When buying or renovating a home in Italy, knowing whether your property complies with the law isn’t just a bureaucratic step, it can save you from costly fines, legal battles, or even having to undo construction. But many people get it wrong, heading to the Land Registry instead of the right office. Understanding urban planning and building permits is key to knowing where and how you can build legally.
Urban planning is a branch of administrative law that governs building rights, meaning the permits needed to construct new buildings or modify existing ones. In Italy, these permits are issued by the municipality. If the property is in a protected area, the municipality must also obtain approval from the Region and the Superintendence.
So, if you want to check whether a house complies with urban planning regulations, you need to go to the Municipality’s Private Building Office (and not to the Land Registry, as many people mistakenly believe) and ask for the authorisazation and related projects. Our estate agency can help you with the retrieval of those documents, we check the authorisation and related projects as soon as we list a property.
Over the years, the document issued by the municipality that authorizes construction has changed names. Depending on when a house was built, the authorization will be called differently:
- In 1942: Building License (Urban Planning Law No. 1150/1942)
- From 1977: Building Concession (Bucalossi Law No. 10/1977, which introduced fees)
- From 1985: Amnesty Concession in addition to the regular concession (Law No. 47/1985, the “Building Amnesty”)
- From 2001: Building Permit and DIA (Declaration of Commencement of Works), under the Consolidated Building Act, Presidential Decree No. 380/2001
