H01E - Habitation Licence
Category : Housing
H01E - Habitation Licence
This document is sometimes called a Licença de Habitação or Habitabilidade and Licença de Utilização, both terms are commonly used but refer to the same thing, although the first one is issued for habitation dwellings and the second one for any other building such as shops, garages, etc. It is a licence issued by your local Town Council (Câmara Municipal) which states that the building has been constructed according to the building regulations and for what purpose the building may be used. You should obtain this document before occupying a newly constructed house. When buying an existing building you should ensure that the licence has been issued and allows the building to be used for the purpose mentioned in the document.
New Properties
The construction of a new house requires a building licence (Alvará de Licença de Construção) issued by the Town Council (Câmara Municipal). Once the work is complete, the owner of the property (or their representative) should request a habitation licence (Alvará de Licença de Utilização). This request is presented to the Works Department (Secção das Obras) of the Town Council and must be accompanied by a declaration from the supervising engineer (Técnico responsável pela direcção da obra). This declaration states that the construction has been built according to the plans and for the purposes as laid out in the application for the building licence.
The process to obtain the licence includes several documents that may vary according to the demands of your local Câmara. This process is generally done by the technician responsible for the building.
Some of these documents will be:
Acoustic Evaluation;
Energy Certificate;
Electric Energy Certificate – CERTIEL
Telecommunications Certificate
Final blue prints, signed by the author of the project
Gas inspection Certificate
Construction journal
The next step again depends on your local Câmara. They might decide to do an inspection (vistoria), which will be conducted by a group of specialists chosen by the Council or decide that everything is correct just based on the paperwork.
When an inspection takes place, they will normally include a building inspector from the Council, a representative of the Fire Brigade and a representative of the Health Department. You are expected to be present or represented by someone appointed by you during this inspection of your property. The inspection is required by law to be conducted within 45 days of your request for a Habitation Licence (Alvará de Licença de Utilização). However, you must still obtain the written document (Alvará de Licença de Utilização) from the Council. If an inspection (vistoria) is conducted and the inspectors agree unanimously that the finished building complies with the building permission, your Habitation Licence (Licença de Habitação/Utilização) should be issued within 5 days.
Some Councils do not require an inspection visit and accept the declaration by the supervisor of the construction as sufficient proof that the building has been constructed according to the original plans that were submitted for building permission.
The Council will usually send you the Habitation Licence (Alvará de Licença de Utilização), by mail to the postal address provided on your building permission application. If you do not receive it within the expected time, go to the Works Department (Secção das Obras) of the Câmara and ask what has happened.
Buying an existing building
If the seller is unable or unwilling to provide you with a copy of the licence (Alvará de Licença de Habitação/Utilização) they should ask at the Council’s Works Department (Secção das Obras) or in Espaço Cidadão for a copy (Certidão da Alvará de Licença de Utilização) for the property. You will probably need the physical address and details of the building’s registration (for example: Caderneta Predial – please see H02E). If there is no Habitation Licence think very carefully before advancing with the purchase. However, with properties over a certain age (before 1951), if a Habitation Licence was never issued it is not needed. Discuss this with your lawyer. They may recommend including the presentation of the Habitation Licence in the Promissory Contract or confirmation that the house does not have one. Do not be lulled by verbal assurances that all will turn out well in the future. If the building was built without planning permission or is licensed for a purpose other than what you have in mind, legalising or changing its licence is a time-consuming bureaucratic procedure with no guarantee of success.
The Licença de Habitação/Utilização must always comply with the respective architectural design. This means that if changes are made to the property, such as the construction of an annex or swimming pool or an extension to the house, these modifications must be recorded in a request to update the licence, so that the works carried out are legalised/authorised.
The licence permit has no expiration date, and it is only mandatory to renew it if there are changes to the structure of the property. If these changes occur, when completed, you must request a new one from the Town Hall (Câmara Municipal).
Selling your house
The rules had changed under the Government's new Simplex Program on urban licensing, it is no longer mandatory for the seller to present the housing technical file (Ficha Técnica) and habitation licence (Licença de Habitação/Utilização) at the time of the deed signing.
The stated objective of this measure is to simplify the process of buying and selling properties, but of course this can entail risks for the buyer. Although the notary has the duty to alert buyers to the possibility of the non-existence of these titles when signing the deed, without the actual documents it is not possible to verify whether the construction complies with safety standards or with the plans approved by the Câmara Municipal.
It is highly recommended that anyone looking to buy a property continues to request this document from the seller, whether that is a private individual or a real estate agent.
