Property Inspection Guides, Portugal
Home inspection, regulatory compliance and due diligence guides for buyers in Portugal.
Latest Posts
Developer ignoring your snagging list: what you can prove
Structural risks in Portuguese houses, by build era
Illegal extensions in Portugal: how to spot them before you offer
Habitation licence Portugal: how to check it before you buy (2026)
New-build warranties in Portugal: the 10-year clock and the handover inspection
Illegal extensions in Portugal: how to spot them before you offer
Illegal extensions and unregistered structures are visible before an inspector attends. What to check from your desk, and what to look for at the viewing.
Habitation licence Portugal: how to check it before you buy (2026)
The habitation licence (licença de utilização) says what a Portuguese property is authorised to be. Three same-day checks show whether the building matches it.
DL 108/2026 and Your Inspection: The Título Gap (2026)
DL 108/2026 makes the título urbanístico a contract declaration from 1 October 2026. It confirms the paperwork, not the property. Why physical verification is now the buyer's job.
DL 10/2024 Simplex Urbanístico: What the Buyer Now Inherits
DL 10/2024 ended municipal checks before sale in Portugal. What the Câmara stopped verifying, what you inherit at the deed, and what changes on 1 October 2026.
Property Due Diligence in Portugal: What the Documents Miss
Property due diligence in Portugal: the four documents to verify before you sign the CPCV, and the unlicensed works that none of them will show you.
CPCV signing deadline in Portugal: what a compressed window actually costs a buyer
The CPCV date is set for this week. Some checks compress into a day, others run on a Câmara or a bank clock you do not control. What to do first. Updated September 2026.
Property condition report and survey in Portugal: what's inside
What a property condition report and survey covers in Portugal, how findings are graded, and how buyers use it to renegotiate or walk away before the CPCV.
Pre-Purchase Property Inspection in Portugal (2026)
A pre-purchase property inspection checks structure, damp, gas and electrics before you sign. Since DL 10/2024, defect liability is the buyer's at the deed.
Home inspection standards in the UK, US, and Australia: what buyers in Portugal should know
RICS Level 1/2/3, ASHI SOP, InterNACHI SOP, AS 4349.1. How home inspection works in the markets where most buyers in Portugal come from, and what that means when buying here.
Property inspection standards in Portugal: what exists, what doesn't, and what OE certification means
Portugal has no mandatory inspection standard for residential purchases. What IMPIC regulates, what an OE licence confers, and where RICS fits.
Home inspection for an apartment in Lisbon: the complete guide (2026)
A Lisbon apartment inspection covers structural integrity, moisture, MEP systems and DL 10/2024 compliance. What buyers must know before the CPCV.
Property Inspection Before the CPCV in Portugal
The CPCV binds you the moment you sign and your deposit is at risk from that point. What to inspect before signing, and how long you actually have.
Structural risks in Portuguese houses, by build era
Portuguese buildings fail in patterns set by when they were built. What to expect from pombalino, gaioleiro, placa, 1980s and early 2000s construction.
Concrete cancer in Portuguese buildings: how to spot it before you buy
Concrete cancer in Portugal explained: carbonation, rebar corrosion, the phenolphthalein test engineers use, and the checks to run before you buy.
Energy Certificate Portugal (2026): Cost, Validity & How to Get It
What the certificado energético costs in 2026, how long it's valid, when it's legally required, and how to book one with an ADENE-registered assessor in 48h.
Structural and Seismic Inspection Portugal: The Buyer's Guide to Building Risk (2026)
Structural and seismic inspection Portugal explained: 10-year warranty under DL 84/2021, Eurocode 8, Portaria 302/2019, and what every buyer must verify before CPCV.
Unlicensed Construction in the Algarve: What Buyers Must Physically Check (2026)
Unlicensed construction in the Algarve is widespread. What a buyer must check on site: planta vs realidade, RAN and REN zones, and demolition risk.
Property Inspection in the Algarve, Portugal (2026)
Algarve villas hide salt-air concrete corrosion, flat-roof failure, and unlicensed pools. A property inspection reads the defect profile Porto and Lisbon do not have.
Portugal vs Europe: Mandatory Property Diagnostics Compared (2026)
France's DDT and Spain's ITE force a technical check of the building before sale. Portugal mandates no condition diagnostic, so the one technical check is the one you commission.
Direito de preferência: how a third party can legally claim the property you agreed to buy
In Portugal, tenants, municipalities and heritage bodies can buy a property at your agreed price. How the right works and how to guard against it.
Lawyer, notary, agent: who actually protects the buyer in Portugal?
Three professionals are present in every Portuguese property purchase. None of them is responsible for the physical condition of the building. Here is what each one does, and does not do.
CPCV vs. reserva: how Portugal's pre-contract structure differs from Spain
Portugal uses a CPCV with a 10–20% deposit at risk from signing. Spain uses a reserva followed by arras. Here is what each system means for buyers, and which protects more.
Buyer protection in Portugal: why the system works against you
Portugal's property market has no MLS, no buyer's agent profession and no mandatory inspection. How each gap exposes buyers, and what to do about it.
How real estate agency works in Portugal: what every buyer needs to know
In Portugal, the mediador is paid by the seller. No MLS, no buyer protection by default. Here's how AMI licensing, open mandates, and commission structure actually work.
Why Portugal has no buyer's agents: what that means for your purchase
Portugal has no licensed buyer's agent profession. The mediador works for the seller. Here's why the profession never developed and what fills the gap.
Buying Property in Portugal: Risks and Pitfalls
The 7.5% non-resident IMT now in force, the four documents to verify before signing, and the pitfalls that no document reveals. Updated September 2026.
Damp survey cost in Portugal: what you pay and what it finds
Damp survey cost in Portugal explained: UK price equivalents, what drives the fee, what the survey finds, and the legal deadlines that follow purchase.
Storm and Water Damage Inspection in Portugal (2026)
A storm damage inspection gives you an independent engineer's report to challenge the insurer's payout. 49% of homes hit by Storm Kristin had no cover (ASF).
Damp Survey Portugal: What It Costs, What We Check and When You Need One (2026)
Mold and damp inspection from €750, 48h OE report. What we check (IR + hygrometry), signs to spot before CPCV, and when buyers need it in Portugal.
Developer ignoring your snagging list: what you can prove
A developer stalling on snagging defects is not running down your warranty. What a formal defect notice does to the clock, and the leverage outside court.
New-build warranties in Portugal: the 10-year clock and the handover inspection
How Portugal's two new-build warranty regimes work, why accepting the keys without reservation weakens a claim, and which documents to demand at handover.
Pre-Listing Inspection for Sellers in Portugal (2026)
A pre-listing inspection protects sellers in Portugal from post-sale hidden-defect claims and mid-deal price cuts, after a 2025 court ruling on concealed defects.
EPBD compliance in Portugal: what changed at the 29 May 2026 deadline
Portugal partially transposed Diretiva (UE) 2024/1275 through Decreto-Lei n.º 11/2025. F-rated properties pass renovation liability to the buyer.
Property inspection in Porto: a buyer's guide to wet-climate defects, casa burguesa construction, and ARU rehabilitation due diligence
Porto property inspection faces a defect profile unlike Lisbon: maritime humidity, granite and timber casa burguesa, and uneven rehabilitation work.
New build snagging survey Portugal: finding defects before final acceptance
A snagging inspection records new build defects before keys handover. Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 gives 10 years structural and 5 years otherwise.
