Practical guide · Portuguese condominiums
How to change a condominium administrator in Portugal
In Portugal, changing the person or company running a condominium is an owners’ decision framed by Portuguese documents and terminology. A sound transition joins three pieces: a properly convened meeting, a separate review of the supplier contract, and an evidenced handover of the building’s money and records.
The short answer
How do you change a condominium management company in Portugal?
The owners first review the current appointment and service contract, convene a compliant owners’ meeting, vote on the removal and successor, record the resolutions in usable minutes, and then complete the contract, bank and document handover steps.
“Company manager” is not the right Portuguese legal category. The relevant office is the condominium administrator, and any supplier contract must be handled separately from the owners’ election decision.
Working vocabulary
Keep the Portuguese terms beside the English explanation
English can make the process easier to follow, but the official notice, governing documents, resolutions and bank evidence remain Portuguese records. These terms prevent false equivalents:
| Portuguese term | Working meaning in this guide |
|---|---|
| condomínio / condómino | The condominium is the co-ownership structure for the building; a condómino is an owner of a unit, not simply a resident or tenant. |
| assembleia de condóminos | The owners’ meeting. It is the decision-making body that elects or removes the administrador and approves the relevant resolutions. |
| administrador | The legally appointed condominium administrator. Do not reduce this to “property manager”: the office and a supplier’s service contract are related but distinct. |
| permilagem / capital investido | The value attributed to units in the building, often expressed in thousandths. Legal thresholds are not necessarily a headcount of owners or apartments. |
| convocatória / ordem de trabalhos | The meeting notice and its agenda. Proposed removal, election and transition decisions should be stated expressly rather than hidden under general business. |
| ata | The formal minutes recording attendance, representations, resolutions and voting. It is an operational authority document, not just a meeting summary. |
Decision sequence
Eight steps from documents to operational control
01
Read the building documents and the current contract
Collect the título constitutivo, condominium regulations, the minutes that appointed the incumbent, later unresolved minutes, and the service contract. Confirm the mandate and the contractual exit position before choosing a date.
02
Identify who will convene the meeting
The administrator may convene the meeting. Where owners must act instead, owners representing at least 25% of the invested capital may convene under Civil Code article 1431. Confirm the value represented, not only the number of signatures.
03
Serve a compliant notice
The general rule is ten days’ notice by registered letter or a notice delivered against receipt. Email has statutory conditions, including a prior choice recorded in meeting minutes and a receipt. Verify the current rule and the owner contact record.
04
Put each proposed decision on the agenda
State the review and removal of the incumbent, election of the successor, approved remuneration and term, service proposal, signing authority, contract exit and handover instructions. “Any other business” is not a prudent substitute.
05
Compare complete proposals before the vote
Compare annual cost, VAT, meetings, visits, debt work, major works, software, transition scope, contract duration and exit terms. Owners should vote on the full written scope, not a price per unit in isolation.
06
Vote and produce usable minutes
Record the exact resolutions, value represented, voting result, successor, term, remuneration, signing powers and handover timetable. Complete approval and signature of the ata under the applicable rules before relying on it operationally.
07
Deal separately with the outgoing service contract
Communicate the owners’ resolutions and follow the contract’s rules for term, renewal, notice, form and outstanding charges. Electing a successor does not, by itself, answer every contractual question with the outgoing company.
08
Close a controlled bank and document handover
Use a dated inventory for balances, statements, records, contracts, keys, credentials and open cases. Obtain signatures or written acknowledgement, reconcile independently, and record every missing or disputed item as an exception.
Who can convene
Twenty-five per cent opens a route to a meeting, not a guaranteed result
Under Civil Code article 1431, the administrator may convene the owners’ meeting. Owners representing at least 25% of the invested capital may also convene. The percentage follows the value represented by their units, rather than simply counting people or apartments.
The 25% route concerns who may call the meeting. It is not a blanket quorum rule or automatic approval of the proposed change.
Quorum, representation and the majority needed for a resolution must be checked separately against the current law, the building’s title and regulations, the stage of the meeting and the decision proposed.
