Many customers ask whether they need a permit to put up a wooden garden house. The answer depends on the size, the height and the location. This guide summarises the general rule in Portugal, but it does not replace the information from your local council.
The general rule: works of minor urban significance
The Portuguese planning and building code (RJUE, Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99, as amended by Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024) exempts from prior control the obras de escassa relevância urbanística. These include buildings, whether or not adjoining the main building, that meet all three of these conditions at once:
- Height: no more than 2,2 m or, alternatively, no higher than the ground floor of the main building;
- Area: equal to or less than 10 m²;
- Location: they do not adjoin the public highway.
A garden house meeting all three conditions is, as a rule, exempt from a permit or prior notification. Above these limits a procedure with the local council is normally required.
What still applies
Exemption from prior control does not remove the obligation to comply with the other rules, for example:
- the Municipal Master Plan (PDM) and the municipal building and planning regulations, which may have their own requirements;
- public-interest easements and restrictions, such as land in the Reserva Agrícola Nacional (RAN) or the Reserva Ecológica Nacional (REN);
- listed buildings, or buildings in the process of being listed, and their protection zones, where the exemption does not apply;
- the rules of the development or the co-ownership, where these exist.
Garden houses up to 10 m²
These sizes in our range fall below 10 m² of external area:
- 130 x 180 cm (about 2,3 m²)
- 130 x 200 cm (about 2,6 m²)
- 180 x 180 cm (about 3,2 m²)
- 200 x 200 cm (about 4,0 m²)
- 220 x 220 cm (about 4,8 m²)
- 236 x 250 cm (about 5,9 m²)
- 236 x 368 cm (about 8,7 m²)
The height varies from model to model: check the total height on each product’s specification sheet. To choose the right size, see our size guide.
Before you order
- Ask your local council for information; many have an online planning desk.
- Confirm how the council measures area and height, for example whether a canopy counts towards the area.
- Check whether there are minimum distances to the boundaries of the plot.
- Keep the model’s specification sheet, in case the council asks for it.
This guide is for information only and reflects the legislation in force in September 2026. The rules can change and each municipality may have its own requirements. To see the models, visit the category garden houses or contact us.
