NT, ZAP //
The “citizen card” for buildings had a pilot project in Alfândega da Fé and Lousã, but there is no date for its extension.
O Building Identification Number (NIP)a kind of “citizen card” for the property, had a pilot project in Alfândega da Fé and Lousã, with a “reduced universe” and no known data, but for now There are no deadlines for enlargement.
“O pilot project allowed testing, in a real context, the attribution and registration of the NIP, in coordination between the entities involved”, but it was “a reduced universe and with little dynamics change, which limited the assessment of the NIP in situations of continuous updating”, eBUPi – Mission Structure for the Expansion of the Simplified Cadastral Information System – told Lusa.
The initiative, within the scope of the Balcão Único do Prédio (BUPi), was developed in 2025 in the Integrated Landscape Management Areas (AIGP) of Customs of Faith (district of Bragança) and Serra da Lousã (Coimbra), which have integrated landscape management operations with planned investment from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
“The pilot confirmed the viability of the NIP attribution model and the coordination between entities, ensuring alignment with existing information, such as the land registry and the matrix. The conclusions should, however, be read with prudence, given the limited nature of the universe tested”, explained the entity supervised by the Ministry of Justice.
Lusa reiterated its request for access to statistical data from the pilot project, but has so far received no response. In a first response, eBUPi clarified that the pilot project was developed “with exploratory character, designed to test methodologies and assess procedures to be considered in future initiatives of this nature”.
“As this is an exercise carried out in controlled environment, with a strong dependence on interoperability between different systems and with special attention to the requirements regarding data protection of right holders, results obtained have internal nature”, considered the entity.
For eBUPi, which had its mandate extended until the end of this year, the “micropilot allowed us to learn relevant lessons regarding the methodological approaches to be adopted in future pilots”. A former head of the mission structure said that the objective of the NIP was to extend it “to the entire national territory” by the end of 2025.
“It’s what we call a type of ‘citizen card’ which will allow the property to be identified with a unique number and we will no longer have those varied identifiers that we have for the property depending on each entity, the registration number, the matrix number, the parcel number”, highlighted, in December 2024, the then coordinator of eBUPi, Carla Mendonça.
The NIP, he considered, will guarantee “greater security of the information that each entity has about the property”. When asked about the expansion of the NIP, eBUPi responded that “the evolution towards a larger scale application — including use by the Revenue — will depend on strengthening interoperability between the building’s various information systems”.
“Os next steps they depend on the decision and schedule of the competent entities, depending on the results of the pilot and the technical conditions for its expansion”, he argued.
In terms of other measures to increase registration in the simplified cadastral system, the mission structure said that “it is developing a plan for institutional partnerships and reinforcing BUPi’s digital presence, with clearer, more practical and oriented content to help citizens understand the process and move forward with greater confidence”.
“At the same time, improvements continue to be made to tools and platforms”, he assured. According to data from BUPi, as of May 1st, of the 173 municipalities without a land registry, 158 already have registration available, with 3,395,291 matrices identified, corresponding to 42% of the area, with 1,678,813 hectares on the mainland and 13,749 in Madeira.
A decree-law published in April expanded procedures and extended the free georeferencing of properties until September 30th. The coordinator of eBUPi, Eugénia Amaral, considered that the “continuous improvement of the system and the IT platform will allow us to better understand the territory and move towards “interoperability between systems”, between the Tax Authority, Directorate-General for the Territory and the Institute of Registries and Notaries.
