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To challenge a condominium decision in Portugal you have short deadlines, counted in calendar days: an owner who did not approve it can ask for an extraordinary meeting within 10 days, go to arbitration within 30 or bring an action for annulment within 60 days of the decision (20 days after the extraordinary meeting, if one was requested). Urgent suspension must be requested within 10 days. Void decisions have no deadline. We explain how to count each deadline, the difference between void, voidable and ineffective, and what the courts decided in 2026.
In short
- Any owner who did not approve the decision can challenge it: voted against, abstained or was absent.
- 10 days to ask for an extraordinary meeting and 30 days for arbitration, from the decision (or from the notification, for absent owners).
- Without an extraordinary meeting, the action for annulment must be filed within 60 days of the decision, for absent owners too.
- Suspension must be requested within 10 days of the meeting and requires concrete facts of appreciable harm.
- Void decisions (serious cases, such as not convening all the owners) can be attacked at any time; most are only voidable.
- To challenge a condominium decision safely, count the deadlines from the earliest date and do not wait for the last day.
Challenge a condominium decision: who can do it and how
The rule is in article 1433 of the Civil Code (Código Civil). Decisions of the general meeting of owners (assembleia de condóminos) that breach the law or previously approved regulations are voidable (anuláveis) at the request of any owner who did not approve them. Owners who voted against, abstained or were absent can react. Those who voted in favour, as a rule, cannot.
To challenge a decision of the general meeting, the law offers four routes, which are not all mutually exclusive:
| Route | Deadline | Counted from | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask the building administrator (administrador) for an extraordinary meeting to revoke the decision | 10 days | Decision (owners present) or notification (absent owners) | Art. 1433(2) Civil Code |
| Refer the decision to an arbitration centre | 30 days | Decision (owners present) or notification (absent owners) | Art. 1433(3) Civil Code |
| Action for annulment in court (ação de anulação) | 20 days after the extraordinary meeting, or 60 days after the decision if no extraordinary meeting was requested | See the calendar below | Art. 1433(4) Civil Code |
| Suspension of the decision (procedimento cautelar, an interim injunction) | 10 days | Date of the meeting or, if you were not properly convened, the date you learnt of it | Arts. 380 to 383 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) |
The extraordinary meeting must take place within 20 days and allows the mistake to be corrected without going to court. If the majority confirms the decision, the 20-day period for the court action begins.
Arbitration is an alternative to the courts, not a preliminary step. The Supreme Court of Justice (Supremo Tribunal de Justiça) has held that an owner who chooses arbitration can no longer take the same question to an action for annulment.
Watch out: these deadlines are time-bar periods (caducidade). They are not interrupted by an exchange of emails with the administrator, informal complaints or requests for clarification. Only the right step, taken in time, counts.
Calendar to challenge a condominium decision: present and absent owners
The point that causes the most mistakes is how to count for owners who were absent. The law requires the administrator to notify absent owners of the decisions within 30 days, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by email, if the owner has agreed to it (art. 1432(9) Civil Code). The deadlines for the extraordinary meeting and for arbitration run from that notification.
The 60 days for the action for annulment, when no extraordinary meeting was requested, run from the date of the decision, for absent owners too. That is what the Supreme Court of Justice decided on 11 November 2021 (case 23757/19.0T8PRT-A.L1.S1), in line with the Constitutional Court, which found nothing unconstitutional in this reading. Some Court of Appeal (Tribunal da Relação) rulings speak of counting «from the decision or its notification». The safest reading is the Supreme Court’s: always count from the date of the meeting.
Example with a meeting held on Monday, 9 November 2026:
| Step | Owner present who voted against | Absent owner (received the minutes on 23 November) |
|---|---|---|
| Ask the court for suspension | By 19 November | By 19 November (if properly convened, it runs from the meeting) |
| Ask for the extraordinary meeting | By 19 November | By 3 December |
| Go to arbitration | By 9 December | By 23 December |
| Action for annulment without having asked for the extraordinary meeting | By 8 January 2027 | By 8 January 2027 (Supreme Court reading) |
| Action for annulment after the extraordinary meeting | 20 days from the decision of the extraordinary meeting | 20 days from the decision of the extraordinary meeting |
Look at the first row. An absent owner who only receives the letter two weeks later may already have missed the window for suspension. So if you miss a meeting with sensitive items on the agenda, ask for the minutes (ata) in the following days, without waiting for the letter.
