The roof has been repaired and, in the first winter, water comes in again. What can you demand from the contractor, and until when? The answer lies mainly in the Código Civil (Portuguese Civil Code), in the rules on the empreitada (building works contract). The deadlines are short, and anyone who lets them pass loses rights. This guide explains the rules with the text of the law, tells you what to keep and gives a model letter for reporting defects.
Updated on 2 November 2026. General information, not legal advice. If a large sum is at stake, talk to a lawyer before letting any deadline pass.
The essentials
- Work on a roof is an empreitada (article 1207 of the Civil Code). The contractor must carry it out as agreed and without defects (article 1208).
- Inspect the work before accepting it. If you neither inspect nor report anything, the law treats the work as accepted (article 1218).
- Defect found: report it within 30 days (article 1220).
- You can demand that the defect be put right, and only then a price reduction or termination of the contract, plus compensation (articles 1221 to 1223).
- Works on buildings: the contractor is liable for defects that appear within five years of handover. The defect must be reported within one year and compensation claimed in the following year (article 1225).
- Tiles and materials supplied as part of the works are also covered by Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021, with adaptations.
Roof work is an empreitada
The Civil Code calls empreitada the contract in which one party undertakes to carry out a piece of work for a price (article 1207). The rules that matter to a homeowner:
- Work free of defects. The contractor must do the work as agreed and without defects that reduce its value or make it unfit for use (article 1208).
- Materials. If the contract says nothing, materials may not be of lower than average quality (article 1210).
- Changes without consent. If the contractor changes what was agreed without your consent, the work is treated as defective (article 1214).
- Keeping an eye on the work does not cost you rights. You may supervise the work at your own expense. This does not stop you from complaining later, unless you expressly agreed with what was done (article 1209).
- Price. If the contract says nothing, payment is due on acceptance of the work (article 1211).
At handover: inspect before accepting
Article 1218 requires the owner to inspect the work before accepting it, within the usual period or a reasonable one, and to report the result to the contractor. Either party may ask for the inspection to be done by experts, at their own cost. Failing to inspect or to report counts as acceptance.
The contractor is not liable for defects that the owner knew about and accepted without reservation. Visible defects are presumed to be known (article 1219). In practice:
- Ask to see the finished work before paying the last instalment.
- Photograph the roof, the gutters and the ceiling inside, with the date.
- If you see problems, write them down and accept with reservations, in writing.
The deadlines
| What to do | Deadline | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Report a defect to the contractor | 30 days after finding it | 1220 |
| Exercise your rights after refusing the work or accepting it with reservations | 1 year | 1224(1) |
| Unknown defect, work already accepted | 1 year from the report, and never more than 2 years after handover | 1224(2) |
| Building: defect appearing within 5 years of handover (or within the agreed warranty period) | Report within 1 year; claim compensation in the year after the report | 1225 |
Article 1225 applies to contracts for the construction, alteration or repair of buildings and other property built to last. It covers work that collapses or shows defects because of faults in construction or repair, or errors in carrying out the work. The same deadlines apply to a demand to put the defects right (paragraph 3).
These are caducidade (forfeiture) periods: once the deadline passes, the right is lost. If the contractor acknowledges the defect, that counts as reporting it (article 1220(2)).
Safe rule: report in writing as soon as you find the defect, and never later than 30 days.
What you can demand, and in what order
- Putting the defect right. If it cannot be put right, you can demand that the work be redone. These rights fall away if the cost is out of proportion to the benefit (article 1221).
- A price reduction or termination of the contract, if the defects are not put right and the work is not redone. Termination is only possible if the defects make the work unfit for its purpose (article 1222).
- Compensation for the damage, for example a ceiling spoiled by water, under the general rules (article 1223).
What about consumer law?
Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 applies, with the necessary adaptations, to goods supplied under a building works contract (article 3). For movable goods, such as tiles, membranes and gutters supplied by the contractor, the text provides:
- liability for lack of conformity appearing within three years of delivery (article 12);
- incorrect installation by the trader counts as lack of conformity (article 9);
- the right to repair or replacement, a price reduction or termination (article 15);
- notice is given by letter, email or any other means that leaves proof (article 12(5));
- the rights lapse two years after you report the defect (article 17);
- a clause that removes or limits these rights is void (article 51).
