The Overseas Guides Company helps readers with their questions about buying and living in Italy

 

Can you please advise whether it is acceptable to restore your own property in Italy? Some companies seem to be saying it is illegal to undertake major works without a registered builder. I appreciate that any work must comply with regulations, Italian law and local comune requirements but does this mean we cannot do work ourselves? Having done some online research, I think it is more of a cultural thing in Italy that people do not DIY like we do in the UK – there doesn’t seem to be the equivalent of a B&Q as we know it!

Kirsty Lowe of The Italy Buying Guide says: “If nothing, in Italy is completely cut and dried, and regulations will vary from region to region. However, the general rule of thumb regarding renovations is that whatever work you undertake, either inside or outside of your house, you will need to inform the comune.
When repairing something already in existence, using the same materials that were formerly used, without changing the interior layout or constructing anything new on the exterior, then you will need to write to the council requesting manutenzione ordinaria. For this you do not need to specify who will be doing the work – although it is important to note that any modifications regarding electricity and/or gas will need to be signed off by a professional electrician/plumber.

For other changes – removing or putting in walls or staircases, putting bathrooms where there were not bathrooms or replacing the roof, then you will need to submit a number of documents to the council, including photographs, details of the company undertaking the work (the company should be an Italian company registered with the Italian chamber of commerce, but it can also be a UK or other professional building company providing they can provide valid (IVA) VAT documentation) and a project plan from a geometra. You will then have to wait for up to 20 days before the council confirm your right to proceed with the manutenzione extraordinaria. Failure to comply with this can lead to a large fine, and the work being stopped indefinitely.

For building a new house, extending an old house or putting in windows or doors where there were previously done, the procedure is more complicated. A geometra must draw up plans, which are then submitted to the council’s planning board commissione edilizia. Once the plans are approved, they are then sent on to the regional or provincial government for approval. Only a professional company as stated above can carry out this work.

If you are doing any work that involves water – i.e. the construction of a bridge, diverting a small river or putting in a swimming pool, then your project will have to include a geologist’s report and be sent to provincial government for approval. If you are in a protected area (zona vincolata) then your plans will be sent to the national sovraintendenza to have the aesthetic implications approved. Only a professional company as stated above can carry out this work.

One of the benefits of having local tradesmen in to do most of the work is that they are the ones likely to be most au fait with local planning regulations. The laws in Italy change on a regular basis, and if you build or change something that should not have been done, even inadvertently, the chances are you will either be heavily fined or told to remove it with no recourse possible.

Those people who wish to undertake the manutenzione ordinaria work themselves do have a number of B&Q style shops available for such undertakings.

For details of more property for sale in Italy, visit the Italy listing on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying and restoring property in Italy is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into euros to complete the purchase. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Italy, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Italy Property Buying Guide’