The CPCV (contrato-promessa de compra e venda) is the promissory contract signed between the offer and the escritura. It’s where the deposit goes down and where your room to walk away gets much smaller. Almost everything a buyer can still change, they change before this signature.
Why the CPCV matters
The deposit is usually paid as a sinal. Under article 442 of the Civil Code, if the buyer pulls out the seller keeps it, and if the seller pulls out they pay it back double. Deposits of 10 to 20 percent are common, sometimes more. On a €400,000 house, 10 percent is €40,000 that depends on what you knew when you signed.
An inspection after the CPCV still tells you what you’re taking on. It just gives you far less to negotiate with.
The building
Book the inspection before you sign. We look at the roof and parapets, damp, structural movement, timber floors and beams, electrics, plumbing, drainage and windows, and in an apartment the common parts as well. Every material finding comes with a cost range, so you can see which problems matter to the price and which are maintenance.
We can usually be on site within five to seven days of booking. The report follows within 48 hours, or within 24 hours with the express option (€150 + IVA).
The paperwork your lawyer should have
- Certidão permanente (land registry): who owns it, and any mortgages or charges.
- Caderneta predial (tax record): compare the areas and rooms with what’s actually there.
- Título or autorização de utilização: since 1 October 2026 the deed must say whether it exists. See what DL 108/2026 changed.
- Certificado energético: needed for the sale.
- Ficha técnica da habitação for newer homes, if there is one.
- In an apartment: the last two or three years of condominium minutes, any approved works, the reserve fund balance and the administrator’s statement of anything owed. Here’s why that matters.
Put the inspection in the contract
If you can’t inspect before signing, don’t sign a CPCV that leaves you nowhere to go. Ask your lawyer to make it conditional: a set number of days for an inspection, and the right to renegotiate or withdraw with the deposit returned if it finds defects above an agreed figure. Some sellers will refuse. Then you decide whether to inspect quickly before signing or let it go.
If the deadline is tight
Tell us the CPCV date when you book and we’ll tell you straight whether we can make it. Slots near signing dates fill first, so message us when you have a date rather than waiting on the paperwork. You don’t need to be in Portugal: we arrange access, inspect, send the report and go through it with you on a call.
See a real report before you book, or read what the pre-purchase inspection covers.
General information, not legal advice. Your lawyer drafts and reviews the CPCV.
Thinking of buying — or stuck with a problem?
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