Registro de incorporação: what it is and how to check it before buying off-plan in Brazil

Every ad for an off-plan apartment in Brazil should carry a number that almost nobody looks for. It is the development registration (registro de incorporação), and it tells you whether that building can actually be sold.

What the development registration is

Incorporação imobiliária, the real estate development activity, means promoting and constructing buildings to sell the units before or during construction, as defined in article 28 of Law 4,591/1964. The developer is called the incorporadora.

The registro de incorporação is the moment this activity becomes public: the registry office examines the documents, files the set and records the act on the land's registry entry.

The central rule is in article 32 of the same law, as worded by Law 14,382/2022. The developer may only sell the land fractions that will correspond to the future units after registering the development filing (memorial de incorporação) at the competent property registry.

The registration sits at the registry office of the town where the land is. A building in Porto Belo is registered at the Porto Belo Property Registry Office. A development in Itapema, at the Itapema Property Registry Office.

After registration, the land enters a special condominium regime, and each fraction can be sold without consent from the other co-owners, says § 1-A of article 32. That act turns a project into a product that can go into a contract.

Brazilian property law has one more concept English readers should know. Each piece of land has a registry entry called the matrícula, a running record at the registry office of who owns it and every right or burden on it. Ownership only transfers when a deed or contract is registered on that entry.

What the development filing contains

The filing is the package of documents the developer takes to the registry. The items of article 32 list what must be there. In plain language, the main ones are:

• the land title, or an irrevocable promise to buy it, registered;
• clearance certificates for taxes, protests and lawsuits, covering the land, the seller of the land and the developer;
• the history of the land over the last 20 years;
• the construction design approved by City Hall;
• the area calculations, with the size of each unit and of the common parts;
• the specifications of the construction (memorial descritivo);
• the estimated total construction cost, signed by the technical lead;
• the document dividing the land into ideal fractions and describing each unit;
• the draft condominium bylaws;
• the grace period declaration, if any;
• the declaration on the number of parking spaces and where they are.

For buyers, three items deserve careful reading. The memorial descritivo is the reference at handover. The draft bylaws set usage rules, such as short-term rentals. And the grace period declaration shows whether the developer can abandon the project.

Grace period

Article 34 allows the developer to set a grace period (prazo de carência), during which it may withdraw from the development under conditions stated in the filing. This period cannot be extended and must appear in the sales documents. If the developer withdraws, the withdrawal is recorded at the registry and communicated in writing to each buyer.

Validity and updates

The registration does not stay frozen forever.

Under article 33, if within 180 days the development has not materialized, through the sale of any unit, a construction loan or the start of works, the developer may only resume selling after updating the expired certificates. Until it materializes, that update repeats every 180 days.

How to check before buying

The check is simple and can be done remotely. The steps below work for any town on the coast and for buyers living in another state or outside Brazil.

1. Find the number. Article 32, § 3, requires the registration number and the registry office's name in ads, printed material, offers and contracts, except classifieds. In the contract, it appears in the summary sheet (quadro-resumo), required by article 35-A since Law 13,786/2018, together with the land's registry entry.
2. Identify the registry office. It is the property registry for the district where the land is, and it must match what the material states.
3. Order the registry entry certificate. You can do it at the registry counter or through RI Digital, the portal of the National Operator of the Electronic Property Registry, which connects registry offices across Brazil and issues digital certificates with an electronic signature.
4. Read the registry entry. Look for the act registering the development filing, check the developer's name and see whether there are encumbrances, such as a mortgage or fiduciary lien to finance the construction.
5. Ask for the documents if you want to go further. Article 32, § 4, guarantees anyone a certificate or copy of the filed documents, such as the specifications and the draft bylaws.

How to read the registry entry

The registry entry is the land's record at the registry office, with acts numbered in order. Registration acts usually carry the letter R and annotations the letters AV, followed by a number.

Read from top to bottom: first who owns the land and how they acquired it, then the registration of the development filing, and finally the most recent notes.

Three questions guide the reading. Is the landowner, or the holder of the promise to buy, the developer named in your contract, or someone linked to it?

Is there an act registering the filing, with a date? Is there collateral given to a bank to finance the construction, and does the contract explain how it will be released on your unit?

The registry entry may also show the recorded segregated-assets regime (patrimônio de afetação), which separates the project's accounts from the developer's other accounts. It is optional and worth asking about.

If you are buying from abroad

You do not need to travel to Brazil for this step. Through RI Digital, the certificate arrives in digital format, electronically signed and valid for 30 days, according to the portal itself, checked in October 2026. The portal and the certificate are in Portuguese, so ask your broker or a Brazilian lawyer to go through it with you.

Keep the file with your contract: it is a snapshot of the land's situation on the day you decided.

The full list of what to request and check, including the buyer's own documents (a foreign buyer needs a CPF, the Brazilian taxpayer number), is in our article on documents for buying off-plan property (in Portuguese).

What advertising or selling without registration means

Article 32 is direct: without registration, the developer may not sell the fractions linked to the future units. Article 66 classifies dealing in land fractions without first meeting the law's requirements as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine.

Article 65 treats false statements about the construction or the sale in offers, contracts and advertising as a crime.

This is where the pre-launch stage comes in. Before registration, the developer can present the project and gauge interest, but a reservation, form or waiting list is not a purchase.

Paying a deposit at this stage leaves the buyer without the protection the registration provides. Our article on pre-launch real estate in Brazil explains how to act at this stage.

It is also worth separating what the registration guarantees from what it does not. It proves the documentation was submitted and examined by the registry. It does not guarantee the construction will be delivered on time, that the developer will have cash until the end or that the list price is fair.

So the registration is the first filter, not the only one. Delivery track record, contract, the segregated-assets regime, payment schedule and adjustment by the INCC (Brazil's construction cost index) belong in the same analysis.

Red flags in sales material

Some details call for a question before going further:

• an ad for a unit with price and payment terms but no registration number;
• phrases such as "registration in progress" or "approval coming soon" alongside a request for a deposit;
• a developer name in the contract that differs from the one on the registry entry;
• a registry office in a different town from where the land is;
• pressure to sign the same day, with no time to get the certificate.

None of these signs proves wrongdoing on its own. All of them justify stopping to check.

From the number in the ad to the certificate in your hands

When you buy off-plan, you buy a piece of paper, and its value depends on what is registered at the registry office. The rush of a launch price table tends to push this check to after signing, when it should come before.

Three principles sum up the path:

1. No registration number in the ad or contract means the conversation stops until it appears.
2. The registry entry certificate is the proof, and you can order it from anywhere through the registry portal.
3. Registration shows the documentation exists; the rest of the analysis is still needed.

The practical step is to ask your broker or the developer today for the registration number of every development you are considering, and to get the certificate before paying any deposit. The other selection criteria are in the guide to choosing an off-plan development (in Portuguese).

In the online investment consultation, our specialist presents each development with its registration number and registry entry, and on a visit to the show unit and the site you can check the project in person. In Brazil, every licensed real estate broker must be registered with the regional council CRECI, and you can ask for that number too.

Without registration there is no sale, only a promise.

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from a lawyer licensed in Brazil.