Santo Tirso PDM: the 2nd revision in force 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 Santo Tirso, the plan in force is the 2nd revision, approved by majority vote of the Assembleia Municipal at its session of April 30, 2026 and published as Aviso n.º 16577/2026/2 in Diário da República no. 126, 2nd series, on July 2, 2026. The regulations set the effective date at 10 days after publication (article 132), and the council states that the plan has been in force since July 17, 2026.

The revision repealed the PDM published as Aviso n.º 1858/2011 of January 18, 2011, and its amendments (article 131). The plan stays in force until the next revision, which must take place when an evaluation makes it necessary or mandatory (article 132). The table sums up the process, which began in 2018.

The revision reorganized the zoning categories. The 2011 PDM split the territory into urban land and rural land; the 2026 plan classifies all of it as solo urbano (urban land) or solo rústico (rustic land) (article 7) and creates categories that did not exist before, such as rural settlements and low-density urban areas. It also repealed the Margens do Ave urban plan and the detailed plans for Quinta de Geão and the Fontiscos industrial zone, whose areas are now governed by the PDM (article 131). If you hold information, a map or an opinion from the council dated before July 17, 2026, the category it shows may no longer exist.

As of November 1, 2026, neither the council's PDM page, updated on October 28, nor the platform of the Direção-Geral do Território (DGT), the national planning agency, lists any procedure to amend, correct or suspend the 2nd revision; at the DGT, the procedure is at the filing stage. What is underway is the drafting of the 170 Park detailed plan, for a business area at Monte Fidalgo in the parish union of Lamelas e Guimarei: the council resolved to restart it on June 25, 2026, with a two-year deadline (Aviso n.º 18164/2026/2). Until that plan is approved and published, the PDM applies there.

The plan is made up of the regulations, with four annexes (cultural heritage, scheduled development areas, guidelines of the Entre Douro e Minho regional forest plan and areas excluded from the REN), five plantas de ordenamento (land-use maps) and two plantas de condicionantes (constraints maps), for a total of 7 maps and 49 sheets (article 2). They come with, among other documents, the report, the implementation program, the environmental report, the heritage map and the noise map.

Read every map, not just the land classification one. Public easements and restrictions apply even when they are not drawn, and the strictest rule always prevails; and if the constraints map does not match the land on the ground, the ground wins, as shown by an up-to-date topographic survey (article 6). For the agricultural and ecological reserves, see the guide on RAN and REN land. The table shows what to look for on each map.

The council states that the full version of the PDM in force can be viewed on the Geoportal (websig.cm-stirso.pt/geoportal), under «Plano Diretor Municipal 2.ª Revisão», or at its climate transition, land and public space department (Departamento da Transição Climática, Território e Requalificação do Espaço Público). The published regulations and maps are also in the PDF of Aviso n.º 16577/2026/2 in the Diário da República. The same Geoportal has the entries «Emissão de Plantas de Localização» (location maps), «Outros Instrumentos de Gestão Territorial» (other plans), «Áreas de Reabilitação Urbana» (urban regeneration areas), «Loteamentos» (subdivisions) and «Defesa da Floresta» (forest fire defense).

The geoportal is a viewing tool: if anything differs, the plan published in the Diário da República prevails. If you use the national SNIT geoportal run by the DGT, make sure you are looking at the 2nd revision and not the 2011 plan. The steps:

• Open the «Plano Diretor Municipal 2.ª Revisão» entry rather than the other plans, so you know you are reading the plan in force since July 2026.
• Find the property on the map with the zoom and pan tools, and check the boundaries against the caderneta predial (the property tax record) or a survey.
• Read Land use map I to see whether the property is on urban or rustic land, in which category, and whether it sits in an area to be structured or a detailed plan.
• Turn on the safeguards and constraints maps, especially the risks map: flood zones and flood risk areas change what can be built.
• Get the location map from the «Emissão de Plantas de Localização» entry; you will need one for any application to the council.
• Open the regulations at the article for the category and also read the general conditions (articles 9 to 17), which apply across the municipality.

On most urban land in Santo Tirso, the rule is not a ratio, it is the surroundings. New buildings follow the dominant built form of the urban fabric around them, above all building lines, facade height and massing (article 42). The figures in the table only apply in areas to be structured, in subdivisions and in high-impact projects that create new roads, or where the surroundings offer no reference or one that does not fit the category. That is why two plots in the same category can get different answers.

Some rules apply everywhere. Balconies, carports and porches, basement parking and storage, and plant rooms do not count toward the floor area ratio (article 12). Floors are counted above the ground-floor threshold level, and basements are allowed in every category (article 16). Outbuildings are normally limited to 1 floor (article 15). For controlled-cost housing or affordable rentals for 25 years, the ratio can rise by 0.2 in central areas and 0.1 in residential areas (article 45). The guide how much can I build on my land explains the concepts.

