News
New Cartaxo PDM published: in force from 30 July
Update of 30 July 2026: the PDM is in force as of today. Every new application in the municipality is now assessed under this plan. As for the RJUE, mentioned at the end of this piece, the decree-law postponing the revision to 1 October 2026 was approved in the Council of Ministers on 23 July but, at the date of this update, had still not been published in the Diário da República. The date legally in force remains 3 August 2026.
It is official. The 1st revision of the Cartaxo Municipal Master Plan (PDM) was published today in the Portuguese official gazette through Aviso no. 18829/2026/2 (Diário da República no. 145/2026, 2nd series, Part H, of 29 July 2026). The plan enters into force on the first working day after publication, that is, on 30 July 2026.
We wrote about this plan in June, when the municipal council and the municipal assembly approved it unanimously on 24 June. Now it leaves the paper stage: the rules we described become the rules that apply to every new application in the municipality.
What was published
The full package is out: the resolution, the regulation, the Land Use Plan (soil classification and qualification, municipal ecological structure, acoustic zoning and land use risk areas, heritage system) and the Constraints Plan (National Ecological Reserve, National Agricultural Reserve, rural fire hazard and others).
In practice this means it is now possible to confirm, map by map, the exact framework that applies to a specific plot.
The 1998 PDM and three detail plans have been revoked
Entry into force revokes:
- The 1998 Cartaxo PDM (Council of Ministers Resolution no. 5/98) and its amendments.
- The Detail Plan for the Casal Branco Business Park, in Pontével.
- The Detail Plan for Quinta da Várzea, in Pontével.
- The Detail Plan for the Cartaxo Business Park (ALE).
Anyone holding rights or live applications under the revoked plans does not lose them. Legally constituted plots keep the urban parameters and buildability conditions they already had, and urban operations already permitted or under construction continue to be governed by their own permits. That protection lasts until the permitted operation is altered or a new subdivision operation is submitted.
Acoustics: almost the whole municipality becomes a mixed zone
This is one of the changes with the most direct effect on design. The plan classifies as a mixed zone all urban soil (except areas designated for economic activities), the dispersed building areas and the areas for facilities and infrastructure. Outside urban soil, sensitive receivers, whether existing or to be licensed, are treated as a mixed zone.
There is one conditional exception for new residential buildings in consolidated urban areas. It only applies where the area is covered by a municipal noise reduction plan, where the limits are not exceeded by more than 5 dB(A), and where the acoustic design adopts airborne sound insulation 3 dB above the value required by the Portuguese Building Acoustic Requirements Regulation.
If you have projects under way in Cartaxo, check whether the acoustic zoning you assumed still holds. In several cases it does not.
Legalisations: dates now matter
The plan sets clear conditions for legalising buildings that diverge from the permitted uses or buildability regime of the land category they sit in. They must predate 22 January 1998, the date the original PDM took effect, or, if later, must at some point have fitted the planning rules in force at the time. Compliance with public easements and restrictions is also required, together with documentary proof of the construction date through mapping, orthophotos or topographic surveys.
Two regime changes in the same week
The calendar deserves attention. The new Cartaxo PDM takes effect on 30 July. Four days later, on 3 August, the new version of the urban planning and building regime (RJUE, Decree-Law no. 108/2026) takes effect and changes the licensing and prior notification procedure itself.
Anyone filing an application in Cartaxo in early August is working with a new municipal plan and a new procedure at the same time. This is the moment to confirm framework and supporting documents before filing, not after.
In short:
- Aviso no. 18829/2026/2, Diário da República no. 145/2026, 2nd series, of 29 July 2026.
- In force from 30 July 2026.
- The 1998 PDM and three detail plans revoked; acquired rights safeguarded.
- Mixed zone across almost all urban soil, except areas for economic activities.
- Legalisations conditional on the date and on the rules in force at the time.
- The new RJUE takes effect four days later, on 3 August.
Every plot is a separate case. If you have a project, a purchase or an investment under way in Cartaxo, confirm how the plan now in force applies. Talk to us at geral@certiamb.com or +351 910 441 470.