How to Choose a Builder in the Algarve: A Checklist
By Veaceslav Rusu, founder of VRconstroi · Updated
Before hiring a builder in the Algarve, check five things in writing: a valid alvará in IMPIC’s public register that covers your type and size of job, the company’s commercial record and NIF, proof of insurance, a quote broken down by trade, and a contract with staged payments tied to measured progress. Then visit past work and talk to past clients.
What should you check before hiring a builder?
The checklist below works on any builder, including us. None of it needs inside knowledge: most of the checks are public records or documents that a serious company hands over without fuss.
- Check the alvará in the IMPIC public register and confirm it covers your type and size of job
- Ask for the company’s certidão permanente and confirm the NIF matches the quote and the invoices
- Ask for current proof of workers’ accident insurance and of liability cover for the works
- Get a written quote broken down by trade, ideally priced against a bill of quantities
- Sign a written contract with scope, price, completion period and staged payments
- Visit past work and talk to past clients
- Find out who runs the site day to day and who the director de obra is
- Agree how communication and reporting will work, especially if you live abroad
How do you check a builder’s licence in Portugal?
In Portugal a company that carries out building work needs an alvará de construção issued by IMPIC, the public institute that regulates the construction sector. IMPIC keeps a public register of licensed companies on its website, and anyone can look a company up there.
The alvará is not a simple yes or no. It lists the categories and subcategories of work the company is licensed for, from general building to specialist trades, and a class that relates to the value of the works it may take on. A valid licence in a low class or an unrelated category does not cover a new villa.
Ask for the number, look it up yourself and check that the name and NIF match the company on the quote. Our own licence is IMPIC alvará no. 98638-PAR, and you can check it in the same register like any other.
What does the company’s commercial record tell you?
The certidão permanente is the online version of a company’s entry in the commercial registry. The company can give you an access code, and with it you can read who owns and manages the business, its registered address and its declared activity.
Check that the company exists under the name on the quote, that the people you are dealing with are actually connected to it, and that the NIF on the quote, the contract and the invoices is the same number. A mismatch is not always a problem, but it always needs an explanation.
What insurance should a builder have?
Every employer in Portugal must hold workers’ accident insurance (seguro de acidentes de trabalho) for its staff. Ask for the current policy certificate rather than a verbal assurance, and check that it is in the name of the company you are hiring.
Ask as well about liability cover for damage to third parties and neighbouring property during the works, and whether subcontractors on your site carry their own insurance.
How do you compare quotes like for like?
Insist on a written quote broken down by trade: earthworks, structure, masonry, roofing, plumbing, electrics, joinery, finishes and so on, each with quantities and unit prices. In Portugal this is often built on a mapa de quantidades (bill of quantities) prepared by the architect or engineers.
When every builder prices the same bill of quantities, the totals become comparable. When each one writes a single-page price of their own, you are comparing different houses. Check what is excluded, how VAT is shown and which items are provisional and may change.
What should a construction contract include?
A quote and a handshake are not a contract. Before work starts you should have a written contract covering at least the points below, and it is worth having your lawyer read it before you sign.
- The scope of the work, referring to the approved project and the itemised quote
- The price, and how VAT is treated
- The completion period, with a schedule showing the phases of the work
- Staged payments tied to measured progress (autos de medição), not to dates alone
- Any retention held back until defects found at handover are put right
- How changes (trabalhos a mais) are requested, priced and approved in writing before they are carried out
How are builders paid in Portugal?
Payments are normally made in stages against autos de medição: periodic measurements of the work actually done, which you or someone acting for you can check. Paying well ahead of progress removes your main leverage if something goes wrong.
Why visit past work and talk to past clients?
Photographs show a finished house on a good day; a visit shows how the details, terraces and waterproofing have aged. Ask for past clients you can call, ideally with projects like yours, and ask what went wrong and how the builder dealt with it. How a company handles problems tells you more than the easy weeks.
Who runs the site day to day?
Ask who will be on your site every day, usually a site manager or foreman (encarregado), and who is the director de obra. On licensed works the director de obra is the qualified technician responsible for the works following the approved project, with entries kept in the site book (livro de obra).
Get names, not job titles. A builder who cannot tell you who will run your job may not have decided yet, or may be planning to pass the whole of it to a subcontractor.
How should communication work if you live abroad?
If you are not in the Algarve, reporting matters as much as workmanship. Agree before signing how often you will receive photos and progress updates, when you will have video calls, and who your single point of contact is.
Language matters too: you need to talk to the person running your job directly, not through a chain of translations. VRconstroi has built in the Algarve since 2004 from its base in Armação de Pêra, and we follow clients abroad with regular photo reports, video calls and one point of contact in Portuguese or English.
What are the red flags when choosing a builder?
None of these proves a builder is dishonest, but each one is a reason to slow down and ask more questions before you sign.
- A large payment demanded before any work starts
- No written quote, or a one-line price with no breakdown
- No alvará, or reluctance to give you its number
- Cash only, or work without invoices
- A quote far below the others with no explanation of what is different
- Pressure to sign quickly
- No fixed point of contact, or a different person every time you call
Each step in detail
Ask the builder for its alvará number and search for it in the public register kept by IMPIC, the institute that licenses construction companies in Portugal. Check that the licence is valid, that its categories and class fit your job, and that the name and NIF match the company on your quote.
A construction contract in Portugal should set out the scope of the work, the price and VAT treatment, the completion period, staged payments tied to measured progress (autos de medição), any retention until defects are fixed, and how changes are priced and approved in writing. Have a lawyer read it before you sign.
Builders in Portugal are normally paid in stages against autos de medição, periodic measurements of the work actually done, rather than a lump sum up front. Be cautious with any builder who asks for a large payment before work starts. The payment stages belong in the written contract.
The cheapest quote is not automatically a risk, but a price far below the others with no explanation usually means something is missing and will come back later as an extra. Ask every builder to price the same bill of quantities so the totals can be compared like for like.
You need a builder you can talk to directly about decisions on your house, without relying on someone else to translate. VRconstroi works with clients in Portuguese and English, with regular photo reports, video calls and a single point of contact throughout the build.
Every employer in Portugal must hold workers’ accident insurance for its staff, and a builder should also have liability cover for damage to third parties during the works. Ask for current certificates in the company’s name, and ask your lawyer what level of cover the contract should require.
Related service: New build
Areas mentioned: Armação de Pêra