New Citizen Card Incompatibility Creates Major Hurdle for Portuguese Property Development
A critical regulatory and technical issue has emerged in Portugal, creating significant compliance challenges for architects, engineers, and property developers. The problem centers on the mandatory submission of architectural projects using the DWFx file format, which requires a digital signature for authentication. A government ordinance, Portaria n.º 71-A/2024, continues to uphold this requirement for urban planning submissions in many municipalities. However, the recent introduction of a new, more secure national Citizen Card in June 2024 has rendered the process unworkable for many professionals. The new cards are incompatible with the only software capable of signing DWFx files, the discontinued Autodesk Design Review 2013.
The specific compliance standard at the heart of the issue is the requirement for a digitally signed DWFx file, a measure intended to ensure the integrity and authenticity of technical plans submitted for municipal licensing. This standard was first introduced under Portaria n.º 113/2015 and has been carried over in subsequent regulations. While the goal of ensuring document security is sound, the reliance on a single, obsolete piece of software from 2013 has created a fragile and unsustainable system. The lack of foresight in anticipating compatibility issues with updated national identity cards has now led to a significant bottleneck in the development pipeline, directly affecting project timelines across the country.
The deadline for compliance is, in effect, immediate for any professional with the new Citizen Card attempting to submit a project. There is currently no official workaround, leaving architects and engineers unable to fulfill their submission requirements. This has a cascading effect, delaying licensing approvals and, consequently, the start of construction projects. In the context of Portugal's ongoing housing crisis, these administrative delays add further pressure to a strained market, increasing costs for developers and ultimately impacting housing availability. The situation has been described by professionals as an exercise in frustration, blocking progress for no reason other than a failure of digital administration.
The documentation and record-keeping obligations remain, but the technical means to meet them have been broken. Professionals are left with valid projects and valid identity cards but no way to connect the two within the legally required framework. This has forced many to spend countless hours seeking unofficial solutions on forums and through support networks, wasting valuable time that should be dedicated to project development. The administrative burden has been significantly increased by this single point of failure, highlighting a lack of robust planning in the government's digitalization efforts.
Several professional bodies, including the Orders of Architects and Engineers, have formally raised the alarm and are monitoring the situation closely. They have submitted official requests and concrete proposals to the relevant government bodies, advocating for an immediate amendment to the ordinance. The proposed solutions are straightforward: replace the DWFx requirement with modern, widely supported standards such as digitally signed PDFs or the ASiC file format. These alternatives provide the same or higher levels of security and integrity while being compatible with current technology, including the new Citizen Card. These proposals are currently under review, but the pace of regulatory change in Portugal is notoriously slow.
The consequences of non-compliance are clear: projects cannot be submitted, and therefore cannot be approved. There are no penalties for failing to use an impossible system, but the economic penalty of project delays is severe. The authorities have been alerted to the problem, but a definitive timeline for a resolution has not been provided. This leaves the industry in a state of uncertainty, waiting for a simple regulatory update that would resolve the impasse. The episode serves as a case study in how poorly implemented digital regulations can hinder rather than help economic activity, especially in a critical sector like construction.
Navigate Portuguese property regulations with expert guidance at realestate-lisbon.com.
