Approved PIP validity in Portugal: how long it lasts and how to keep it from lapsing

The 2-year period starts on the notice of the favorable decision or, if the council did not decide in time, when tacit approval (deferimento tácito) takes effect at the end of the decision deadline (Art. 17(5) of the RJUE, Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação, Portugal's main planning and building law). If you are still waiting for the answer, see how that date is worked out in PIP deadlines.

Unlike the short procedural deadlines, which run in business days, periods longer than six months are counted continuously, including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (Art. 87 of Portugal's Code of Administrative Procedure, applied through Art. 122 of the RJUE). A PIP notified on November 2, 2026 is generally valid until November 2, 2028. If the last day falls on a day the offices are closed, the deadline moves to the next business day.

The 2-year period is not new in 2026. Before 2024, the law allowed 1 year; Decree-Law 10/2024 (the Simplex Urbanístico reform) extended it to 2 years from the favorable decision (Art. 17(5) as worded in 2024), and Decree-Law 108/2026 kept it, applied it expressly to both types of PIP and counts it from the notice or from tacit approval. Articles that still mention a 1-year validity, or that present the 2 years as an October 2026 change, are out of date.

What using the PIP in time means depends on the type. With a simple PIP, filed under Article 14(1), you must file the permit application or the comunicação prévia (a notification-based procedure checked after filing) within the period. With a full PIP under Article 14(2) that assesses every item a) to f) that applies to the project, the works are exempt from a permit and from comunicação prévia, and what has to happen within the period is the start of work (Art. 17(2) and (5)).

In the second case, exempt works require you to notify the council at least 5 days before work starts, together with the engineering designs, the professionals' statements of responsibility and proof that fees and land cessions have been dealt with (Art. 80-A(1) and (4)). Those designs take months to prepare: the timeline that matters is your design team's, not the council's. The full set of steps is in favorable PIP: next steps.

Once the 2 years have passed without the PIP being used, you can ask, only once, for the mayor to declare that the factual and legal grounds for the favorable decision still hold. The council has 20 days to decide. If the declaration confirms those grounds, or if the council does not answer in that time, you have 1 year to file the permit application or the comunicação prévia or, for a full PIP with an exemption, to start work (Art. 17(6) and (7)).

Keep three points in mind. The request is made after the 2 years have passed, not before; the law sets no cutoff for making it, but the longer you wait, the more likely something has changed. The declaration checks whether the rules and facts are unchanged: if the municipal master plan (PDM) has been revised or a new restriction applies, the answer may be no. And there is no second extension; once the extra year is used up, only a new PIP gives you a binding position again.

The law does not provide for renewing a PIP just by applying or paying, as some articles suggest. There is only this declaration that the grounds still hold. Some municipalities charge a fee for it: check the amount in your municipality's current fee schedule.

The RJUE revision made by Decree-Law 108/2026 applies to procedures started on or after October 1, 2026 and to those still at the initial check stage on that date (Art. 12(1)). For decisions already issued, the same article applies the new lapse periods to existing situations, counted from October 1, 2026, unless the period under the old law would end sooner (Art. 12(3) and (4)).

Since the previous law also allowed 2 years, the safest reading is to count the validity of a PIP issued under Decree-Law 10/2024 from the decision, as before: the old period ends first and therefore prevails. A PIP from before 2024, with a 1-year validity, is only still useful if the declaration was obtained and the extra year has not run out. Because these transitional rules have not yet been tested in court, confirm the deadline with the council or a professional before relying on it.

A favorable PIP can change hands, for example when the land is sold. When that happens, the new holder gives the mayor proof of the change so that it can be recorded on file (averbamento); the law refers to 15 days from the date of the change (Art. 16(10)). Take care of it right after the deed is signed.

A change of holder does not restart the clock: validity keeps running from the original notice or tacit approval. A buyer should therefore work out how much time is left and whether it is enough to hire a team, prepare the design and file the next application. For the buyer's side, read PIP before buying land.

"Land with PIP approved" is a common selling point in Portugal. Before paying a deposit or signing a promissory purchase contract (CPCV), ask for the full title and check the points below. A PIP close to its deadline is worth little to someone who still has to commission the design, and a PIP that assessed a different project does not cover the one you want to build.

• Title: request form with the project summary, proof of fees and the notice of decision or, if tacitly approved, the filing receipt (Art. 16(8)).
• Start date of the count and the 2-year deadline.
• Whether the declaration has already been requested; if so, there is no second extension.
• Type: simple or full PIP and, for a full PIP, whether it assesses every applicable item a) to f).
• Project assessed and conditions: floor areas, uses, height (cércea), footprint and outside agency opinions.
• Whether a permit application or comunicação prévia has already been filed based on the PIP, and its status.
• Planning changes approved or under public consultation for the area.

If the period ends without the application being filed or work starting, and without an extension, the PIP lapses and no longer binds the council. You can file a new PIP or go straight to a permit or comunicação prévia, but the project will be assessed under the rules in force at that point, which may be stricter.

While the PIP is valid, permit applications and comunicações prévias filed on the strength of it are not suspended between the start of public consultation on a new plan, or on a plan revision, and its entry into force (Art. 17(8)). That is another reason not to leave filing until the last month, especially if the municipality is revising its PDM.

Validity does not protect a flawed PIP: a PIP that breaches the PDM or another plan in force is void (Art. 68), and as a rule the nullity can only be declared within 3 years of issue (Art. 69(4)). Our PIP service can prepare a new request or review an existing PIP before you rely on it.

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

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