Owners' meetings in Portugal: notice, quorum and minutes

The owners' meeting (assembleia de condóminos) must meet once a year, in the first half of January, to approve the previous year's accounts and the current year's budget (Article 1431 of the Civil Code). It is called with 10 days' notice, by registered letter, by notice with a signed receipt, or by email for those who have agreed to it (Article 1432). Resolutions (deliberações) are, as a rule, passed by a majority of the votes representing the capital invested, are recorded in the minutes (ata) and only take effect once the minutes have been approved.

Ordinary and extraordinary meetings

The ordinary meeting is called by the condominium administrator and is used to discuss and approve the last year's accounts and the budget for the expenses to be incurred. Since Law 8/2022, it can be held in the first quarter of the year, instead of the first half of January, if the condominium regulations provide for it or it is approved by a majority at a meeting.

Extraordinary meetings (assembleias extraordinárias) are held whenever something needs deciding that cannot wait for the ordinary meeting: works, a serious insured incident, a change of management. They can be called by the administrator or by owners representing at least 25% of the capital invested (Article 1431(2)).

Owners can be represented by a proxy.

Notice of meeting: how and how far in advance

Article 1432 provides for three ways of calling a meeting:

1. Registered letter, sent 10 days in advance.
2. Notice of meeting (aviso convocatório) given with the same advance notice, provided the owners sign a receipt.
3. Email, for owners who have said they wish to receive it this way at a previous meeting, with that wish and the address recorded in the minutes. The owner must send an acknowledgement of receipt by the same means.

The notice of meeting (convocatória) must state the day, time, place and agenda (ordem de trabalhos), and give notice of any matters that can only be approved unanimously. Resolutions should only be passed on what is on the agenda: a vague item such as "any other business" is not enough to approve works or the use of the common reserve fund.

Quorum and majorities

Votes are not counted per head, but by each unit's permillage or percentage of the total value of the building, set out in the constitutive title (título constitutivo).

Decision	Majority required	Legal basis
General rule (accounts, budget, election of the administrator)	Majority of the votes representing the capital invested	Article 1432 CC
Second call	Majority of the votes of those present, provided they represent at least 1/4 of the total value	Article 1432 CC
Improvements (inovações)	Majority of owners representing 2/3 of the total value	Article 1425 CC
Lifts or piped gas, in buildings with at least 8 units	Majority of owners representing a majority of the total value	Article 1425 CC
Amending the constitutive title	Agreement of all owners	Article 1419 CC

Second call

If not enough owners attend and the notice of meeting did not set another date, a new meeting is deemed called for one week later, at the same time and place. At that meeting, resolutions are passed by a majority of the votes of the owners present, provided they represent at least a quarter of the total value of the building.

Law 8/2022 added an alternative: if there are conditions to ensure, on the day itself, the presence of owners representing a quarter of the total value of the building, the second meeting can be set for thirty minutes later, at the same place.

Meetings by video call

Whenever the management decides so or the majority of owners request it, the meeting is held by remote means, preferably by video call (Article 1-A of Decree-Law 268/94). If an owner is unable to take part this way, the management must provide them with the necessary means, otherwise the meeting cannot be held remotely.

In practice, many condominiums opt for hybrid meetings, with a physical room and a video link. Read more about the role of technology in condominium management.

The minutes

Resolutions must be recorded in minutes, drawn up and signed by whoever chaired the meeting and signed by the owners who took part (Article 1 of DL 268/94). The minutes should contain a summary of the essentials:

• date and place of the meeting;
• owners present and absent;
• matters considered;
• decisions taken, with the result of each vote;
• a statement that the minutes were read and approved.

The signature can be a qualified electronic signature or handwritten, placed on the original or on a scanned document with other signatures. Whether resolutions take effect depends on the minutes being approved, regardless of whether everyone has signed them.

Notifying absent owners. Resolutions must be communicated to absent owners within 30 days, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or, for those who have agreed to it, by email. For resolutions that require unanimity, the law provides a specific mechanism: they can be approved by all those present, provided they represent at least two thirds of the capital invested, subject to approval by the absent owners, who have 90 days to state their agreement or disagreement in writing. Silence counts as approval.

Well-drafted minutes are also the document that allows unpaid fees to be collected, when they state the amount each owner must pay and the due dates. See unpaid condominium fees.

Challenging a resolution

Resolutions that breach the law or previously approved regulations can be annulled at the request of any owner who did not approve them (Article 1433 of the Civil Code). The deadlines are short:

Step	Deadline
Ask the administrator for an extraordinary meeting to revoke the resolution	10 days, counted from the resolution (those present) or from its notification (those absent)
Holding that extraordinary meeting	Within 20 days
Refer the resolution to an arbitration centre	30 days, counted in the same way
Bring an action for annulment in court	20 days after the extraordinary meeting's resolution or, if one was not requested, 60 days after the date of the resolution

If you are thinking of challenging a resolution, take legal advice as soon as possible: time limits do not wait.

This article is for information only and does not replace legal advice on a specific case.

Meetings without surprises

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