Notice and agenda
Owners must be told exactly what the meeting will decide
Article 1432 sets a general ten-day notice rule by registered letter or delivery against receipt. Email is not an informal shortcut: it depends on statutory conditions, including a prior choice recorded in minutes and a receipt.
The notice identifies the day, time, place and agenda. Decisions requiring unanimity must be flagged. When the wording or delivery route is uncertain, obtain advice before sending the notice; a defective process puts the resolutions at risk.
| Agenda point | What should be explicit |
|---|---|
| Current position | Review the incumbent’s activity, accounts and unresolved decisions. |
| Removal | Expressly propose exoneração of the incumbent administrator where that is intended. |
| Successor | Name the proposed administrator and state the term and remuneration. |
| Service proposal | Approve scope, annual price, VAT, extras, duration and exit terms. |
| Signing authority | Identify who may sign and communicate on behalf of the condominium. |
| Outgoing contract | Authorise the steps needed to end or manage the prior contract on its applicable terms. |
| Handover | Approve a timetable and inventory for money, documents, access and open matters. |
| Bank mandates | Authorise the people and evidence required to update access with the bank. |
Vote and ata
The minutes must carry the decision into the bank and the handover
A bilingual working note may help owners, but do not let an English summary replace the approved Portuguese authority document.
- Date, time, place, chair and the notice under which the meeting was held
- Owners present or represented, proxies, units and value represented
- Exact wording of each resolution and the votes for, against and abstaining
- Identity, term and remuneration of the successor administrator
- Approved supplier proposal and the person authorised to sign or communicate
- Contract-exit instructions, handover timetable and bank authorities
- Approval and signatures required for the minutes in the circumstances
Bank and records
Transfer control without losing the evidence trail
The handover is complete when the successor can prove the opening position and continue legitimate work — not when the incumbent delivers an unindexed folder.
Authority
Signed minutes, notice, attendance, proxies, approved proposals and evidence of communications.
Money
Bank statements, reconciliation, balances, reserve fund, owner ledger, arrears and scheduled payments.
Bank
The account remains in the condominium’s name; mandates and users change against valid authority without breaking legitimate payments.
Records
Minutes, contracts, invoices, tax records, insurance, correspondence and technical documents.
Access
Keys, codes, equipment, mailboxes, portals, domains, institutional email and credentials.
Open work
Suppliers, works, claims, court or administrative matters, collections and cases, each with status and next action.
Do not route condominium funds through the administrator’s operating account. Update bank users and mandates only against valid authority, while preserving safe continuity for authorised payments.
Missing-record exceptions
An incomplete archive needs an exceptions register, not invented certainty
The official provisions cited below do not create a generic “30-day statutory handover deadline”. Put a realistic timetable in the resolutions and contracts, document non-delivery, and obtain advice where enforcement is needed.
- 01
Name the exception
List the expected item, period, format and custodian. “Records incomplete” is too vague to manage.
- 02
Preserve the last reliable fact
Record the last statement date, known balance and source. Never turn missing evidence into a zero balance.
- 03
Reconcile independently
Use bank evidence, invoices and owner ledgers to establish an opening position, with unexplained differences kept visible.
- 04
Record each request
Keep dated requests, replies, delivery attempts and any refusal to sign or acknowledge the inventory.
- 05
Separate remediation
Historical reconstruction, litigation and exceptional transition work need their own scope, authority and price.
Appointing the successor
Name the authority and the service that follows it
The resolution should identify the elected person or legal entity, the term and remuneration, and who may sign or communicate. The associated proposal should state scope, annual price, VAT, extras, service levels, duration and exit terms.
Keep the two records connected but legible: the ata establishes the owners’ decision; the service agreement defines the supplier obligations. Neither document should silently stand in for the other.
Sources and limits
General information, not legal advice
This English guide explains a general process using Portuguese legal terms. It does not replace the building’s title, regulations, minutes, contracts or Portuguese legal advice on a specific notice, vote, dispute or termination. The official sources are in Portuguese and take priority over this explanation.
Published 19 August 2026 · updated 31 August 2026.