What is a PIP? Portugal's prior information request explained

The PIP is set out in Article 14 of the RJUE (Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação, Decree-Law 555/99), Portugal's main planning and building law. Anyone with an interest may ask the câmara municipal whether a development, or a set of directly related developments, is feasible and which constraints apply to it: infrastructure, public easements and restrictions, planning ratios, cérceas (maximum building heights), setbacks and the other rules in the applicable plans.

In practice, a PIP lets you decide on the strength of a written position from the municipality rather than your own reading of the PDM (Plano Diretor Municipal, the municipal master plan). It is used before buying land, before commissioning an architectural design or to support a financing application. It is not mandatory: you can go straight to a permit or a comunicação prévia (a prior notification, the procedure that replaces an express permit for some works), but you lose the chance to pin down the rules before investing in the design.

The current rules come from the RJUE revision made by Decree-Law 108/2026, in force since October 1, 2026, the date set by Decree-Law 155-B/2026. They apply to requests filed from that date and to older requests that were still in the initial check stage.

Article 14 provides for two types. A request under paragraph 1, usually called a simple PIP, asks whether the development is feasible and which constraints apply. Under paragraph 2, known as a full or qualified PIP, you also ask the council to rule on specific aspects of the development, at a level of detail close to a design project.

The paragraph 2 items are: a) massing, building line, cércea, footprint and boundary walls; b) architectural design and written description; c) use program, with floor areas per use and number of dwellings (fogos); d) local infrastructure; e) estimated development charges; f) land to be ceded to the municipality. The more items a request covers, the more work it takes upfront, but the stronger the effect of the answer.

The decision clock does not start on the day you file. First comes the saneamento liminar, an initial completeness check: the council has up to 20 days to confirm the request is properly documented and, if something is missing, ask you to complete it. If it says nothing in that period, the request is deemed properly filed (Art. 11).

The council then decides within 15 days for a simple PIP and 30 days for a full PIP, or 45 days for a land subdivision (loteamento) (Art. 16). These deadlines run from the end of the initial check or, if outside agencies are consulted, from the last opinion or the end of the period to issue it. For a full PIP, the council may extend the deadline once, by the same period, in especially complex cases, provided it notifies you before the initial check ends (Art. 16(7)).

The 20- and 30-day deadlines still quoted in many guides belong to the previous rules. The RJUE falls back on Portugal's Code of Administrative Procedure (Art. 122), whose Article 87 stops the clock on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, so in practice these deadlines run in business days.

• Filing the request and paying the municipal fee.
• Initial check: up to 20 days.
• Consultation of outside agencies, when the development requires it.
• Decision: 15 days for a simple PIP; 30 days for a full PIP (45 for subdivisions), with one possible extension.

If the council does not decide within the deadline, the request is tacitly approved (deferimento tácito, Art. 16(6)). The PIP title consists of the request form, proof of fee payment and the notice of decision or, in the case of tacit approval, the filing receipt (Art. 16(8)). Keep these documents safe.

Tacit approval does not make lawful what the law does not allow. The RJUE treats a prior information decision that breaches the PDM or another municipal or intermunicipal plan, interim planning measures, provisional rules or a subdivision in force as void (Art. 68), and some municipalities take the view that a later express decision can prevail. Before investing on the basis of a tacit approval, get technical confirmation that the development complies with the applicable rules.

A favorable answer to a simple PIP binds the competent authorities when they decide on the permit or review the comunicação prévia for the development assessed (Art. 17(1)). A full PIP that covers every applicable item under a) to f) goes further: the works need no permit or comunicação prévia, provided they are carried out exactly as assessed, with no new consultation of outside agencies.

A favorable answer is valid for 2 years from notification or tacit approval. Within that period you must apply for the permit or file the comunicação prévia or, if the works are exempt, start them, notifying the council at least 5 days before work begins (Art. 80-A). Once the 2 years are up, you may ask once for the council to declare that the underlying conditions still hold; it decides within 20 days and, with that declaration, the PIP is valid for 1 more year.

A favorable answer always states which procedure the development is subject to (Art. 16(4)), and permit applications or comunicações prévias filed on the basis of a PIP are not suspended between the start of public consultation on a new or revised plan and its entry into force (Art. 17(8)). What to do after the decision is covered in favorable PIP: next steps.

The answer applies to the development assessed and the documents filed. The request should name the development, whether construction, extension, alteration, demolition, change of use, subdivision or a specific combination, and the matters you need answered: footprint, floor area, height, uses, access or infrastructure.

The question should match the decision you have to make. If you are buying, test the points that support the price and the program. If you are about to design, a full PIP may be worth it to reduce uncertainty in the next stage. Either way, a planning analysis of the land before filing avoids badly framed questions.

• Goal and intended program.
• Identification and boundaries of the property.
• Relevant past municipal records.
• Constraints and open questions that deserve an express answer.

Anyone with an interest can file a PIP, even if they do not own the property. In that case, you identify the owner and holders of other property rights through a certificate from the Portuguese land registry (registo predial), and the council notifies them of the request (Art. 14(3) and (4)). This is the usual route for confirming feasibility before signing a purchase, as we explain in PIP before buying land.

When a listing says the land has an "approved PIP", it means a favorable prior information decision exists. Check the type (paragraph 1 or 2), the notification date, which determines validity, and the specific development that was assessed.

For a simple PIP, Order (Portaria) 320/2026/1, in force since October 1, 2026, requires only a few items: the access code to the certidão permanente (the online land registry certificate) or, if the property is not registered, a negative certificate plus the caderneta predial (the property's tax record); a location plan marking the property, at 1:1,000 or as supplied by the municipality; and a short written description. Drawings at 1:200 (1:500 for subdivisions) are optional.

The request uses the single national form approved by the same Order. A full PIP requires material close to a design project. The detailed list is in our guide to documents for a PIP.

The cost has two parts. The municipal fee is set by each council's fee regulations and varies between municipalities: in Porto, according to the fee table in force consulted in October 2026, the PIP fee is €194.68. Always check your municipality's current table before filing.

On top of the fee come the fees of whoever prepares the request, which depend on the type and complexity. A simple PIP needs few documents and is the most economical way to get the municipality's position. A full PIP costs more upfront, because it usually involves a topographic survey and design material, but it can save you an entire permit procedure.

A permit and a comunicação prévia are the procedures that authorize the works. A PIP comes before them and fixes the rules they will have to follow; only a full PIP with an exemption lets you go straight to the works.

A PIP makes sense when feasibility is uncertain, for example with PDM rules open to more than one reading, environmental or heritage constraints, rustic land or extensions at the limit of the planning ratios, or when a purchase depends on the answer. When the development clearly complies and the design is already settled, it may be more efficient to go straight to a permit or comunicação prévia.

Read a favorable answer together with the plans, conditions, opinions and documents behind it. The conditions are part of the answer: a maximum cércea, a setback or a land cession can change the program and the value of the land.

If the answer is unfavorable, the council must state how the proposal can be revised to comply with the applicable rules (Art. 16(5)). That content is the basis for reworking the development and filing a new request. Our PIP service prepares, files and follows the request through to the decision.

The legal value of signed documents and the effects of the municipal decision are separate matters. An architect's signature does not guarantee a favorable decision, nor does it replace the planning control procedures that apply. A decision on a PIP has the effects set out in the RJUE, Portugal's legal framework for urban development and building, according to its content and the applicable legal conditions.

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

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