Deadlines run in calendar days. If the last day falls on a Sunday or public holiday, it moves to the next working day; if the step has to be taken in court, the judicial holidays count as public holidays (art. 279 Civil Code). If in doubt, do not leave it to the last day.
Void, voidable or ineffective: why the difference changes everything
Not all defective decisions follow the same rules. The Lisbon Court of Appeal, on 19 December 2024 (case 20626/23.3T8LSB-A.L1-7), summed up the three possible defects, and the same court drew the line again in 2026.
| Defect | When it happens | Examples | Deadline to react |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voidable (anulável) | Breaches the law or the condominium regulations, without touching mandatory rules | Notice of meeting sent less than 10 days ahead, item not on the agenda, majority wrongly calculated | Those in art. 1433 (10, 30, 20 or 60 days) |
| Void (nula) | Breaches mandatory rules, non-waivable interests or public policy | Not convening all the owners, banning some of them from using common parts, dividing parts that the law makes compulsorily common, purposes contrary to public morals | At any time, by any interested party |
| Ineffective (ineficaz) | The meeting decides on a matter outside its powers | Deciding on something that belongs exclusively to one unit, without the owner’s consent | Can be raised by the owner affected |
The practical consequence is simple: most defective decisions are only voidable. If you let the deadlines pass, the decision becomes final and binds everyone, including those who disagreed.
Before concluding that there is a defect, check the basics: which majority the matter required (decisions and majorities in the condominium), what the condominium regulations say and whether the minutes reflect what was voted (how to write meeting minutes).
What the courts decided in 2026 (and what still applies)
Lisbon Court of Appeal, 10 September 2026. An owner asked for decisions on the accounts to be annulled. In a ruling reported by LexPoint, the court set out four useful points:
- Only decisions that breach mandatory rules are void; breaching regulations or default rules makes them merely voidable.
- The administrator renders accounts to the general meeting, not to each owner individually.
- The right to information is a different matter: a total lack of information can justify annulment, but deficient information that still allows the accounts to be understood is dealt with through an action for the rendering of accounts (ação de prestação de contas).
- Wrong accounting entries did not invalidate the decision approving the accounts, because the documents presented covered the whole year.
On what you can demand in the accounts, see our guide to transparency in condominium accounts.
Évora Court of Appeal, 15 October 2026. In case 596/26.7T8ABF-A.E1, owners asked for decisions to be suspended. The request was rejected at the outset, and the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld that. Expressions such as «situations that are hard to reverse» or «management vacuum», without concrete facts behind them, were seen as conclusions, not as proof of harm. The ruling listed four cumulative requirements: being an owner, the decision breaching the law or the regulations, the decision not yet being fully carried out, and its execution being liable to cause appreciable harm. Even a strong appearance of being right does not remove the need to show harm.
Lisbon Court of Appeal, 19 December 2024. Besides distinguishing the three defects, it held time-barred an action brought more than three months after the decision.
Supreme Court of Justice, 11 November 2021. It set the 60 days as running from the decision, for present and absent owners alike, and noted that choosing arbitration rules out the courts.
What if the administrator refuses to call the extraordinary meeting?
Article 1438 of the Civil Code says that the administrator’s acts can be appealed to the general meeting, which may be called by the appealing owner. The Lisbon Court of Appeal, in its 2024 ruling, applied this rule to a refusal to call the extraordinary meeting: the owner has 20 days from learning of the refusal to appeal to the meeting.
If you do nothing, the court considers that you accepted the refusal. In that case, the 60-day deadline from the decision applies again, and the time spent waiting for the administrator is not deducted. The lesson: ask for the extraordinary meeting in writing, keep proof, and act at once if you get silence or a refusal. If the problem keeps recurring, see what to do when you are unhappy with your administrator.
Suspending the decision before it is carried out
An action for annulment can take time. If the decision causes harm while the case is pending, the route is suspension, provided for in articles 380 to 383 of the Code of Civil Procedure and applicable to meetings of owners.
Timing matters for two reasons. First, the deadline is 10 days. Second, the administrator must carry out decisions that have not been challenged within a maximum of 15 working days (art. 1436(i) Civil Code). Works that have been awarded and started are harder to stop than a decision on paper.
