Structural Survey · Across Portugal

A structural survey before you buy in Portugal.

Cracks, movement, walls that have been opened up, roofs that have spread, ground that is moving. We read the structure the way a builder does before pricing the repair, put a cost range on what we find, and bring in a registered engineer when a finding needs one. From €490 + IVA, report in 24–48 hours.

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What a structural survey means here

There is no RICS in Portugal. Here is what you get instead.

UK buyers ask for a “structural survey” and American buyers ask for a “home inspection”. Portugal has neither as a regulated product. What exists is a builder who reads the building, and a registered engineer who signs off calculations when a finding needs one. We do the first and bring in the second when the building asks for it.

  • Cracks: pattern, width, age, whether they are moving
  • Walls out of plumb, bowing, bulging render
  • Floors that slope, bounce or have been patched
  • Lintels, beams and openings, including ones cut later
  • Roof structure: sag, spread, rot at the bearings
  • Rising and penetrating damp against the structure
  • Foundations and ground: drainage, trees, slopes, retaining walls
  • Previous repairs and what they were covering

How it runs. The structural checks are part of every pre-purchase inspection, from €490 + IVA. Where a finding needs calculations or a stamped opinion for the bank, the seller or a licensing application, we bring in a registered structural engineer and quote that as an add-on. The report tells you which case you are in.

€490 + IVA up to 150 m², €690 to 250 m², €890 to 400 m². Engineer’s assessment quoted per job. All prices.

Most cracks are cosmetic. The ones that matter are the ones that are still moving, the ones that go through the wall, and the ones in a house someone has already tried to hide. We measure, photograph and give you a cost range, and we say plainly when it needs an engineer before you sign.

When an engineer is needed

Three situations where we stop and call one in.

  1. Movement that is live. Stepped cracking in masonry that is open at the top, cracks that have reopened through a previous repair, doors and windows that have been planed to fit. A builder can see it. An engineer has to say what it means and what the fix is.
  2. Load-bearing walls altered or planned. Openings cut in the past without a lintel you can find, or a renovation plan that wants the ground floor opened up. The Câmara will want a stamped structural project for that anyway.
  3. Seismic questions in the south. Lisbon and the Algarve sit in a different seismic zone to the north. Older unreinforced masonry and some 1960s–80s concrete frames deserve a closer look before you commit. Background in buying in Lisbon and the Algarve.

We work with engineers registered with the Ordem dos Engenheiros, and their fee is quoted to you before anyone is instructed. You hold the engagement; we coordinate it and put their findings into plain English alongside ours.

Read first

The cracks that matter, and the ones that don’t.

If you have photos of a crack and want to know whether to worry, start with cracks in walls: which ones matter. Granite and stone houses have their own patterns, covered in damp in old stone houses. For what a full survey covers and costs, see building survey in Portugal.

Send the photos on WhatsApp if you want a first opinion before booking. We reply the same day.

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