2004 home: ask for the ficha técnica in writing before the CPCV.
- Bought after January 2024 and never got one: request a second copy from the town hall.
- Found defects: get the ficha técnica first, then raise the defect with the developer.
- Renovating: keep your own records of the work you commission, because the file describes the home as first finished.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Council procedures and fees vary; check with your câmara municipal before you act.
Sources
This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.
- IMPIC (Instituto dos Mercados Públicos, do Imobiliário e da Construção), Ficha técnica da habitação, frequently asked questions: https://www.impic.pt/impic/pt-pt/perguntas-frequentes/ficha-tecnica-da-habitacao (definition; created by Decreto-Lei n.º 68/2004 and model in Portaria n.º 817/2004; required after 30 March 2004 and exemptions; developer prepares, developer and technician answer for it; copy at points of sale except personal identification data; complaints to IMPIC and what to send; IMPIC, consumer authority, and LNEC publish the model), checked 2 October 2026
- Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024, de 8 de janeiro: https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2024/01/00500/0000500052.pdf (article 24(d) repeals article 9 of Decreto-Lei n.º 68/2004; article 26(f) end of the duty to present the ficha técnica at transfers from 1 January 2024; preamble on simplifying the sale), checked 2 October 2026
- Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa, Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024, consolidated text: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=3737&tabela=leis (Simplex Urbanístico reform), checked 2 October 2026
- Câmara Municipal do Porto, Emissão de segunda via de ficha técnica de habitação: https://portaldomunicipe.cm-porto.pt/pt/-/emiss%C3%A3o-de-segunda-via-de-ficha-t%C3%A9cnica-de-habita%C3%A7%C3%A3o-1 (second copy from the developer or council if lost or destroyed; online in 5 working days or on the spot at the counter; fee in the municipal fee table), checked 2 October 2026
- Câmara Municipal de Vagos, Ficha Técnica de Habitação, emissão de 2.ª via: https://www.cm-vagos.pt/cmvagos/uploads/document/file/4969/p0301_cira_mgc_so_f3_1_m_vagos_fs077v00_fth_2a_via_v01.pdf (scope and exemptions; deposit at the council; owner keeps it and may request a second copy; who may apply; online, counter, or post; municipal fee), checked 2 October 2026
- Câmara Municipal de Coimbra, Ficha Técnica de Habitação, depósito: https://servicosonline.cm-coimbra.pt/GetRes.asp?docPop=FS%2FMOD023_Ficha_tecnica_habitacao.pdf (developer must deposit a copy for each building or unit at the council), checked 2 October 2026
- Portal da Habitação (IHRU), Ficha técnica da habitação: https://www.portaldahabitacao.pt/ficha-tecnica-da-habitacao (Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 76/2017 on moving the information to the electronic works logbook with a view to ending the ficha técnica), checked 2 October 2026
Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.
