Water is getting into your home and the source seems to be the flat above. Talking to the neighbour comes first, but a chat on the stairs leaves no proof. This guide shows the order in which to contact the neighbour and the building administrator, what evidence to gather, how to send a registered letter with proof of delivery, and gives a model letter you can adapt. For who pays for the repair, see leak from upstairs: who pays. Here the subject is how to ask.
Updated on 4 November 2026. General information, not a substitute for legal advice.
The essentials
- Talk first, then write. A simple conversation settles many cases, but only what is in writing can be proved later.
- Write to the administrator if the source may be a common part (roof, main riser, main drain). Under the Código Civil (Civil Code), it is the administrator’s job to carry out conservation acts on common parts (article 1436.º).
- A letter only counts if it arrives. Under article 224.º of the Código Civil, a declaration addressed to someone takes effect when it reaches them or becomes known to them. So send it in a way that proves delivery.
- Tell your insurer in writing within eight days of learning of the damage, according to the ASF (the insurance supervisor).
- Photograph everything, with dates. Without proof of the damage and how it develops, any claim is weak.
- The time limit to claim compensation is three years (article 498.º), but do not wait for it.
Before you write: what you need to know
Answer three questions, even if only as probabilities:
- Where does the water come from? If you do not know, do not accuse anyone. Ask for a check. The letter can say “I suspect the source is in your flat” without stating it as certain. To tell a pipe from other causes, see how to find a water leak in a wall.
- Who is the recipient? The owner of the flat above or, if it is rented, the tenant and the landlord. Article 1038.º of the Código Civil requires a tenant to tell the landlord when they know of a defect in the home. Write to both if you know who they are.
- Could it be a common part? If so, the letter also goes to the administrator. See damp in the common parts of a building.
Evidence to gather
- Photos and video of the ceiling, walls and floor, with the date visible or stored in the file. Repeat over the days to show whether the stain grows.
- A written report from the plumber or technician who saw the leak, with its location and likely cause. Ask for one whenever someone visits.
- Quotes and invoices for repair and painting. Ask for itemised quotes: see how to compare painting quotes. To estimate paint, use the calculator.
Step by step: from phone call to letter
- Limit the damage. Move furniture away and switch off electricity in the wet area if water runs near lights or sockets.
- Take photos before cleaning or touching anything.
- Talk to the neighbour and ask them to check the bathroom, kitchen and appliances. Confirm what was said by message.
- If the source may be common, write to the administrator. The law provides that the administrator acts in urgent situations and immediately calls an extraordinary meeting to ratify what was done (article 1436.º, point r)). If the administrator is absent, any owner may have essential and urgent repairs done to the common parts (article 1427.º).
- Notify your insurer and ask the neighbour to notify theirs.
- Send the letter if there is no reply or solution. A deadline of 8 to 15 days to reply is reasonable, but that is our suggestion, not a legal deadline.
- Paint only once the cause is fixed and the wall is dry. See painting after repairing a leak.
Model letter
Adapt the fields in square brackets. Describe what you saw, not what you think of the neighbour.
Subject: water infiltration in my flat, probably originating in yours
[Place and date]
Dear [recipient’s name] [Address of the flat above]
I, [full name], owner [or tenant] of flat [letter/floor] in the building at [address], am writing to tell you the following.
Since [date you noticed] there have been signs of water on the [bathroom ceiling / living room wall]: [short description, for example stain, blistered paint, dripping]. I enclose [number] photographs dated [dates]. From the position of the stain, I suspect the source is in your flat, although I cannot say so for certain.
I ask you, by [date], to check the plumbing, bathroom, kitchen and appliances in your flat and to tell me the result. I am available for a joint visit on [possible dates and times].
I also ask you to report the situation to your home insurer and to give me the insurer’s name and the policy number.
If the source is confirmed, I will ask for the damage to my flat to be repaired, as the law provides. I reserve the right to use legal remedies if no solution is found.
Yours sincerely, [signature] [name, address, phone, email]
Sent by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt. Copy to the building administrator [if applicable].
To the administrator, ask them to check whether the source is in a common part.
How to send it
- Registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (aviso de receção). This is the signed slip that comes back to you showing the letter was delivered. Keep the registration receipt, the copy of the letter and the slip.
- Email or message as a complement, not a replacement. It gives you dates and can speed up a reply.
Insurance
According to the ASF, after a claim event you must notify in writing within eight days at most, limit the damage and not alter traces without the insurer’s permission. For what home insurance usually does and does not cover, see home insurance, damp and leaks.
If there is no agreement
The Julgados de Paz (small local justice courts) decide cases up to 15,000 euros and include disputes between owners and civil liability claims (Lei n.º 78/2001, articles 8.º and 9.º). A summary of Portaria n.º 342/2019 gives a fee of 70 euros, paid at the end by the losing party, and 25 euros per party if an agreement reached in mediation is approved. Confirm these figures, and that a Julgado de Paz exists in your municipality, before you go ahead.
What we could not confirm
- The text of article 224.º directly in the Diário da República. We read the sentence quoted in a Coimbra Court of Appeal ruling.
- The CTT (Portuguese post) page on acknowledgement of receipt. We did not read it. The description above is general.
- The current pre-mediation rule in the Julgados de Paz. Check with the court for your area.
- The terms of your policy. They vary between insurers.
Sources (read on 4 November 2026)
- Tribunal da Relação de Coimbra, ruling of 29-11-2011, Apelação n.º 32/10.0T2AVR.C1: quotation of article 224.º n.º 1 of the Código Civil.
- Informador, Código Civil, article 1436.º, administrator’s functions: points and n.º 3 (civil liability for omission). Official Diário da República text not opened.
- Diário da República, Código Civil (Decreto-Lei n.º 47344): articles 498.º, 1038.º and 1427.º, cited through our guide leak from upstairs, not read directly.
- Diário da República, Lei n.º 78/2001, Julgados de Paz: articles 8.º and 9.º, cited through the same guide.
- ASF, Seguro de Habitação: eight days, cited through the same guide (the page asked for an anti-robot check and did not open today).
- ECIJA, Portaria n.º 342/2019, of 1 October: summary of Julgados de Paz fees. The Diário da República text did not open.