The 10-year and 5-year periods in the same decree-law (article 23) belong to the rules on buying a home, not to repairs.
The manufacturer’s warranty
The warranty a manufacturer gives on tiles or membranes is a commercial guarantee. It binds whoever gives it, on the terms of the guarantee statement and the advertising (article 43 of Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021). The statement must be in Portuguese and say what it covers, for how long, who the guarantor is and how to claim. It must say that your legal rights are not affected. If the producer guarantees durability, it is directly liable to you for repair or replacement.
Ask for the guarantee statement for the main materials and read the conditions before the work starts.
What to keep
- Quote, contract and any changes agreed in writing.
- Invoices and proof of payment.
- The company’s alvará or certificado number (see the guide to choosing a roofing contractor).
- Photographs before, during and after, with dates.
- Guarantee statements and declarations of performance for the materials.
- All messages and letters exchanged.
- A technician’s report, if the defect is disputed.
If the damage came from a storm and not from a fault in the work, the route is different: see the home insurance guide.
Model letter reporting defects
Send it by registered letter with proof of delivery (carta registada com aviso de receção) or by email with a read receipt, and keep a copy. The letter must be in Portuguese; the model below is the Portuguese text to use.
[Nome, morada e NIF]
[Nome e morada da empresa]
[Local], [data]
Assunto: Denúncia de defeitos na obra do telhado em [morada do imóvel]
Exmos. Senhores,
A V. empresa executou a obra no telhado do imóvel acima, segundo o orçamento n.º […] de [data] e a fatura n.º […] de [data]. A obra foi entregue a [data].
No dia [data] verifiquei os seguintes defeitos: [descrição, por exemplo «entrada de água no teto do quarto, junto à chaminé»]. Junto [número] fotografias.
Ao abrigo dos artigos 1220.º e seguintes do Código Civil, denuncio estes defeitos e peço a sua eliminação no prazo de [número] dias a contar da receção desta carta. Reservo todos os direitos que a lei me confere, incluindo a redução do preço e a indemnização.
Peço resposta por escrito.
Com os melhores cumprimentos,
[Assinatura]
In English, the letter says: the company carried out the roof work under quote no. […] and invoice no. […], handed over on [date]; on [date] you found the following defects (with photos attached); under articles 1220 and following of the Civil Code you report the defects and ask for them to be put right within [number] days of receipt; you reserve all your legal rights, including a price reduction and compensation; you ask for a written reply.
If the company does not reply
- Livro de Reclamações (official complaints book). Building companies are covered (Decreto-Lei n.º 156/2005). For an electronic complaint, the company must reply within 15 working days.
- Consumer arbitration. The list kept by the Direção-Geral do Consumidor (the consumer directorate) includes CNIACC, which covers the whole country, and regional centres. According to the PLMJ law firm’s note on Lei n.º 63/2019, for disputes up to 5,000 euros the consumer can make arbitration or mediation compulsory for the company.
- While an out-of-court settlement attempt is under way, the Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 deadline is suspended (article 17(2)).
What we could not confirm
- How the courts combine the Civil Code and Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 for roof work. We followed the text of both laws, not case law.
- When the one-year reporting period in article 1225 starts. The law says «within one year». To be safe, report straight away.
- Whether a small repair (replacing a few tiles) falls under article 1225 or only under articles 1220 and 1224.
- Whether Lei n.º 63/2019 has been amended. We did not read the text in the Diário da República.
- Changes to Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 after 2021. We read the original text.
- The actual conditions of tile and membrane manufacturers’ warranties.
Sources (read on 2 November 2026)
- Código Civil, consolidated version, Diário da República (articles 1207 to 1226; article 1225 as worded by Decreto-Lei n.º 267/94).
- Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021, de 18 de outubro, Diário da República (articles 2, 3, 9, 12, 15, 17, 22 to 25, 43, 51 and 52; original text).
- Decreto-Lei n.º 156/2005, republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 74/2017, 21 June 2017 (articles 2, 5-B and annex).
- Direção-Geral do Consumidor, list of consumer alternative dispute resolution bodies.
- PLMJ, Arbitragem e Mediação obrigatórias para conflitos de consumo, August 2019 (Lei n.º 63/2019, cited through this note).
- CNIACC, official website (information, mediation and arbitration, nationwide).