Prior information request (PIP) in Lisbon, Portugal: documents, filing and timelines

Write down what you want to do before gathering files. Buying a building to keep its current use and extending a house are different decisions, even if both start with "what can I build?". A useful request turns that question into parameters the Council can assess.

Then choose the type of PIP. A simple PIP (article 14, no. 1 of the RJUE, Portugal's planning and building code) answers feasibility and constraints: infrastructure, easements, building indices, height limits (cérceas) and setbacks. An extended PIP (no. 2) also assesses massing, footprint, architectural design, use program, infrastructure, charges and land to be ceded; if it covers every applicable item, it exempts the works from a building license or a comunicação prévia (prior notification of works). Our general PIP guide compares the two in detail.

• Property: location, boundaries and land registry identification.
• Operation: intended works, use, floor areas and access to study.
• Decision: buy, adapt, extend or move on to design.
• Open questions: conditions that could force you to rethink the program or the investment.

Since October 1, 2026, the required documents (elementos instrutórios) are those set by Portaria 320/2026/1, which approved a single application form with a planning summary and repealed Portaria 71-A/2024. The PIP checklists Lisbon City Council publishes (building, demolition, urbanization and subdivision) date from 2024 and 2025 and are based on that repealed Portaria. Use them as a guide to what the Council expects, but check the procedure page for updated versions.

The 2024 building checklist asked, on top of the national minimum, for a georeferenced topographic survey at 1:200 covering at least 100 m around the site, a written check of the proposal against each relevant plan article, and photographs, with a full photo survey for buildings on the Carta Municipal do Património (Lisbon's municipal heritage register). It also said the Council requests outside opinions itself, except paid ones such as that of the Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil (ANEPC, the civil protection authority), which the applicant must obtain. Where they differ, the Portaria in force prevails; our guide to documents for a PIP covers the national list.

Lisbon's Plano Diretor Municipal (PDM, the municipal master plan) in force comes from the revision approved by Aviso 11622/2012, with later amendments. The Council's page for the PDM in force holds the regulations, annexes and maps; check there for the consolidated version and for any amendments or procedures under way that affect your area. Planning themes include urban land-use categories, ecological structure, protected views (sistemas de vistas), hazards and infrastructure.

Find the plot in the map viewer linked from the PDM page and note the sources you used. A color on the map is not, on its own, an answer on what you can build: match the legend with the relevant articles and with any other plans covering the site, such as urbanization or detailed plans (planos de pormenor). If the property boundaries are unclear, resolve that before working out areas.

Use the research to frame specific questions. A proposal to add height, for example, should state what needs checking about the surroundings, protected views and heritage, without assuming that a neighboring building's situation carries over to yours.

A working fact sheet lets the team see the request's assumptions at a glance. It is not a municipal form or a legal document list: it keeps the property description, the drawings and the intended operation from contradicting each other.

• Identification: match the address, the certidão permanente and the location drawn; flag discrepancies to resolve.
• Existing building: gather available drawings and municipal records, with the source and date of each.
• Proposal: separate existing, altered and added areas, and state the intended use.
• Planning context: note the plan, map and article consulted, and the question each one helps answer.
• Pending items: state what is missing, who can obtain it and which conclusion depends on it.

The route the Council points to starts at Loja Lisboa Online: create a new request, select the prior information request and continue on the Urbanismo Digital platform, where you upload the files. The procedure page offers a user manual and help by appointment. Check the route on the day you file: the national electronic planning platform foreseen in the RJUE will become mandatory once it is available.

You don't have to own the property to file a PIP. If you don't, identify the owner and other holders of property rights with a land registry certificate; the Council then notifies them. Before sending, check that all files reflect the same version of the proposal, and keep the filing and payment receipts, which together with the application serve as the legal title if the PIP is approved by silence.

When you hire us, we file the request with the Council and follow up on notifications; simply contacting Apto does not count as filing a request.

The PIP fee is set by the municipal fee regulations and their price table, and the procedure page points to the Council's fee simulator. We don't quote an amount here: confirm the figure for your operation in the table in force and the simulator, and check the inputs before treating it as the amount due.

In your budget, keep the municipal fee separate from the analysis work, the drawings and the georeferenced topographic survey the 2024 checklist required. Add any opinions you must obtain yourself, such as ANEPC's where it applies. When we handle PIP preparation in Lisbon, these items are listed separately in our proposal.

Deadlines come from the RJUE, as revised by Decree-Law 108/2026 and in force since October 1, 2026. The Council has up to 20 days for saneamento (the initial check) and then decides within 15 days (simple PIP) or 30 days (extended; 45 for subdivisions, extendable once for special complexity). With outside consultations, the clock runs from the last opinion. If the Council misses the deadline, the PIP is deemed approved by silence (deferimento tácito).

Legal deadlines don't guarantee the actual date: an incomplete request, a supplement or outside opinions extend the process. A favorable answer is valid for 2 years from notification or approval by silence; within that time you file the license application or comunicação prévia or, if exempt, start works after notifying the Council at least 5 days ahead. After that, you can ask once for a declaration that the conditions still hold, which the Council decides within 20 days and which adds 1 more year.

Hypothetical example, not tied to any client or municipal decision: you want to buy a house in Lisbon and the investment only makes sense if you can add living space. The listing says 180 m² (about 1,940 sq ft), but the available drawings show 150 m² (about 1,615 sq ft).

The first step is to establish what each figure measures and which version of the building it refers to. Then sketch the program with the technical team and check it against the PDM. The question stops being "can I extend?" and becomes a defined use, footprint and floor area, with the conditions that need assessing.

Without outside consultations, allow a legal timeline of about 35 days for a simple PIP (20 for the initial check and 15 for the decision), and build it into the CPCV (the Portuguese promissory purchase contract) as explained in PIP before buying land. If feasibility depends on extra height or on a part of the building whose status is unclear, make that dependency explicit in the request. The example shows a method; it doesn't predict a favorable decision.

A favorable decision must state the next procedure (license, comunicação prévia or exemption), and an unfavorable one must state how the request could be revised. Compare the answer with the operation you submitted: the binding effect covers the drawings assessed, not a different version of the program. Permit applications or prior notifications filed on the basis of the PIP are also not suspended while a new plan or PDM revision is out for public consultation (article 17(8)).

If a listing advertises a property "with approved PIP", ask for the notification, the drawings assessed, the date and the PIP type, and check that it is still valid. If you buy, the new holder must prove the change to the Council so it can record it (article 16(10)). For next steps, see our guide on a favorable PIP and next steps; for a property in Porto, see PIP in Porto.

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

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