Rustic land is meant for farming, livestock and forestry and for conserving natural assets, and any building must be the minimum the activity needs (articles 20 and 24). In agricultural areas, a new home is only allowed in two cases: a single-family house on a farm estate (quinta) of at least 10,000 m², with 2 floors and a floor area ratio of 0.05; or a farmer's house, under the conditions of the Reserva Agrícola Nacional (RAN, the national agricultural reserve) rules, with 2 floors and a ratio of 0.1 (articles 23 and 24). On a 10,000 m² plot, a ratio of 0.05 gives 500 m² of floor area.

In forest areas, new homes are not among the permitted uses; landscape enhancement forest areas allow rural tourism, turismo de habitação (stays in manor houses) and outbuildings for an existing home (article 26). The category where housing is the main use is the rural settlement: built-up clusters on rustic land that allow 2 floors and up to 60% impervious cover, with no floor area ratio, and exceptions for renovation, infill plots and rural hotels, which can have 3 floors (articles 32 to 34). Without public water or sewer service, a private system in a low-density urban area or on rustic land needs approval from the environmental authority (article 9(3)).

See what can be done on rustic land and when rustic land can be reclassified as urban. With the plan now published, reclassifying rustic land as urban can only come from a new plan procedure decided by the municipality.

Santo Tirso sits on the Ave river and its tributaries, and Land use map III is the one that most often changes the answer. The regulations separate the areas at significant potential flood risk, by hazard class, from other flood zones, and add maximum infiltration zones and landslide risk areas. These rules apply on top of the zoning category, and the strictest prevails (article 68). Check whether the property is affected by any of the following:

• Very high, high or medium flood hazard on urban land: construction and subdivisions are banned, except in consolidated urban areas with an opinion from the national water authority (in the very high and high classes, only as infill); basements are not allowed (article 70).
• Low or very low hazard: no basements and no bedrooms below the flood level set for the site (articles 70 and 71).
• Flood zone outside those areas: new buildings only under the exceptions of article 79, such as infill in consolidated urban fabric or replacing lawful buildings, and never with basements.
• Landslide risk area: building or adding floors requires a geotechnical study showing there is no risk (article 83).
• Archaeological heritage: at level A, any work affecting the ground requires a prior assessment; at level B, archaeological monitoring (article 88).
• Historic core of Santo Tirso (Área Matricial): work must fit the massing and materials of the surrounding buildings (article 90).

The new PDM protects what already had a permit. Existing buildings that did not need a license, and licensed buildings with a valid permit, count as pre-existing (article 17). If they do not comply with the plan, extensions and ancillary buildings are allowed to renovate, improve living conditions or support the business on site, within the category's floor limit and 60% impervious cover; the extension cannot exceed twice the floor area existing when the plan took effect or, if that area is under 150 m², cannot exceed 300 m².

Article 127 protects valid planning rights that predate the plan and arise from prior planning control. A favorable PIP that is still valid binds the council when it decides the license or prior notice for the same project; check the PIP's validity before relying on it. For unpermitted work physically in place before the plan took effect, article 129 opens a special legalization regime, which can only end favorably if the uses are compatible, the breach of limits causes no unacceptable harm and the easements are respected. The process is in the guide on how building legalization works.

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, a simple PIP confirms feasibility and constraints, and an extended PIP can also set massing, footprint and number of dwellings. The council has up to 20 days for its initial check and then decides within 15 days (simple) or 30 days (extended; 45 for subdivisions); without a decision in time, the PIP is tacitly approved, and a favorable answer is valid for 2 years. You do not need to own the property to apply. The PIP guide explains the rules.

In Santo Tirso, a PIP for building work is filed online on the council's platform, after registering and signing in, or on paper at the front desk. The list of attachments includes extracts of the land-use and constraints maps, and the required documents are those of Portaria 320/2026/1, explained in the guide to documents for a PIP. According to the procedure page, updated on October 7, 2026, the review costs €52.70 under article 14(1) of the RJUE; under article 14(2), €26.36 for walls and fences or buildings up to 60 m², €72.45 for housing up to 200 m², €111.95 up to 10 units or 1,000 m² and €221.26 above that. In Santo Tirso, a PIP is worth it when:

• The plot changed category with the 2026 revision, or the information you have from the council predates July 17, 2026.
• What you can build depends on the built form of the surroundings, and you need to know which height and building line the council will accept.
• The property is in an area to be structured, an area awaiting infrastructure or a UOPG.
• You want to build a house on rustic land, on a farm estate, in a rural settlement or as a farmer.
• The property is affected by a flood zone, flood or landslide risk, archaeological heritage, the RAN or the REN.
• You are buying and want the promissory contract to depend on the answer: see PIP before buying land. Apto Group prepares and follows up your PIP in Santo Tirso.

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

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