DL 10/2024 removed all ambiguity around who is responsible for unpermitted construction works in Portugal. The change is total - and permanent.
DL 10/2024Simplex Urbanístico · In force
Before DL 10/2024
Ambiguous liability
Courts decided. Outcomes varied.
Liability
Responsibility for obras sem licença could be negotiated between buyer and seller after the fact.
Negotiable
Courts
Judges sometimes split liability between buyer and seller. Rulings were inconsistent.
Outcome uncertain
Seller exposure
Sellers could be pursued post-sale for undisclosed unlicensed construction works.
Seller could be liable
Due diligence
Document verification was best practice - recommended, but the consequences of skipping it were limited.
Best practice
Post-sale recourse
Buyers who discovered problems after signing had legal avenues to pursue the seller and recover costs.
Routes existed
After DL 10/2024 · Now
Full buyer liability
No ambiguity. No route back.
Liability
The buyer assumes full legal and financial responsibility for every unpermitted work at the moment of signing the Escritura Pública.
Buyer owns it - completely
Courts
No judicial discretion. The law is unambiguous: buyer liability transfers at escritura, regardless of what the seller disclosed.
No ambiguity - full stop
Seller exposure
Sellers face no ongoing liability for unpermitted works once the escritura is signed. All liability transfers to the new owner.
Seller is released at signing
Due diligence
Verifying the Licença de Utilização against the physical property is now the only legal protection a buyer has before signing.
Essential protection
Post-sale recourse
No route back. Regardless of when works were built or how many previous owners there were - it is now your problem.
No recourse whatsoever
The moment of no return
The Escritura Pública - the moment liability transfers
From the second you sign the notarised deed, every unpermitted work on the property is legally yours - regardless of when it was built, who built it, or whether you knew about it. There is no unwinding this.
Obtain the Licença de Utilização
The licensed floor plan from the Câmara Municipal is now the legal benchmark. Everything outside it is your liability after signing.
Mandatory step
Compare licensed vs physical
Does the licensed description match what actually exists? Any extension, conversion, or addition not on the plan is an unpermitted work.
PropCheck Reality Gap Score
Verify before the CPCV
Once you sign the promissory contract, your leverage evaporates. All verification must happen before the CPCV - not after, not during.
Before signing only
PropCheck's Reality Gap Score cross-references the Licença de Utilização against all other registered documents - flagging every discrepancy that could represent an unpermitted work and your exposure under Simplex 2024.