Ministério das Obras Públicas, Transportes e Comunicações (Ministery for Public Works, Transports and Communications)
Regulatory Decree
(This is not an official translation of the law)
The compulsory nature of the installation of residential mailboxes, initially intended for the cities of Lisbon and Oporto, has been extended to the other cities and to various towns and settlements with significant population density and postal traffic.
By means of the present law the said obligation has been extended to the whole of national territory, complementing the obligation concerning the prior installation of infrastructures for the installation of mailboxes in urban developments, building constructions and roads, already foreseen by Decree-Law no. 188/81 of 2 July.
On the other hand, Decree-Law no. 37 927 of 1 August 1950 and the Regulation governing the Residential Postal Receptacle Service serving as an annex to the said Decree Law were revoked by Decree-Law no. 176/88 of 18 May, by way of which guiding rules for the service are imposed, reuniting in a singe law the provisions relating to the various types of receptacles which exist.
Hence:
Under the terms of what is laid down in article 2, Decree-Law no. 176/88 of 18 May and under the terms of section c) of article 202 of the Constitution the Government decrees as follows:
Single article
The Regulation governing the Postal Receptacle Service is hereby approved, this serving as an annex to the present law and forming part of it.
Presidency of Cabinet of 19 February 1990. Aníbal António Cavaco Silva - Luís Francisco Valente de Oliveira - Joaquim Fernando Nogueira - João Maria Leitão de Oliveira Martins.
Enacted on 22 March 1990.
Let the present be published.
The President of the Republic, Mário Soares.
Countersigned on 24 March 1990.
The Prime Minister, Aníbal António Cavaco Silva.
ANNEX
Regulation for the Mailbox Service
Article 1
Object
The present Regulation governs the mailbox service, defining the types of boxes and establishing norms to be observed in their installation, use and maintenance.
Article 2
Reception mailboxes
1. For the delivery of ordinary no-cumbersome mail, the buildings to be constructed regardless of their location, and those already built in locations where the placing of mailboxes has become compulsory, shall have separate boxes for each separate residential fraction and also one intended for the administration of the property, whenever the existence of the latter body is foreseen by law.
2. After hearing the opinion of the operating company, the Communications Institute of Portugal (ICP) shall establish, by way of a notification published in the Diário da República (Journal of the Republic), when and under what conditions the mailboxes for the existing or under construction buildings shall be installed, in locations where, up to the date when the present Regulation comes into force, had not been compulsory to install them.
3. The owners of the constructed buildings who, on the date when the present Regulation comes into force, have already installed any system of mailboxes in a good state of operation and safety are foregone with the installation of the new mailboxes foreseen in the present Regulation.
4. For the purposes of what is laid down in the present Regulation, a separate residential fraction shall be deemed as any fraction which forms an independent unit, whether the building has been built under a horizontal property regime or not.
5. Responsibility for the purchasing and placing of mailboxes under the conditions foreseen by the present law shall lie exclusively with the owners of the buildings, and the latter may not transfer any costs to the tenants for any legal reason nor fee them anything for their use.
6. Once the mailboxes have been placed or updated, they shall be kept in good working conditions; responsibility for any future repairs lying with the owners of the buildings, should they live there, or with the tenants, under any legal bond.
7. The repair of mailboxes, as well as their installation in buildings in locations where they were not obligatory, shall be effected within 30 days from the notification made by the operating company to this effect.
Article 3
Conditions of installation of the mailboxes for the delivery of mail
1. The mailboxes to be installed in the buildings shall preferably be placed at the main doors or on the outside walls adjoining the property or, should this not be viable, they may be placed in the entrance hall in a location which is clearly visible and easily accessible to the distributors.
2. In relation to buildings placed inside walled spaces, the mailboxes shall be installed at the door providing access to the said spaces or in the outside wall zone immediately adjoining the access door.
3. Shopping centres, supermarkets or similar establishments shall be served by as many mailboxes as the existing establishments, being these installed under the conditions foreseen for the separate fractions.
4. Each mailbox or set of mailboxes, depending on whether it is a property with one or more residents, shall incorporate the term "post" in a clearly visible place.
