A damp patch on the living-room wall, a roof letting water in, a main pipe dripping in the garage. In a building under horizontal property (condomínio), who decides and who pays for the repair is not just you: it is the co-owners’ meeting, through the administrator. This guide explains how that decision is made, which majorities the law asks for, what to do when the work is urgent or the administrator does nothing, and what changes for tenants.
Updated 3 November 2026. General information, not a substitute for legal advice.
The essentials
- The roof, structure, load-bearing walls and main pipes are common parts (Código Civil, article 1421). The meeting decides the repair and everyone pays.
- The general voting rule is a majority of votes representing the capital invested (article 1432(5)). Each owner votes in proportion to their permilagem share (article 1430(2)).
- The owner of the flat at the date of the decision pays, in proportion to the flat’s value (article 1424(1)).
- Urgent work: if the administrator is absent or prevented, any owner can have the repair done (article 1427).
- Tenants: as a rule the landlord handles maintenance (article 1074(1)). The tenant warns the landlord at once.
Whose wall is it
Article 1421 lists as common the structure, load-bearing walls, roof, roof terraces and general installations. Article 1420 adds that an owner cannot give up a common part to escape maintenance costs.
To see where your flat ends, look at the constitutive deed (título constitutivo), which describes each flat and its percentage or permilagem (article 1418). If water enters through an outer wall, the roof or a main pipe, the case belongs to the condominium. To find where the water comes from, start with damp walls: three types.
Who decides and with what votes
| Decision | Votes needed | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Repair or maintenance of common parts | Majority of votes of the capital invested | 1432(5) |
| Work that counts as an innovation | Majority of owners representing two thirds of the building’s value | 1425(1) |
| Second meeting, quorum not reached | Majority of those present, representing at least a quarter of the value | 1432(6) |
| Matters the law requires unanimously | Unanimity (special rules) | 1432(4) and (8) |
Repairing what exists is maintenance. Adding something new, such as a protection the building never had, may be an innovation. Where the law draws the line for external thermal insulation we could not confirm.
The meeting. It meets every year in the first half of January for accounts and budget (article 1431(1)). It also meets if the administrator calls it, or if owners with at least 25% of the capital ask (paragraph 2). The notice goes by registered letter, 10 days ahead, with date, time, place and agenda (article 1432(1) and (4)).
The administrator: what they must do
The administrator is elected and dismissed by the meeting (article 1435(1)). Article 1436 includes acts to protect rights over common property (point g), carrying out decisions within 15 working days unless another deadline is set (point i), and acting in urgent situations, calling an extraordinary meeting at once (point r). For extraordinary maintenance they must present at least three quotes from different sources, unless the rules or the meeting decide otherwise (paragraph 2).
If they do nothing. An administrator who fails their duties is civilly liable for the omission (article 1436(3)). Any owner can ask the court to dismiss them for irregularities or negligence (article 1435(3)). If the meeting elects no administrator, the court appoints one at any owner’s request (paragraph 2).
Urgent work (article 1427)
Urgent repairs remove, in the short term, defects or pathologies in the common parts that could at any moment cause or worsen damage to the building or to goods, or endanger people. The law gives any owner the initiative, but only if the administrator is absent or prevented. So write to the administrator first and keep the reply, or the lack of one.
The law does not say how to collect from the other owners what you advanced. We read no case law: get legal advice before paying for a big job.
Money: shares and reserve fund
Each condominium must have a reserve fund for maintenance, with at least 10% of each owner’s share of the other expenses, held in a bank and managed by the meeting (Decreto-Lei 268/94, article 4). If used for another purpose, it is replenished within 12 months. When you sell, the administrator issues the statement of condominium debts within 10 days (article 1424-A and article 1436(1)(q)).
If you disagree with a decision
Decisions contrary to the law or the rules can be annulled at the request of an owner who did not approve them. You have 10 days from the meeting (or from notification, if absent) to demand an extraordinary meeting, held within 20 days. You may also take it to an arbitration centre within 30 days. The annulment action expires 20 days after the extraordinary meeting or, if you did not ask for one, 60 days after the decision (article 1433). Julgados de Paz (small local courts) and their value limits are covered in our guide on a leak from upstairs.
If you are a tenant
The landlord carries out maintenance, ordinary or extraordinary, unless the contract says otherwise (article 1074(1)). The tenant may do works only if the contract allows or the landlord authorises in writing (paragraph 2). The tenant must warn the landlord at once about defects (article 1038(h)). In an urgent repair where the landlord is late, the tenant may do it and claim reimbursement (article 1036). See also painting before renting or selling.
Step by step
- Photograph and date the damp; note when it appears (rain, water use).
- Write to the administrator with the photos and ask for an inspection and an agenda item.
- If there is risk, ask for an extraordinary meeting (25% of the capital) or invoke article 1427.
- At the meeting, ask for quotes and have the minutes record the deadline.
- Paint only after the repair and when the wall is dry: peeling paint and stains.
What we could not confirm
- The exact boundary between a common wall and your flat in each building: it depends on the deed.
- Whether a type of work (external insulation, for example) is maintenance or innovation.
- How to recover what an owner advanced for urgent work.
- How courts decide these cases. We did not read case law.
Sources (read on 3 November 2026)
- Diário da República, Código Civil, consolidated version: articles 1036, 1038, 1074, 1418, 1420, 1421, 1424, 1424-A, 1425, 1427, 1430 to 1433, 1435 and 1436.
- Diário da República, Decreto-Lei 268/94, consolidated version: article 4.
- Julgados de Paz (Lei 78/2001): cited through our leak guide, not re-read here.