The new Decree-Law for Licensing Building Contractors.
The new Decree-Law will come into place 120 days from the publication date: 3rd of June 2015.
The new decree-law has been very polemical and has raised heated debates. The buildering contractor’s practicing license is known as the ‘alvará ’ in Portugal.
The previous law that regulated the building contractor’s practicing license in Portugal did not make a distinction between private and public works. That is there was only a single license for building contractors, whether they contracted on public or private sector works. Also the builder’s license was valid for a year only, and there was the role or figure of a general building contractor.
With the new decree-law, the building contractor with a public building contractor’s license can contract both on public and private sector projects, whereas a building contractor with a private building contractor’s license cannot tender on public works. The validity of the builders license is indeterminate, and the role of a general building contractor is no longer applicable.
Further changes have also been made to the technical capacity and capabilities of the building contractor which will now be evaluated on each individual project.
The governing body that controls and issues the licenses is the Institute for Building and Real Estate, known as the” Instituto da Construção e do Imobiliário.” [ InCI ]
