Building work without a permit in Portugal: what you can do without a license or comunicação prévia in 2026

The RJUE (Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação, Decree-Law 555/99, Portugal's planning and building code) has three ways of controlling building work: the license (permit), the comunicação prévia and, for the use of buildings, the comunicação prévia com prazo (prior notice with a waiting period). Article 6 lists the works that need none of them. These are known as works exempt from prior control, and if a project falls under comunicação prévia you cannot choose a license instead (article 4(6)).

Under the wording in force since October 1, 2026, the following are exempt from a license and from comunicação prévia:

• Maintenance work: work that keeps the building as it was, such as restoration, repairs or cleaning.
• Interior alterations to buildings or units that do not change the exterior and do not affect the structure or, if they do, come with a structural design and a statement of responsibility.
• Works of minor urban relevance, explained in the next section.
• Splitting off a single plot (destaque) under the conditions in article 6(4) and (5); see destaque or subdivision.
• Reconstruction work, which restores the building to its último antecedente válido (last valid precedent), without adding floor area or volume.
• Operations preceded by a favorable full PIP (pedido de informação prévia, a formal planning inquiry) covering every applicable matter, except the use or change of use; see PIP or licensing.
• Works ordered by the council under article 89(2) and (3), the demolition of illegal buildings and the maintenance of listed buildings with a favorable opinion from the heritage authority.

The RJUE defines works of minor urban relevance (obras de escassa relevância urbanística) as works or technical installations that, because of their nature, size or location, have little planning impact (article 2(l)). Article 6-A sets out the national list, and all the limits apply at once: a 12 m² outbuilding, or a 9 m² one right on the sidewalk, no longer fits item (a).

The list does not apply to listed buildings or buildings in the process of being listed, to buildings within listed ensembles or sites, or, except for replacing windows, to buildings in their protection zones (article 6-A(2)). If the work is exempt, the land registry description can be updated with a declaration of works of minor urban relevance (article 6-A(4)).

Remodeling the kitchen or bathroom, replacing floors, redoing the plumbing or taking down a non-load-bearing partition are, as a rule, exempt works. The law separates two cases. Painting, repairing or replacing like for like is maintenance; if it is purely interior, you do not even have to tell the council (article 80-A(3)). Changing the layout is an interior alteration: still exempt, but you must report the start of work.

The exemption ends once the work can be seen from outside, for example a new window, a change to the roof or to the facade, or when it removes facade tiles (azulejos), which always requires a license (article 4(2)(i)). If the work touches the structure, such as opening up a load-bearing wall, it is only exempt with a structural design and a statement of responsibility from a qualified professional confirming that, taken as a whole, the works improve or do not harm the building's stability, plus a seismic retrofit design where the law requires one. These documents are filed, for the record only, with the notice of start of work (article 6(1)(b)).

Splitting a house into two homes, or joining two units, goes beyond interior work: it affects the use and, in an apartment building, the propriedade horizontal (condominium ownership) deed. In an apartment, also check the condominium rules before you hire a contractor.

The most common questions are not written into the law under the names people use every day. The table applies the national rules to the cases that come up most; your municipality's regulation can widen or narrow some of these answers, as the next section explains.

The RJUE requires each municipality to specify, in its planning and building regulation, which works count as minor urban relevance (article 3(2)(a)). The regulation can classify other works as such (article 6-A(1)(i)) and set limits beyond those for outbuildings, walls and greenhouses (article 6-A(3)). It cannot create procedural rules or require documents that the law and the portaria (ministerial order) do not provide for (article 3(3)). Regulations are published in the 2nd series of the Diário da República (the official gazette) and on each council's website.

Two recent regulations from northern Portugal, both approved before the 2026 revision, show how far this leeway goes and why they need careful reading:

• Ponte de Lima (Regulation 1105/2025, September 29): it allows boundary walls up to 2.0 m that do not border the public road, raising existing roadside walls to 2.0 m with railings, mesh or hedges, irrigation tanks up to 36 m², gates up to 1.2 m wide in roadside walls, and changing facade colors within the municipal color palette outside the historic center. On the other hand, it only allows one exempt outbuilding per property.
• Chaves (Regulation 861/2025, July 17): it allows tanks up to 1.2 m high and 10 m², open-air barbecues and ovens up to 3 m² and 1.8 m high, accessibility ramps within the yard, and light farm greenhouses outside urban boundaries, and it expressly excludes swimming pools from play and leisure equipment.
• Outdated wording: both regulations refer to article 6 of the RJUE “as currently worded”, but Ponte de Lima's still copies the 2024 exemption for extensions that do not raise the facade, which the RJUE no longer provides. Read your concelho's (municipality's) regulation and confirm the current reading with the council before you start.

