A brown stain on the bathroom ceiling, paint bubbling in a corner, water dripping from the light fitting. When the water comes from the flat above, the first question is who pays for the repair and the repaint. The answer depends on where the leak starts: inside the neighbour’s flat or in a common part of the building. This guide explains what the Portuguese Civil Code (Código Civil) says, what home insurance usually covers and what you can do if you cannot agree.
Updated 3 November 2026. General information, not a substitute for legal advice.
The short version
- Find the source first. If the water comes from a pipe, cistern or bath in the flat above, the owner of that flat is normally responsible. If it comes from the roof, a roof terrace or a shared water riser, it is a common part and a matter for the condominium.
- Whoever causes the damage pays for it (Article 483 of the Civil Code), and the repair must put things back as they would have been without it (Article 562).
- Common parts are paid by share, in proportion to the value of each flat, the permilagem (Article 1424).
- Home insurance can help, but does not cover everything. Slow seepage, damp and condensation are usually excluded, according to DECO PROteste, the consumer association.
- Tell your insurer in writing within eight days, according to the ASF, the insurance supervisor.
- You have three years to claim compensation, counted from when you learnt of your right (Article 498).
Where the water comes from decides everything
Each owner has exclusive ownership of their flat (fração) and co-owns the common parts (Article 1420). Article 1421 lists as common, among others, the building’s structure, the roof or roof terraces, even when only one flat uses them, and the general water, electricity and gas installations.
| Likely source | Who is normally responsible | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Pipe, tap, cistern, washing machine or bath seal inside the flat above | Owner of the flat above | Articles 483 and 493 |
| Building’s water riser or main drain | Condominium | Articles 1421(1)(d) and 1424 |
| Roof or roof terrace | Condominium | Articles 1421(1)(b) and 1424 |
| Roof terrace reserved for one flat | Condominium, with its own sharing rule | Articles 1421(3) and 1424(6) |
The line between a flat’s own pipes and the building’s pipes is not always clear. Ask the plumber, or the insurer’s assessor, to put in writing where the break is.
When the leak is in the neighbour’s flat
Article 483 is the general rule: whoever breaches another’s right intentionally or through fault must pay compensation. As a rule the injured party proves fault (Article 487), unless the law presumes it.
Article 493(1) is one such presumption: anyone who has a thing in their keeping, with a duty to watch over it, answers for the damage it causes unless they prove they were not at fault or that the damage would have happened anyway. It can be argued for pipes inside a home, but whether it applies to your case is for a judge to decide.
Article 492 deals with buildings that collapse, wholly or partly, because of a construction defect or poor upkeep. An ordinary leak is not a collapse, so this is rarely the rule that settles a leak case.
If the neighbour above is a tenant, they must tell their landlord at once when they learn of a defect in the property (Article 1038(h)). Speak to both.
When the source is a common part
Fixing the roof or a shared riser is an upkeep cost of the common parts, paid by the owners in proportion to the value of their flats (Article 1424(1)). You pay your share too, even though you suffered the damage. If a common part serves only some owners, those owners pay (paragraph 3). For roof terraces reserved for one flat, paragraph 6 shares the repair by permilagem when their poor state affects other common parts, unless the problem comes from something the terrace user did.
Emergencies. The building manager (administrador) must step in when urgency demands it and call an extraordinary owners’ meeting at once (Article 1436(1)®). If there is no manager, or the manager cannot act, any owner may have essential and urgent repairs done on the common parts (Article 1427): repairs that remove, within a short time, faults that could at any moment cause or worsen damage to the building or to property.
What insurance does
According to the ASF, the only compulsory home insurance is fire insurance in buildings divided into flats under horizontal property (Article 1429 of the Civil Code). It covers fire, not water.
Multi-risk home insurance (multirriscos habitação) is optional. The ASF says it can cover damage to the building, your own flat or other flats, and include civil liability, which pays for damage the policyholder causes to others. So the upstairs neighbour’s policy may pay for your repair, or your own may pay and then recover the cost from whoever is liable.
DECO PROteste explains that water damage cover pays when the water system bursts, blocks or overflows, including walls and floors, and that slow seepage, damp and condensation are usual exclusions. Some policies pay to find the fault, others do not.
After an incident, the ASF says you must report it in writing within eight days at most, limit the damage, avoid disturbing the evidence without the insurer’s consent (as far as reasonable) and give the information asked for. For complaints against an insurer, the ASF points to CIMPAS, the insurance arbitration centre, and to the consumer arbitration centres.
Checklist for this week
- Limit the damage. Switch off the power to the wet area if water is near lights or sockets. Move furniture away.
- Photograph and date the ceiling, walls, floor and furniture, and repeat over the following days.
- Talk to the neighbour above and ask them to check the bathroom, kitchen and appliances. If a common part may be involved, write to the manager.
- Notify your insurer within eight days and ask the neighbour to notify theirs.
- Keep everything in writing: emails, the plumber’s report, quotes, invoices.
- Only repaint once the cause is fixed and the wall is dry. See why in peeling paint, bubbles and stains.
If you cannot agree
The Julgados de Paz, small local courts, hear claims up to 15,000 euros (Article 8 of Lei n.º 78/2001), including claims about owners’ rights and duties in a condominium and claims for civil liability (Article 9). For disputes between owners, they cannot hear the case if the owners’ meeting has decided such disputes go to arbitration. Parties attend in person and may bring a lawyer, who is only compulsory on appeal (Article 38). Above that amount, or where there is no Julgado de Paz, the route is the ordinary courts.
After the water: repair and repaint
A ceiling that has been wet may be left with yellow stains, salts or mould. Mould is dealt with by removing the cause and cleaning, never with paint alone: see mould on walls. If white powder appears, read the guide on salt on walls. If you are not sure whether it is a leak or condensation, read damp walls: the three types. For paint quantity, use the calculator, and ask for itemised quotes, because whoever pays will want them: see how to compare painting quotes.
What we could not confirm
- Whether there is a Julgado de Paz in your municipality. They do not cover the whole country. Check before you start.
- The terms of your policy. Exclusions, excesses and leak detection vary between insurers.
- Agreements between insurers for settling water damage between flats. We did not read any official document on this.
- How courts decide similar cases. We did not read case law for this guide.
Sources (read on 3 November 2026)
- Diário da República, Código Civil, consolidated version (Decreto-Lei n.º 47344): Articles 483, 487, 492, 493, 498, 562, 1038, 1420, 1421, 1424, 1427, 1429 and 1436.
- Diário da República, Lei n.º 78/2001, de 13 de julho, Julgados de Paz, consolidated version: Articles 8, 9 and 38.
- ASF, Consumer Portal, Seguro de Habitação, FAQ: compulsory insurance, multi-risk cover, duties after an incident.
- ASF, Consumer Portal, Meios de Resolução de Litígios: CIMPAS, consumer arbitration, Julgados de Paz.
- DECO PROteste, Como escolher um seguro multirriscos-habitação: water damage and exclusions (page undated).