5. Each mailbox of a set shall clearly show to which autonomous residential fraction belongs.
6. Mailboxes for the delivery of mail may not be liable to be confused with the operating company's mailboxes intended for the collection of mail.
7. In order to ensure the safety, secrecy, capacity and easy use of the same, each mailbox shall obey to the following characteristics:
a) It shall be made of a robust material, in such a way that it is difficult for third parties to open or remove it from where it is placed;
b) It shall have minimum inner dimensions of 26 cm x 26 cm x 34 cm;
c) It shall have a suitable opening system that allows the use of its full and an individual lock;
d) It shall have a horizontal aperture for the introduction of the mail with dimensions of 24 cm x 3 cm placed at a distance from the ground of between 50 cm and 150 cm with a sloped ramp and suitable devices which do not allow mail to be removed from it and the top of the aperture must be situated at a maximum distance of 4 cm from the mailbox top;
e) Should the mailbox be in the outside and not protected from the rain, it shall have a flap placed above the aperture or some other protective device which does not offer resistance to the introduction of the mail.
8. In the urban developments which constitute separate whole, the mailboxes may, by indication or agreement of the operating company, be installed on public roads in a location which does not cause hindrance to the circulation, forming the said sets of separate mailboxes, without prejudice of the applicable legislation.
9. What is laid down in nr. 1 may not necessarily be applied to isolated buildings provided that recourse to separate boxes is viable, being situated in locations previously determined by the operating company.
Article 4
Delivery of mail
1. Mail deposited in the respective mailbox is deemed as having been delivered.
2. Should the mailbox of destination be damaged or not placed and its installation is obligatory, mail shall be delivered, whenever possible, in person to the residence, within the deadline referred to by nr. 7 of article 2. Once the said deadline has expired the mail shall be returned, if possible, or kept in storage to be sent at an opportune time to the waste service.
3. The mail found at a residential mailbox other than that of the addressee shall be entrusted to the postal services so as to be sent to the correct destination.
Article 5
Mailboxes for the collection of mail
1. The operating company is obliged to place mailboxes for the collection of unregistered mail to be sent at all postal establishments or next to the latter and in locations where the requirements of the service and public convenience so require.
2. To place mailboxes for the collection of mail, the operating company may use locations situated in streets, squares, tracks and unprohibited roads as well as on the walls of buildings adjoining public roads, provided that they respect the purpose for which they were intended and do not prejudice the architectonic value of the same.
3. Mailboxes may be installed at the request of the parties concerned pursuant to what is foreseen by the applicable legislation.
Article 6
Mailboxes for collection by distributors
The operating company may install mailboxes intended for the collection of mail by distributors on public roads and on the walls of buildings adjoining the same, what is laid down in nr. 2 of article 5 being observed.
Article 7
Damages to mailboxes
The mailboxes installed under the terms of the present Regulation are considered public utilities for the purposes of what is laid down in section b), nr. 3 of article 309 of the Penal Code.
Article 8
Removal of mailboxes due to works
The official bodies supervising public highways and owners of buildings who intend to carry out works which oblige the removal of mailboxes shall give the operating company 15 days notice of this.
Article 9
Intervention of official bodies
1. In order to carry out the present Regulation effectively the official bodies supervising public highways and the local councils shall inform in advance the operating company of any construction projects for new highways and urban developments of house areas or settlements.
2. Within 30 days after the projects referred to in the preceding number have become known, the operating company shall provide information about the following:
a) The reservation of spaces to be used for the location of the mailboxes;
b) The way in which mailboxes are located for the delivery of mail.
3. Should the operating company not provide the information within the deadline referred to in the preceding number this shall be taken as meaning that the said operating company does not require spaces and the buildings to be constructed have been provided with mailboxes under the conditions foreseen by nrs. 1 to 5 of article 3.
4. Local councils shall not concede licences for the building, reconstruction or expansion of buildings nor issue licences for housing or tenure should it be observed that the provisions of the present Regulations regarding the installation of mailboxes for the delivery of mail have not been respected.
Article 10
Sanctions
Non-compliance with what is laid down in the present Regulation is actionable under the terms of what is laid down in articles 84 and 85 of the Public Postal Service Regulation approved by Decree Law nr. 176/88 of 18 May.
