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Look up a PDM online: maps, land classes and rules

A Municipal Master Plan (PDM) is the planning instrument that sets, for each concelho, the land classes, the building rules and the maps that locate them. This page explains how to read those documents and points to the Portimão pilot, assembled from the official corpus Foral has ingested.

What a PDM is

The PDM is the municipal spatial plan. It does not replace licensing: it describes the applicable regime and the maps that locate it. Anyone reading a PDM should cross three pieces:

  • the regulation, with the rules for each land class
  • the zoning map (planta de ordenamento), which locates the classes across the concelho
  • the constraints map (planta de condicionantes), which overlays restrictions such as RAN, REN and other easements

How to read land classification

Land classification (urban or rustic) and qualification (the concrete class in the PDM) determine what may be built. The class of a specific point is confirmed on the map and in the regulation — not from a municipal percentage.

RAN, REN and other constraints

The National Agricultural Reserve (RAN) and the National Ecological Reserve (REN) are national regimes that overlay the PDM. Linear REN (watercourses, strips) does not translate into an area percentage. When cartographic coverage is insufficient, Foral omits the figure rather than inventing one.

A PDM does not describe a specific plot

These pages describe the concelho. For a property or a cadastral parcel, the correct reading is to cross the point on the map with the regulation and confirm with the Câmara Municipal. Foral Terra does that reading point by point.

How Foral assembles these pages

Overlay percentages and the zoning map are precomputed from ingested official cartography. The public request does not run live geographic intersections. A figure is published only when layer coverage justifies it. Use rules not confirmed in the applicable regulation appear as “regime still to be confirmed”, never as prohibited or permitted.

Available concelhos

The pilot starts with one concelho. Others will be added when the map and the statistics are ready.

Frequently asked questions

Does the PDM replace a building permit?

No. The PDM describes the regime and the maps. The licensing decision sits with the Câmara Municipal, in light of the concrete application and of other applicable regimes.

What is the difference between the zoning map and the constraints map?

The zoning map locates the PDM land classes. The constraints map locates overlaying restrictions — RAN, REN, Natura 2000, rural fire hazard, among others.

How do RAN and REN differ?

RAN protects soils with agricultural aptitude. REN protects ecological and risk systems. Both condition building; neither is read from the PDM alone.

Why does Foral not publish a figure for the whole country?

Percentages are published only when cartography covers the concelho sufficiently. Without that coverage, a municipal figure would be a sample or an estimate — and that does not belong on these pages.

Is this an official source?

No. Foral organises public information that has already been published. The official source remains the Câmara Municipal and the instruments in force. Always confirm before deciding.

Look up a PDM online: zoning maps, land classes and building rules | Foral