Guimarães PDM: the plan in force, the revision approved in 2026 and how to check your plot

The Plano Diretor Municipal (PDM) is the plan that zones all the land in a municipality; the general PDM guide explains how it works. In Guimarães, the plan in force is the 1st revision, approved by the Assembleia Municipal on May 4, 2015 (Deliberação n.º 45) and published as Aviso n.º 6936/2015 in Diário da República no. 119, 2nd series, on June 22, 2015. It took effect on June 23, 2015.

The plan is made up of the regulations and annexes, the planta de ordenamento (land-use map), with noise zoning as an annex, and the planta de condicionantes (constraints map), with annexes on burned areas and wildfire hazard and on noise conflict zones (article 3). It has been amended three times, all under the special regime for regularizing business activities (RERAE); the 2019 amendment republished the full regulations. The boundaries of the REN (Reserva Ecológica Nacional, the national ecological reserve), shown on the constraints map, were published by Portaria n.º 95/2016 and amended in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

The revision began with a council decision on December 13, 2018 (Aviso n.º 1780/2019), with an estimated 18-month timeline. The draft was open for public consultation from June 4 to July 3, 2025, with an additional 14-day period opened in July. After the October 2025 local elections, the new council executive revoked, on November 24, 2025, the September 2025 decisions that had approved the response to public comments and the final draft, and it reviewed the submissions again.

The reworked draft was approved by the council on September 14, 2026, with the Socialist (PS) councillors abstaining, and by the Assembleia Municipal on September 28, 2026, with no votes against. The approved regulations take effect the day after publication in the Diário da República and repeal the 2015 PDM with its three amendments (articles 309 and 310). As of November 1, 2026, the council's "PDM em Vigor" page still lists the 2015 plan and we could not find the publication, so that is the plan that applies. Before you file an application, check the Diário da República to see whether the revision has been published.

The new plan adopts the zoning system of the RJIGT (Regime Jurídico dos Instrumentos de Gestão Territorial, the legal framework for land-use plans): land becomes either rustic or urban, and the "urbanizável" (developable) land of the 2015 plan disappears. According to the plan report of September 2026, urban land grows from 6,187.67 to 7,335.73 hectares, an extra 1,148.06 hectares (18.55%). Central areas shrink by 9.07%, largely because former developable areas that were never built on did not qualify as urban land, and low-density urban areas nearly triple.

The council also highlights land reserved for five new road links and the option to create 31 planning and management units. The figures are those of the approved draft; the version that counts is the one published in the Diário da República. The table shows the urban land categories that change most.

The council publishes the PDM on its WebSIG (sig.cm-guimaraes.pt), reached from the "Websig - mapas online" page, with modules for issuing maps, viewing the PDM in force and viewing the PDM revision. The "PDM em Vigor" page lists the notices published in the Diário da República, and the open data page offers the PDM as a WMS service for use in GIS software. The SNIT geoportal of the Direção-Geral do Território (DGT, the national land-use agency) lets you confirm the published version.

According to the council's manual, the PDM module issues maps that are valid for planning applications. The steps:

• Find the property in the PDM module, using the base maps and aerial photos.
• Outline the property with the draw-geometry tool, or upload a georeferenced DXF file with the outline from a topographic survey.
• Set the scale to 1:5000, the one the manual specifies for planning applications.
• Overlay the property on the zoning: the WebSIG shows the area of the property in each land category.
• Generate the PDF named "Planta de Ordenamento"; in the print options you can choose PDF/A, which digital applications require.
• Repeat for the constraints, turning the zoning layer off and the constraints on, and check in the revision module how the property is zoned in the new plan.

The 2015 PDM already splits land into rural and urban, but within urban land it still separates developed land from developable land (article 8). The parameters are mostly site coverage, floor area and impervious cover ratios and facade heights. The table compares the most sought-after categories with the regulations approved in 2026, which only apply once published; the guide how much can I build on my land explains the terms.

On rural land, the 2015 PDM does not allow subdivisions except for tourism developments (article 45), and in agricultural areas, which match the RAN soils (Reserva Agrícola Nacional, the national farmland reserve), any building requires prior authorization from the competent authority (article 47). See what you can build on rustic land.

In the 2015 PDM, developable areas are expansion areas that can be built on through subdivision or construction if the project does not hinder development of neighboring land, builds any missing infrastructure and meets the parameters of the category (article 84). The approved revision abolishes this category: each plot becomes urban or rustic land, and only the revision map shows which.

While the 2015 plan remains in force, article 199 of the RJIGT applies, as worded by Law 53-A/2025: the rules for developable areas in plans that have not yet adopted the new zoning rules are suspended by decision of the CCDR (the regional coordination and development commission) after hearing the municipality, and the suspension cannot be ordered if the municipality shows that the revision is nearly complete. It does not cover, among others, areas that already have urban characteristics or lots whose parameters were already set by an approved PIP or architectural design. If your plot is on developable land, ask the council or CCDR Norte whether the suspension has been ordered and compare the current map with the revision map on the WebSIG; see urban or rustic land: how to check.

The approved regulations protect what already has a permit. Pre-existing rights include buildings and activities that did not need a license and, while still valid, rights arising from licenses, prior notices, favorable PIPs and approved architectural designs (article 47). A favorable PIP obtained under the 2015 PDM and still within its validity period therefore keeps counting after the revision takes effect.

Lawful buildings that do not comply with the new plan can be altered, extended or changed in use, including one additional unit, if the works do not worsen the non-compliance, respect easements and improve living or sanitary conditions. The extension cannot exceed 50% of the floor area where that area is under 100 m², or 30% in other cases (article 47, no. 4). For unpermitted works, see legalizing an old house and outbuildings.

Reading the PDM gives you an interpretation; a decision on a pedido de informação prévia (PIP) gives you an answer that binds the council. Under the RJUE (Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação, Portugal's planning and building code) as revised by Decree-Law 108/2026, in force since October 1, 2026, the council decides a simple PIP within 15 days and a broad-scope PIP within 30 days (45 for subdivisions), counted from the end of the initial review; if it misses the deadline, the request is deemed approved, and a favorable answer gives you 2 years to file the license application or notice. The PIP guide explains the rules.

In Guimarães, applications are filed on the council's Urbanismo Digital platform (ud.cm-guimaraes.pt) after registering, and the zoning and constraints maps can be issued on the WebSIG. Until the revision is published, an application is assessed under the 2015 PDM; if publication comes before the decision, the new plan generally applies. In Guimarães, a PIP is worth it when:

• The plot is on developable land in the 2015 PDM, or changes class or category in the approved revision.
• You want to use the new parameters for low-density urban areas or rural settlements and need to know when they apply to your plot.
• You want to build on agricultural or forest land or in a scattered building area.
• The property touches the RAN, the REN, a flood zone or listed heritage.
• You are buying and want to make the promissory contract conditional on the answer: see PIP before buying land. Apto Group prepares and follows up the PIP in Guimarães.

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

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