From the moment the condominium is served until the first-instance decision, the decision cannot be carried out. The judge may still refuse suspension if the harm from suspending outweighs the harm from carrying it out. And outside the 10 days you cannot use the general interim procedure to achieve the same result, as the Lisbon Court of Appeal has also decided in 2026.
Checklist: what your request for suspension should include
- Proof that you are an owner (land registry certificate, certidão do registo predial, or the unit’s property tax record, caderneta predial).
- A copy of the minutes of the meeting. If you do not have them, ask the administrator: they must be provided within 24 hours (art. 380(2) CPC).
- A statement that you did not approve the decision (you voted against, abstained or were absent).
- The date of the meeting and, if you were not properly convened, the date you learnt of it, to show you are within the 10 days.
- The rule of law or of the regulations that the decision breaches, explained in concrete terms.
- Proof that the decision has not yet been fully carried out.
- Concrete facts of appreciable harm: amounts, dates, contracts, quotes, consequences for your unit. Avoid generic phrases.
- Documents supporting those facts (notice of meeting, minutes, quotes, emails, photographs).
- The administrator named as the condominium’s representative, so that it can be served.
- A decision on the main action: the annulment deadlines keep running while the suspension is being considered.
Before going to court: what usually saves time and money
Being able to challenge a condominium decision is a right, but it is not always the best first step. Read the minutes carefully (majority, agenda, who voted how), ask in writing for any missing information and use the extraordinary meeting, which is cheap and forces the majority to look at the decision again. If you are considering arbitration, remember that it closes the door to the courts. And talk to a lawyer early: with 10-day deadlines, a week of hesitation can cost you the right.
For the condominium, the reverse also applies: notices sent 10 days ahead, a clear agenda, correctly counted majorities and complete minutes prevent most challenges. Well-drafted minutes are also the document that lets you recover unpaid fees using the minutes as an enforceable title (in Portuguese). At Condoroo, which manages more than 600 condominiums, minutes and notifications to absent owners follow controlled deadlines so that no decision is left exposed by a formal error.
Challenge a condominium decision: frequently asked questions
What is the deadline to challenge a condominium decision in Portugal?
It depends on the route. You have 10 days to ask the administrator for an extraordinary meeting, 30 days to go to an arbitration centre and 60 days from the decision to bring an action for annulment if you did not ask for the extraordinary meeting. If you did, you have 20 days from the decision of that meeting. If you need to challenge a condominium decision urgently, suspension must be requested within 10 days.
I was not at the meeting. When do the deadlines start?
For the extraordinary meeting and for arbitration, they run from the notification of the decision, which the administrator must send to absent owners within 30 days. For the action for annulment without an extraordinary meeting, the Supreme Court of Justice decided that the 60 days run from the date of the decision, for absent owners too. Ask for the minutes as soon as possible.
When is a condominium decision void and not just voidable?
When it breaches mandatory rules, non-waivable interests or public policy. The courts give as examples not convening all the owners, banning some of them from using the common parts or dividing parts that the law makes compulsorily common. Nullity can be raised at any time. A late notice of meeting or an item not on the agenda is, as a rule, only grounds for annulment.
The administrator did not call the extraordinary meeting I asked for. What can I do?
You can appeal against the administrator’s act to the general meeting and call it yourself (art. 1438 Civil Code). The Lisbon Court of Appeal held that the deadline for that appeal is 20 days from learning of the refusal. If you do nothing, the 60-day deadline from the decision applies again.
Can I stop works approved at the meeting from starting while I challenge them?
Yes, by asking the court to suspend the decision, within 10 days of the meeting. You must show concrete facts that carrying it out may cause appreciable harm. From the moment the condominium is served until the first-instance decision, the decision cannot be carried out. Generic phrases such as «harm that is hard to repair» are not enough.
I disagree with the accounts that were approved. Is that enough to annul the decision?
Not always. The Lisbon Court of Appeal decided in 2026 that accounts are rendered to the general meeting and that wrong entries did not invalidate the approval, because the documents covered the whole year. A total lack of information can justify annulment; merely deficient information is dealt with through an action for the rendering of accounts.
Is it worth trying to challenge a condominium decision without a lawyer?
You can ask for the extraordinary meeting or appeal to the meeting yourself, in writing. The action for annulment and the request for suspension go to court and, as a rule, require a lawyer. As the deadlines are short, talk to a lawyer in the first few days, not near the end.
This article is for information only and does not replace legal advice on your specific case. Deadlines and case law checked on 25 October 2026.
