Handover · New build Portugal

What to demand before you sign the acceptance

These documents decide whether a later warranty claim is arguable. Ask for them while the developer still wants your signature, not after.

1
Termo de responsabilidade, with its SIGOE verification code
Technician's declaration of responsibility
The code is what lets you confirm the declaration is registered rather than a signed sheet of paper. Ask for the code, not just the document.
2
Telas finais, the as-built drawings
As-built record of what was actually constructed
Where they do not exist, ask for an explicit written statement to that effect. A recorded "we do not have them" is more useful than silence, because it establishes what the developer could produce.
3
Ficha técnica da habitação
DL 68/2004, de 25 de março
The promoter still has to produce and deliver it. DL 10/2024 removed it as a gate at the deed, not as an obligation. It is the benchmark against which materials, brands and installations get compared.
4
The final energy certificate, not a pré-certificado
DL 101-D/2020, de 7 de dezembro, Art. 35.º n.º 1
The certificate must reach the buyer before the contract is signed, and it is issued by an ADENE-qualified perito. Absence carries a coima of €250 to €3,740 for individuals and €2,500 to €44,890 for companies.
A pré-certificado is not the certificate
5
Acoustic project reference
Regulamento dos Requisitos Acústicos dos Edifícios (RRAE)
Applies according to the typology. Party-wall performance is one of the defects hardest to argue about after the fact, because it needs testing rather than looking.
Add where one has been issued

Licença de utilização

DL 10/2024 stopped the notary gating the deed on it. The property still needs it to be lawful, financeable and resaleable. Unauthorised construction sits under the RJUE with fines of €498.80 to €99,759.58 for individuals and up to €249,398.95 for companies, a liability that follows the property rather than the person who built it.

The signature matters as much as the list

Código Civil Art. 1219.º presumes the buyer knew of apparent defects where the work was accepted without reservation. Annex the defect list to the acceptance document and state that acceptance is subject to it. If the developer refuses the annex, record the refusal in writing before signing anything.

Sources: Código Civil, Art. 1219.º · Decreto-Lei n.º 68/2004, de 25 de março · Decreto-Lei n.º 101-D/2020, de 7 de dezembro, Art. 35.º n.º 1 · Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024, de 8 de janeiro · Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação (RJUE) · RRAE · ADENE
InspectOS · inspectos.pt · Updated August 2026