How to Verify a Portuguese Property Developer and Agent Through IMPIC: Step by Step

Before you wire a deposit on an apartment in Lisbon or a villa in the Algarve, you should know whether the agent and the company selling it are actually licensed to do so in Portugal. The regulator is IMPIC, and checking a licence takes only a few minutes. This guide explains what to verify, how to do it, and what a missing licence really means.

Who regulates real estate agents and developers in Portugal?

Real estate activity in Portugal is regulated by IMPIC, the Instituto dos Mercados Públicos, do Imobiliário e da Construção. IMPIC is the public institute responsible for the real estate mediation, property, and construction sectors. It issues and supervises the licences that estate agencies must hold to operate, and it also oversees the licensing of construction companies. If a company is marketing property to you in Portugal, IMPIC is the body whose records confirm whether that company is operating legally.

What is an AMI licence and why does it matter?

The AMI licence is the mandatory licence every real estate mediation company in Portugal must hold to broker property. AMI stands for Alvará de Mediação Imobiliária. It is required under Lei n.º 15/2013, of 8 February, which governs the activity of real estate mediation. To obtain the licence, a company must show clean criminal records for its managers, prove commercial suitability, and hold professional civil liability insurance with a minimum cover of one hundred and fifty thousand euros, or an equivalent guarantee. A company without a valid AMI number is not legally allowed to mediate a sale.

How do I check an AMI licence step by step?

You check an AMI licence by searching the company's number on the IMPIC website. The process is free and public.

Step one. Ask the agency for its AMI number. Legitimate agencies display it on their office signage, their website footer, and their listings. The number is the licence identifier you will search.

Step two. Go to the IMPIC public consultation page for licensed real estate mediation companies, the section titled empresas titulares de licença de mediação imobiliária.

Step three. Search by the AMI licence number or by the company name. The record should return the licensed company, confirming the licence exists and is active.

Step four. Match the licensed company name to the entity named on your documents. The agency you are dealing with on the ground should be the same legal entity that holds the licence, not an unlicensed sub-agent trading on someone else's number.

Step five. Confirm the licence is current and not suspended or cancelled. AMI licences have unlimited validity once granted, but IMPIC can suspend or cancel them, so an active status in the IMPIC record is what you are looking for.

How do I verify a developer or construction company, not just the agent?

For the company actually building the property, you verify its construction licence, also issued through IMPIC. Construction firms in Portugal must hold a construction permit, historically called an alvará de construção, or in some cases a registration title, which sets out the categories and value of work the company is authorised to carry out. IMPIC maintains the records for these construction licences. When you are buying off-plan, confirm that the developer entity, or the contractor it has engaged, holds a construction licence that covers a project of your development's size and type.

What documents should I cross-check beyond the licence?

Beyond the licence you should confirm the property and the company match the paperwork. Check the caderneta predial, the tax register description of the property, and the certidão permanente do registo predial, the permanent land registry certificate, which shows who owns the property and whether it carries mortgages or charges. Confirm that the company named in your promissory contract is the same licensed entity you verified with IMPIC, and that the people signing have authority to bind it through the commercial registry. A licence check and a registry check together close most of the gaps that catch foreign buyers.

What does it mean if a company has no IMPIC licence?

If a company has no valid IMPIC licence, it is not authorised to mediate property in Portugal, and that is a reason to stop. Operating real estate mediation without an AMI licence is a regulatory breach, and dealing with an unlicensed operator means you lose the protections that licensing is meant to provide, including the mandatory civil liability insurance behind the licence. An unlicensed intermediary is also harder to hold accountable if the deal goes wrong, since IMPIC supervision and sanctions apply to licensed entities.

Does an IMPIC licence guarantee the deal is safe?

No, an IMPIC licence is a minimum requirement, not a guarantee that a specific project is sound. The licence confirms the company is authorised and insured to operate, but it does not vouch for the quality of construction, the developer's finances, or the timeline of an off-plan build. Use the licence check as the first filter, then verify the land registry, the building permits, the bank guarantee structure for off-plan payments, and the developer's delivery history before committing.

The bottom line

Checking IMPIC records is the fastest way to confirm that the people selling you Portuguese property are licensed to do it. Get the AMI number, search it on the IMPIC site, confirm the construction licence for the builder, and match every name to the official records before any money moves. Transparency platforms such as Bektu can consolidate these checks for foreign buyers, but the IMPIC search itself is public and worth running yourself on any company you deal with.