The exemption removes the procedure, not the rules. Article 6(8) requires exempt works to comply with municipal plans, public-interest easements and restrictions, technical building rules and heritage protection, and the council can inspect them at any time (article 93). In practice, check the following:

• PDM and subdivisions: an outbuilding or lean-to roof takes up footprint and can use up the ratio allowed by the PDM (Plano Diretor Municipal, the municipal master plan); setbacks from the property lines still apply. In a subdivision (loteamento), the terms of its title bind every work on the lot (article 4-A(9)). See how much you can build on your land.
• Land-use restrictions: in the RAN (Reserva Agrícola Nacional, the national farmland reserve), the REN (Reserva Ecológica Nacional, the national ecological reserve), water domain areas or next to roads, their own rules also apply to exempt works and may require an opinion from, or notice to, another authority. See land in RAN or REN.
• Technical rules: the repeal of the RGEU (the 1951 general building regulation) only takes effect once the law setting new technical building rules comes into force (article 25 of Decree-Law 10/2024, as amended in 2026), and safety, health and structural rules apply to any work.
• Condominium: works that change the architectural line or the look of the building, such as enclosed balconies or facade changes, need approval from the condominium meeting by a two-thirds majority of the building's total value (article 1422(3) of the Portuguese Civil Code).
• Neighbors: windows, doors, balconies or terraces that look directly onto the neighboring property must be at least 1.5 meters from it (article 1360 of the Portuguese Civil Code), whatever the planning procedure.

Exempt does not mean silent. At least five days before work starts, including on exempt works, the developer must notify the council and name whoever is carrying out the work, with the information required by Portaria 320/2026/1 (articles 80-A(1) and 6(12)). Only maintenance carried out entirely indoors is excused (article 80-A(3)). Within the same deadline, a notice on the approved form must be posted on site, visible from the public road (article 80-A(5)). The notification lapses if work does not start within one year (article 80-A(6)).

Some exempt works may involve fees, land transfers or a bond, payable before the start-of-work notice (article 6(13)). If the work needs scaffolding or a dumpster on the public road, occupying public space is handled separately under municipal regulations. And if one project combines exempt works with works that need a license, the exempt ones can go ahead as long as they meet the applicable rules (article 6(14)).

After the work, update the records. An outbuilding or extension that changes the property's value must be declared to the tax office (Finanças) on the IMI Modelo 1 form (IMI is the municipal property tax) within 60 days of completion (article 13(1)(d) of the IMI Code). The land registry description can be updated with the declaration of works of minor urban relevance.

Between 2024 and September 2026, the Simplex Urbanístico reform (Decree-Law 10/2024) widened the exemptions. Decree-Law 108/2026 of May 29, in force since October 1, 2026, a date set by Decree-Law 155-B/2026, reversed some of them and fine-tuned others. Be wary of municipal regulations, forms and websites that still describe the 2024 rules.

If the work did not fit any exemption, doing it without a license or comunicação prévia is an administrative offense (contraordenação). Article 98 of the RJUE sets the fines (coimas) in the table; attempts and negligence are also punishable, and the council sets the actual amount within these ranges. An exempt work can also be fined if it starts without notifying the council first.

On top of the fine, the council must restore legality, even for an exempt work that breaks the rules (article 102(1)(e)). It can issue a stop-work order (embargo), which halts the work and bars water, power and gas supply to the site (articles 102-B and 103), order corrections or order demolition. Demolition cannot be ordered if the work can be legalized, and the owner must first be heard for 15 days (article 106).

Paying the fine does not legalize the work. If it can meet the current rules, especially the PDM, the route is legalization under article 102-A, explained in our guide to how building legalization works; an old outbuilding may have another solution, described in legalizing an old house and annexes. Since October 1, 2026, the deed of sale must state whether the property has a planning title. If you are unsure which route applies, a prior information request requires the council to state which procedure the work falls under (article 16(4)); if the work is already built, Apto Group handles the file through its building legalization service.

The official sources are in Portuguese. Check the version in force before preparing a notice, project or application.

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