Heritage listing

1. Listing

IGESPAR is responsible for proposing the listing of immovable cultural assets across Portugal. It is up to IGESPAR to lay down the criteria to be used for listing purposes. It may use general criteria – historic and cultural, aesthetic and social, technical and scientific; or other additional criteria – integrity, authenticity and exemplarity.
According to its relative value, immovable property of cultural value may be listed as being of ''National Interest'' (known as "National Monument"), "Public Interest" or "Municipal Interest" (a city council decision).
The law has also provided for other categories of property, namely a "Monument", "Group of Buildings" and a "Site" (according to international conventions).
IGESPAR regularly proposes the listing of immovable assets, which is fundamental for laying down criteria for enhancing the built heritage, as this universe is in permanent expansion. There is a wide range of listed objects and groups of buildings with different typologies, such as modernist architecture or from the modern movement, vernacular architecture, archaeological sites, monastic walls, historic gardens, show business architecture and industrial architecture.
The listing process goes through a strict procedure (recently altered by Decree-Law no. 309/2009 of 23 October, which entered into force in January 2010).

2. Legally Protected Cultural Heritage Areas 

Heritage listing extends its strategic scope through the creation of special protection zones (ZEP), which may include non aedificandi areas (buffer zones that will minimise building impacts or safeguard archaeological sites).
When an asset is listed (see application form) and published in the Official Gazette or awaiting listing (based on an order considering its feasibility), it has a 50m protection zone (ZP) around it, or a special protection zone (ZEP) with its boundaries based on landscape references (mountain crests, ridges, rivers, and so on). No change can be made in such areas without permission from the central administration, namely the IGESPAR. Besides, any projects have to be sanctioned by an architect.
In order to make information available to the public and improve public service, IGESPAR’s Information System enables anyone to have access to the lists of streets that are not legally protected in the municipalities of Lisbon (PDF), Oporto (PDF) and in the Historic Centre of Setúbal. If your street is on this list, then it will not be necessary to seek IGESPAR’s consent for any changes to your building, or for the Institute to exercise its right of preference in case of property transmission or even to communicate any transfer of rights. Such lists are not exhaustive for two main reasons: it may be necessary to clarify doubts regarding the boundaries of certain buildings; on the other hand, recently built roads may still not be available in digital maps. 

3. Technical advice

IGESPAR issues binding advice on preliminary studies, projects, works, work projects, earthworks and impact studies. It may also be called to monitor such works when they reach the implementation stage. The Institute also monitors a number of works at the preliminary stage so as to prevent any subsequent obstacles at later stages.
IGESPAR is also called upon to officially participate in the drafting of planning instruments such as Master Plans, Land Use Plans, and Layout Plans or to give written advice about the latter following participation in advisory committees. In short, IGESPAR gives technical advice on the following issues:
• Private work projects;
• Municipality projects;
• Government projects;
• Land parcelling;
• Projects promoted by public capital companies;
• Master Plans;
• Town Plans;
• Layout Plans;
• Impact Studies;
• Building Reuse Programmes.
Within its responsibilities, it is IGESPAR’s duty to issue advice on rights of preference whenever a listed property or a property within its protection zone or awaiting listing is traded or has its rights transferred.
The above mentioned areas absorb a large quantity of the Institute’s technical resources.
Bearing in mind the complexity of issues to be dealt with, there has been an attempt to regularise such matters so as to enable an active role to be played by the Institute, as opposed to a defensive posture which is more difficult to justify or prove.
Accordingly:
• Private works projects: there are specific cases where, due to the size of the undertaking or the sensitivity of the area involved, building promoters are advised to submit to the local authorities or directly to IGESPAR architectural studies or land use plans so as to be entitled to a preliminary advice before the project start-up phase. The promoter can therefore have advance information on the criteria governing its project implementation (economy of means in terms of procedure and administrative documentation and economic promotion);
• Municipality and Government Projects: these projects have been discussed in regular meetings with the municipalities and Government institutions. Attention is drawn to planned interventions and to the criteria governing them; the methodology used is basically the one referred to above (road structures, large scale equipment, waster water treatment plants, underground parking spaces, extensive rehabilitation works on ancient buildings or in protection zones, etc.);
• Projects promoted by public capital companies: it has to do with monitoring works that are exempt from a municipal licence, so that quality criteria for architectural, urban and landscape interventions can be met; recent examples of these projects are the works promoted by Sociedade Porto 2001 or the POLIS programme;
• Plans: IGESPAR is often represented in advisory committees to discuss master plans, town plans or layout plans, as they involve architectural and archaeological heritage issues;
• Impact Studies: IGESPAR is also asked to give advice about environmental impact studies, as they often involve heritage matters (road and rail structures, engineering works, different networks, etc.).