What law we rely on. And what we don't.

1 · The empreitada regime (Civil Code arts. 1207–1230)

The contract by which one party undertakes to perform a work for a price — a renovation, a kitchen, a refurbishment — is governed by Civil Code arts. 1207 to 1230. Consolidated text at diariodarepublica.pt.

Article	What it does	Where it appears in your pack
1207	Defines empreitada	Contract identification
1208	Duty to perform without defects	Definition of breach
1218	Inspection and acceptance	Implicit-acceptance risk — captured in diagnostic
1219	Acceptance without reservation knowing of defects	Partial disqualifier
1220	30-day denouncement (non-buildings)	Deadline calculation
1221	Right to repair or new construction	Structure of the demand in the notice
1222	Price reduction or termination	Subsidiary remedies
1223	Cumulative damages	Final claims
1224	General caducidade (1+2 years)	Absolute outer limit, non-buildings
1225	5-year regime for buildings	Deadline calculation for most cases
1226	Subcontractor regress	Chain of responsibility
1229	Owner's withdrawal	Distinguishes withdrawal vs termination

2 · The order of remedies — Supreme Court ruling STJ 03B1045

The Supreme Court ruling STJ 03B1045 (dgsi.pt) confirmed the strict order: repair → new construction → price reduction → termination. And confirmed that termination requires a prior formal notice with deadline. This sequence is the skeleton of the notice letter we generate.

3 · Consumer Law (Lei 24/96)

When the homeowner is a consumer (natural person, own use) and the contractor is a professional, Lei 24/96 (consolidated text) stacks on top of the Civil Code regime.

• Art. 2 — definition of consumer (homeowner qualifies)
• Art. 4 — right to quality
• Art. 8 — right to information
• Art. 12 — right to damages
• Art. 16 — non-derogable consumer protections

We apply this whenever the diagnostic confirms B2C status.

4 · DL 84/2021 (transposing EU Directive 2019/771)

Decree-Law 84/2021 covers goods supplied within an empreitada when the homeowner is a consumer. It extends warranties and deadlines applicable to certain defects.

Doctrine and secondary sources suggest a 10-year warranty for structural defects of immovables, but the consolidated text must be confirmed by a Portuguese lawyer before the product invokes that deadline in your letter. Until then, our notice relies only on the CC art. 1225 regime (5 years) — conservatively.

5 · How the law turns delay into definitive breach

Two central articles:

• CC art. 805 — delay (mora) starts when the debtor is formally interpellated (in or out of court)
• CC art. 808 — the formal notice (interpelação admonitória) converts delay into definitive non-performance, opening the door to terminating the contract

Our template letter contains the 6 elements that doctrine and case law require for a valid formal notice:

1. Identification of the parties and the contract
2. Description of the breach
3. Express demand for performance (with specific remedy)
4. Reasonable deadline (15 days for repair, 30 days for substantial completion; not below 8–10 days except in extreme cases)
5. Warning ("failing which" — converts delay into definitive non-performance)
6. Express reservation of rights

6 · Caducidade vs prescrição

• Caducidade (CC arts. 328–333) — extinguishes the right itself. Applied ex officio. The deadlines in CC arts. 1220, 1224 and 1225 are all caducidade. Hence merciless.
• Prescrição (CC arts. 298–327) — extinguishes the right to enforce, but not the right itself. Must be invoked by the debtor; can be interrupted.

When our deadline dashboard says "expires in N days", it always refers to caducidade. It cannot be paused by a letter. It can, however, be respected — the formal denouncement is sent before the deadline.

7 · Contractor identity and licensing

We validate, in the diagnostic, automatically:

• NIF/NIPC (tax ID) via portaldasfinancas
• IMPIC alvará / título de registo via impic.pt — Lei 41/2015
• Justice publications via publicacoes.mj.pt — insolvency, dissolution, ownership changes

An unlicensed contractor does not automatically void the contract. It is strong evidence of fault, generates an IMPIC sanction, but the homeowner keeps their contractual rights.

8 · Duty to issue an invoice

VAT Code art. 29 nº 1 al. b). The contractor must issue an invoice, whether you ask or not. Failing to do so is a tax offence.

Complaint via AT e-balcão — free, online, triggers a tax inspection.

9 · Evidence

• CC art. 368 — mechanical reproductions (photos, video, audio) have full probative value if not challenged
• CPC art. 552 — structure of the statement of claim; we map our case file 1:1 to this article
• CPC arts. 467–489 — expert reports (when there's structural value)
• WhatsApp — admissible under CC 368 + CPC 607 nº 5

We preserve original metadata (EXIF) and SHA-256 hashes for every file you upload — the chain-of-custody backbone of your pack.

10 · Where complaints go

• Centros de Arbitragem de Consumo — free or symbolic, binding. Official list at DGPJ.
• Julgado de Paz (small-claims tribunal) — up to €15,000. €35 per party, ~2.5 months on average. gov.pt
• Tribunal Judicial — common civil action — above €5,000 lawyer representation is mandatory.
• Criminal complaint (queixa-crime) — in parallel, when fraud markers exist. Penal Code arts. 217 and 218. PSP/GNR or queixaselectronicas.mai.gov.pt.