Defects in a new home: how long you have to claim
There are two sets of deadlines, and you do not get to pick the friendlier one. Bought a dwelling from a professional? Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 gives you 10 years for structural elements and five years for everything else, counted from delivery. Otherwise artigo 1225.º do Código Civil applies.
Consumer buyer, professional seller
The clock runs from delivery and stops while you report the defect and while you cannot use the property. Anything that shows up inside the period is presumed to have existed at delivery — proving the origin is not your job.
Once you have reported it, the rights lapse after three years. That period also pauses during the repair and during an out-of-court attempt to settle.
Works contracts and a seller who built
artigo 1225.º do Código Civil gives five years from delivery. The defect must be reported within one year, and compensation claimed in the year that follows the report.
The same applies to a seller who built, altered or repaired the property. A seller who only sold answers under the rules of sale instead.
What to do today
Report in writing and keep proof of receipt: the date of that report governs every deadline after it. Describe the defect and say what you want — repair, replacement, a price reduction or termination.