Which documents you need, and where to get them
Tell us the situation and see what you will need — in the order in which asking makes sense, and what stalls without each one.
The 1 October 2026 rule, article by article · what each council publishes, in the municipal register
This tool covers transactions between private individuals. If either side is a company, a partnership, a developer or a builder, the documentary and tax regime is different — in those cases the checks should be done by a certified accountant and a lawyer.
My situation is different
10 documents
In the order to ask for them
This is the order in which asking makes sense, not an alphabetical list. Each line says what stalls without it.
Identification of the parties
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- Civil ID and tax number for every signatory; where someone acts for another, a power of attorney with sufficient powers.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- The first filter: without proven capacity and standing, the act does not happen.
- Also
- If an owner is married, the matrimonial property regime decides who signs: under a community regime, selling real estate needs the spouse's consent even where the property stands in one name only. It is not a document to fetch — it is a signature to secure.
Property tax record (caderneta predial)no fee to pay · immediate
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- Portal das Finanças, under Património › Predial, or at a tax office.
- Cost
- Free for the owner to view and print on the Portal das Finanças.
- What it stalls
- Without it there is no matrix article and no taxable value, so the transfer tax cannot be assessed.
- Why
- The property's tax picture: article, area, use and taxable value.
Permanent land registry certificate15 € · immediate
- Who asks
- Anyone
- Where
- predialonline.pt, with the property's description number or tax reference; also in person at a registry office.
- Cost
- 15 € online; 20 € in person. The access code is valid for six months.
- What it stalls
- It shows the registered owner, mortgages, attachments and pending entries. Without it there is no way to know the seller can sell.
- Why
- Anyone can request it — the buyer does not depend on the seller for this one.
Energy certificate28–65 €
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- A qualified assessor registered with the national energy certification system; the assessor files it with ADENE.
- Cost
- Registration fee by typology, plus VAT: T0/T1 28 €, T2/T3 40.50 €, T4/T5 55 €, T6 or larger 65 €. The assessor's own fee is unregulated and is not in this table.
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- A valid certificate's energy class must appear in the listing, and its number goes into the deed.
- Why
- Ten years' validity for dwellings.
⚠Urban planning title
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The municipality where the property is — the name, the channel, the deadline and the fee differ between councils and are in our municipal register.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- Since 1 October 2026 the deed must state whether the title was produced, whether the seller declares holding it without producing it, or declares not holding it. Omitting this makes the transaction voidable.
- Why
- Where use is filed as a prior communication, the title is the submitted form plus the submission receipt and the proof of fees paid — there is no certificate to request. And where the route is the exemption certificate, "before 1951" is a shortcut: the threshold varies between municipalities and, within one municipality, between freguesias — the date that council applies to the property is in our municipal register.
Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026, de 29 de maio — RJUE, artigo 4.º-ASource: Decreto-Lei n.º 155-B/2026, de 31 de julho — adiamento para 1 de outubro de 2026
In this municipality
Pick the municipality to see what its council publishes.
Certificate of no municipal fees owed
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The municipality where the property is. Whatever our municipal register holds appears below, as the council publishes it.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- It shows there are no municipal fees outstanding on the property.
In this municipality
Pick the municipality to see what its council publishes.
Deed constituting the horizontal property
- Who asks
- Anyone
- Where
- Land registry — the permanent certificate points to it; the text comes from the registry office or the electronic deposit.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- It fixes each unit's share, its permitted use and the common parts. A unit used for a purpose the title does not allow is not a problem the deed can fix.
Condominium debt declaration10 days
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The condominium administrator, on the owner's request.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- The administrator issues it within 10 days of the request.
- What it stalls
- It is a mandatory document for the deed. The buyer may expressly waive it in the deed — and thereby takes on any debt the seller owes the condominium.
Minutes of approved works
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The condominium administrator: minutes of the meetings approving works and their apportionment.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- Works approved but not yet paid are a charge the buyer inherits with the unit. It does not block the deed; it changes the price.
Housing technical data sheet
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The developer who drew it up; if lost, a second copy from the developer or the municipality, against a fee set by the municipal assembly.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- Due for residential urban buildings outside the statute's two exclusions: built before the RGEU came into force, and those already licensed or with an application filed when the diploma entered into force, on 30 March 2004.
Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 68/2004, de 25 de março — ficha técnica da habitação
If the registry certificate shows an attachment, a seizure or an uncancelled mortgage, add:
Court or enforcement file extract
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The court or enforcement agent named in the registry entry.
- Cost
- varies — confirm case by case
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- It says how much, to whom and at what stage. A registered attachment is not cleared by a seller's own document.
Source: Regulamento Emolumentar dos Registos e Notariado, DL n.º 322-A/2001 (texto consolidado)
Cancellation of the attachment50 €
- Who asks
- The owner, or someone with a power of attorney
- Where
- The land registry, based on the document extinguishing the charge.
- Cost
- Endorsement of an extinguishing fact: 100 € halved.
- Time
- varies — confirm case by case
- What it stalls
- While it stands on the register, no bank lends and no careful buyer signs.
Source: Regulamento Emolumentar dos Registos e Notariado, DL n.º 322-A/2001 (texto consolidado)
Who checks what — and the buyer's agent's role
| Notary | The legality of the act and the parties' capacity. Not the property. |
|---|---|
| Bank | The security, and only where there is a loan. It visits the property, writes a report and values it — but as its own collateral, by its own criteria. It does not look after the buyer's interest, and a bank valuation is neither a market valuation nor a suitability judgement. |
| The seller's agent | What makes the property sellable. |
| Lawyer | The law and the contract. |
The buyer's agent — the buyer's side of the table
At the table sit the seller, whoever represents the seller, the bank, and whoever draws up the deed. What is missing is an agent instructed by the buyer.
That agent does not certify the property, does not request what only the owner can request, and does not replace the lawyer or the notary. They go to the property when the buyer cannot, set the listing, the documents and the visit against one another, put the discrepancies in front of whoever has to resolve them, and turn whatever remains unresolved into a position: proceed, renegotiate, require further documents, or decline to sign.
Everyone else at that table answers to another interest. This is the only one whose client is the buyer.
This is not legal or financial advice.
How long it takes
The timeline is not the sum of the documents, nor the slowest one: it is the mortgage, and the mortgage only starts once the seller's paperwork exists. A cash buyer has no such filter.
Deadlines fixed by statute
- Condominium no-debt declaration: 10 days
- Co-ownership opinion: 45 days, and silence counts as a favourable opinion
- Tenant's reply to the pre-emption notice: 30 days
- Reflection before the credit agreement may be signed: 7 days
- The lender is bound to its offer for: 30 days
Portal das Finanças and predialonline are immediate. The bank's own assessment time varies. Everything else varies, which is why it does not add up.
Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 74-A/2017 — crédito relativo a imóveis (texto consolidado)
What changes from one council to the next
- Exemption by age. The name changes, the date changes, and the ground changes — inside one município. See it in the municipal register
- Splitting off a parcel (destaque). The criterion changes and the name changes; some councils file it as an exemption from prior control. See it in the municipal register
- Street name and door number. The fee changes, and so does the service that handles it. See it in the municipal register
- And in some municipalities there is no document left to ask for: the title is the proof of submission and the receipt for the fees. See it in the municipal register
A tool for transactions between private individuals. With a company, partnership, developer or builder on either side, the checks should be done by a certified accountant and a lawyer.
Sister pages: what each of the 308 municipalities publishes, the IMT and stamp duty simulator, and the 1 October rule, article by article.