It was a commitment by the Government, eagerly awaited by professionals in the construction and real estate sectors. The Draft Legislative Authorization Bill for the revision of the RJUE was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic earlier this month. In the document, which already includes the authorized Decree-Law, the Government explains that the proposed changes aim to resolve “difficulties in coordination and application by the various entities involved,” particularly within the scope of the RJUE.
In line with the 2024 Urban Simplex (Decree-Law No. 10/2024, of January 8), this revision simplifies procedures, shortens deadlines, but balances the equation with greater accountability for stakeholders. The Government explicitly states that “the progressive simplification of procedures (...) needs to be accompanied by a proportional increase in their [i.e., the stakeholders'] self-responsibility.” Thus, in most urban development operations to be carried out in areas where urban parameters are effectively defined, it is expected that the interested party will be able to proceed with their execution after submitting prior notification, without being dependent on any administrative act. This is because prior notification of urban development operations “must include an effective assumption of responsibility by the interested party,” “either by providing the necessary supporting documentation or by fully complying with the legal and regulatory standards applicable to the operation.”
The analysis to be carried out by municipal services “must take place at a single point in time and focus on the formal and material validity of urban development operations as a whole,” without prejudice to the “possibility of monitoring, at any time, the compliance of operations with the projects presented.” In this regard, “municipal resources for successive control and systematic inspection actions should be strengthened, as well as mechanisms for effectively holding developers accountable in the event of non-compliance.”
Depending on the urban development operation in question, the proposal provides for joint and several liability not only for developers and owners of the work, but also for contractors, construction managers, and those responsible for supervision.
The expiry period for successive municipal checks on the legal and regulatory compliance of projects is substantially reduced, from ten years after prior notification to one year from the date of payment of the fees and charges due, or, if earlier, from the start of use of the property. On the other hand, it is clarified that “the scope of municipal supervision regarding safety and health concerns construction, and situations of irregular rental and others that are not within the municipal jurisdiction must be reported to the legally competent authorities for the matter.”
Decision deadlines are drastically reduced
With this revision, prior information continues to be considered a “preferential procedure” for confirming the viability of urban development operations. This instrument, “when it covers all the necessary urban planning parameters,” guarantees a “secure framework” that allows for exemption from prior licensing or notification, in addition to ensuring “greater speed in execution.”
In terms of licensing, the overall deadlines indexed to the gross construction area are eliminated and “the relevance of intermediate deadlines” is reinstated, to “allow for adjustment to the actual complexity of the operations.”
All decision deadlines are drastically reduced and, once the deadlines have passed, applications are considered tacitly approved. To respond to Simple Prior Information Requests (PIP), the City Council (CM) will now have a deadline of 15 days and, for qualified PIPs, 20 days (or 45, when referring to subdivision operations).
The CM shall decide on the licensing application within a maximum period of 20 days in the case of building and demolition works, 30 days in the case of urbanization works and land remodeling works, and 45 days in the case of subdivision operations. The deadlines “may be exceptionally extended once only and by half of that period,” but only in situations of “particular complexity of the operation, namely in the case of subdivision operations involving urbanization works.”
One of the most important changes is the requirement to submit all supporting documents and opinions from external entities in the initial application. In addition, only one submission of changes to the project will be accepted following the preliminary hearing of the interested parties, when the aim is to correct any non-conformities detected.
At the same time, the deadline for declaring the administrative acts provided for in the RJUE null and void is reduced from ten years to one year.
With regard to fees, the possibility of payment by self-assessment is extended, which is permitted not only in the context of prior notification and exempt transactions, but also following the tacit approval of the request. Also in this context, the option for alternative forms of payment to the Public Administration Payment Platform is reinstated, “in order to ensure the gradual adaptation of municipalities.”
Return of the concept of "urban title"
When conducting legal transactions involving the transfer of ownership of urban buildings, the contract must state whether or not the property has an urban title. This revives the concept of a ‘title’ as a document which, “in the interests of legal certainty and the evidentiary effectiveness required in relation to third parties,” must contain a summary of the essential elements of the urban development operation in question and, in the case of a license and prior notification, proof of payment of the fees and other charges due. According to the proposal, this title “must be accepted as sufficient evidence for the legitimacy of the execution of the respective operation and for other legal purposes, including in the field of real estate transactions.”
Bill No. 48/XVII/1 was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on December 2. If approved, the respective authorized Decree-Law is expected to come into force on the first working day of the third month following its publication, applying to procedures that begin after that date.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Image credits: © Ashkan Forouzani | Unsplash
