News
Setúbal PDM: new parameters for consolidated areas and parking
The 2nd amendment to the Plano Diretor Municipal (PDM) of Setúbal takes effect on 1 October 2026. It removes the building intensity index from the tables of seven consolidated sub-categories, raises the façade height limits in central and residential areas, and writes the minimum parking requirements into the plan itself. Assessing a plot or a project therefore means cross-checking the new tables against the buildability conditions and the mapping that apply to the site.
Aviso n.º 24171/2026/2, published in the Diário da República of 30 September, makes public the approval of the amendment by the Assembleia Municipal on 17 July 2026. The instrument contains both the amendments and the full republished regulation.
Building intensity index: what changes in the consolidated sub-categories
The tables in articles 120.º, 123.º, 126.º and 132.º no longer set a value for the índice de utilização (Iu) in the following consolidated sub-categories, which previously carried the values shown:
- Espaços Centrais: 1.5 → no Iu value;
- Espaços Habitacionais Tipo I: 0.5 → no Iu value;
- Espaços Habitacionais Tipo II: 1.5 → no Iu value;
- Espaços de Atividades Industriais: 0.5 → no Iu value;
- Espaços de Terciário: 0.5 → no Iu value;
- Espaços de Equipamentos: 0.5 → no Iu value;
- Espaços Turísticos: 0.5 → no Iu value.
The scope of the index is stated in the table headings: subdivision operations (loteamento) and urban operations of relevant or comparable impact. Under article 132.º(3) the table applies to operations of a private nature, without recognition of public utility (utilidade pública).
In the corresponding «a Consolidar» sub-categories the indices remain: 1.5 in Espaços Centrais and Habitacionais Tipo II, and 0.5 in the remaining sub-categories of the table. The Espaços Urbanos de Baixa Densidade keep their own regime, with an Iu of 0.3 for housing and 0.35 for the other uses set out in article 129.º.
Articles 120.º(4) and 123.º(9) carry a decisive condition: where the proposed development allows the building to be sited and extended into the interior of the plot, beyond the strip fronting the street, the plot becomes subject to the index laid down for the corresponding «a Consolidar» sub-category. Whether this condition applies has to be checked in the siting design. The rules on alignment, setbacks, integration with the surroundings and imperviousness applicable to each case also remain in force.
Façade heights and the relationship with the surroundings
The table maxima rise from 25 m to 28 m in Espaços Centrais, from 10 m to 12.5 m in Espaços Habitacionais Tipo I and from 25 m to 28 m in Habitacionais Tipo II. These values cover both the consolidated and the «a Consolidar» sub-categories.
The height permitted for any given project still depends on the remaining provisions of the regulation. For Tipo I, article 123.º(4) replaces the reference to the mode with the average of the façade heights in the surrounding area within the same sub-category, and adds a limit set by the tallest building in the urban context defined in the provision. This change affects how the height is determined, so it has to be read together with the new 12.5 m maximum.
Article 123.º(10) is also repealed. It allowed, under conditions, an exceptional maximum construction area of 150 m² on plots in Espaços Habitacionais Consolidados Tipo I smaller than 300 m² at the reference date set in that provision.
Parking requirements now sit in the PDM itself
Article 143.º is no longer confined to a cross-reference to the Regulamento de Edificação e Urbanização do Município de Setúbal (REUMS); it now contains a table of minimum parking provision. For housing, the main parameters are:
- single-family house with a construction area below 120 m²: 1 space per dwelling;
- single-family house with a construction area from 120 m² to 300 m², inclusive: 2 spaces per dwelling;
- single-family house with a construction area above 300 m²: 3 spaces per dwelling;
- multi-family housing T0 and T1: 1 space per dwelling;
- multi-family housing T2 and T3: 1.5 spaces per dwelling;
- multi-family housing T4, T5 and T6: 2 spaces per dwelling;
- multi-family housing above T6: 3 spaces per dwelling.
