Five dates, and what each one decides
The regulatory dates that decide what applies
Which rules govern a Portuguese building depends on when it was completed, altered, or sold. These are the dates that move the answer.
7 Aug 1951
DL n.º 38382 (RGEU)
The first general national building regulation
Buildings completed before this date were not built to a national standard, and the licensing regime treats them differently: the municipality issues a certificate of exemption rather than a use licence. The exemption covers the original construction only. The RGEU itself remains in force.
The seismic regime is updated
Buildings genuinely designed around those concerns start appearing from about 1990. Anything completed between 1983 and 1990 sits in the gap between a code existing on paper and being routine on site. Eurocode 8 (NP EN 1998) is the current basis for assessment.
30 Mar 2004
DL n.º 68/2004
Ficha Técnica da Habitação becomes required
Property built, reconstructed or extended from this date should have a technical sheet naming its materials and systems. It stopped being handed over at the deed in January 2024, and the duty to produce it survives.
2019
DL n.º 95/2019 · Portaria n.º 302/2019
Seismic assessment for major renovation
Major renovation work triggers a seismic vulnerability assessment. A buyer planning structural alterations rather than cosmetic ones meets this as part of the project.
Urban-planning legality leaves the deed
The notary no longer verifies that a property holds a valid urbanistic title before the escritura. Structural condition was never verified at sale by anyone. Both questions now sit with the buyer, and the obligation attaches to the property rather than to whoever created it.
What none of these dates do
A construction date establishes which rules applied. It does not establish that the building complied with them, that it still does, or what has been done to it since. That is a question of measurement on site.