What are the construction standards in Portugal?

The construction standards in Portugal are not on par as the standards in Scandinavian countries. The main concern here in Portugal is to build houses that will withstand an earthquake, so from that point of view, the basic structure is world class. The finishing and the insulation is where they fall short of the world class standard. They could not be compared to the Dutch standards, for example. Basically, Portuguese houses are cold in winter and hot in summer!

 

The construction standards in Portugal are not on par as the standards in Scandinavian countries. The main concern here in Portugal is to build houses that will withstand an earthquake, so from that point of view, the basic structure is world class. The finishing and the insulation is where they fall short of the world class standard. They could not be compared to the Dutch standards, for example. Basically, Portuguese houses are cold in winter and hot in summer!

 

Some builders or contractors who have permits but do not have work, “rent” those permits up to other builders or contractors who don’t have permits. In a situation like that you have “cowboys” free to operate in the market. Fortunately, because of the severe recession in the building industry since 2007, most of these guys have run out of business. 

 

In the US, you can rest assured that the home that you are buying met certain minimum standards because the contractors have to pull permits and the building gets inspected. That is not the case in Portugal. You don’t have to pull permits for electrical or any sort of requirement here in Portugal in order to build something. If you sell or rent a property, you have to get an Energy Certification, which is done by an engineer but it doesn’t really tell you much about the quality of the electrical installation of the building or the house.

 

It’s the local government that issues construction licenses and building permits, as opposed to the central government. Most of these guys are as corrupt as they come. You could find a builder who pays someone at the local municipality not to come around. If you are having an argument with your neighbor, you could probably go to the municipality and say, “Hey, look, these guys are putting this swimming pool in. Is this on the building permit?” It’s sort of like the “wild west.”

 

(Traditional houses in Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)

The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings.

 

We do not use a lot of wood. Instead, we use...

The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings.

 

We do not use a lot of wood. Instead, we use a lot of stones and we use a lot of bricks, so the construction in Portugal is very, very solid.

 

In Portugal, we have a very traditional culture; we tend to stick to the past. The things that worked in the past, we still use them today. So therefore, houses built out of wood or pre-fabricated houses do not have success in Portugal, even though they are very good and very warm.

 

When Portuguese look for a house and they knock on the wall and if the house is made of wood, they will not buy it.  The Portuguese are really used to the thick walls that keep the heat within the house in winter and outside the house in the summer. For that reason we are really, really stuck with the old traditional ways of constructing houses.

 

The foundation of the house is the most important element of the building, and it’s the most expensive part of the building. We had an earthquake in 1755 in Portugal and just the coastal area was affected. The rest of the country didn’t have any other problems. So yes, for many years, we are very proud of the way we construct and build properties in our land.  

 

(Thick walled construction of centuries old Portuguese buildings, pictured.)