A further 20 % for public parking is added to the calculated total. Controlled-cost housing and housing for affordable rent carry a provision of 1 space per dwelling, plus 10 % for public parking. For multi-family housing without a stated typology, the table provides a separate calculation based on the average dwelling area.
For retail and services the provision is 1 space per 30 m² of construction area in establishments below 1000 m²; 1 per 25 m² between 1000 m² and 2500 m², inclusive; and 1 per 15 m² above 2500 m². For industry, logistics and warehousing it is 1 space per 75 m². These uses also carry parameters for heavy vehicles and an additional 20 % for public parking.
For the calculation, article 143.º(2) requires the construction area to be broken down by use and balconies covered by upper floors to be excluded.
Exceptions depend on the situations set out in article 143.º(5), on evidence and on technical justification. The change of use without extension in sub-paragraph (c), for instance, concerns existing buildings within Espaços Consolidados sub-categories. For classified buildings and the Centro Histórico sub-categories, sub-paragraph (a) ties the exception to vehicle access conditions and architectural compatibility, or to a change of use to housing. Where exceptions are allowed, article 143.º(6) provides for a contribution to the municipal environmental and urban sustainability fund, calculated on the number of spaces waived.
The new article 143.º-A requires a Traffic, Circulation, Transport and Parking Study for operations installing retail complexes and large retail units with more than 2500 m² of construction area. In other cases the municipal services may require one, including housing with at least 50 dwellings or more than 5000 m² of construction area, and tourism with at least 50 accommodation units or rooms.
Three detailed plans repealed
Article 163.º now lists among the repealed plans the Plano de Pormenor da Quinta do Picão, the Plano de Pormenor on the occupation of plots at the site known as Estacal, in Brejos de Azeitão (Casas de Azeitão), and the Plano de Pormenor de Vale de Mulatas.
In matters relating to these areas, the analysis has to take into account the planning decisions and authorisations already issued and their validity. Article 37.º of the regulation contains rules safeguarding rights arising from valid acts, with the conditions and reservations set out there, including those on lapse.
Land cessions, flooding and the road network
For housing, the cession parameters remain at 50 m² per 100 m² of construction area in consolidated areas and 60 m² in areas to be consolidated. Article 157.º now expressly includes public, controlled-cost and affordable-rent housing among the purposes of those cessions. The regime covers subdivisions and other operations of relevant or comparable impact; the table refers to areas not covered by a detailed plan or execution unit applying equalisation mechanisms.
Within the regime for Áreas de Risco Potencial Significativo de Inundações (ARPSI), article 15.º-D now expressly prohibits construction works and subdivisions on rural land in the Muito Alta/Alta hazard classes. It keeps the regime for the Média class, including the exception for agricultural support buildings used exclusively for farming. In the Baixa/Muito Baixa classes, for new buildings on rural land, the ban on basements remains and, separately, the ban on bedrooms below the flood level. These last rules were already in the 2025 amendment.
Article 15.º(9) now refers expressly to buildings «a construir»: in flood-prone or flood-threatened areas, the levels of the lower floors must sit above the 100-year return period flood, and this must be expressly stated in the licensing process.
On the road network, the minimum carriageway widths rise from 6.00 m to 6.50 m on the urban arterial road and from 5.50 m to 6.00 m on local and other urban roads, without prejudice to the specific situations provided for in article 142.º.
The instrument publishes five maps and amends provisions of Anexo 5 concerning UOPG and SUOPG. To assess a property, the land category and the general parameters have to be checked against the mapping, the constraints and the specific provisions for the area in question.
CertiAmb supports architecture and engineering projects in Setúbal. If you have a plot or an ongoing case in the municipality, get in touch to assess how this amendment applies to your project.
Sources
Aviso n.º 24171/2026/2 in the Diário da República →
Aviso n.º 15696/2025/2: previous wording of the Regulation →