What are the Administrative Procedures and Necessary Permits for Renovating an Apartment?

To start apartment renovation work, it is essential to obtain all necessary permits. Procedures can vary from municipality to municipality, so it’s very important to inquire in advance about the permits and authorizations required. Some works, in fact, can be carried out freely, while others necessarily involve opening a bureaucratic procedure.

Let’s look at this in more detail:

Free Building Work, Interventions that Can be Carried out without Permits:

Among the interventions that can be carried out without a permit are those of ordinary maintenance, namely:

• Painting and plastering, both for interiors and exteriors
• Interior and exterior cladding
• Installation of gutters
• Paving of internal areas and pertinent external areas
• Installation of doors, windows, and frames
• Addition of railings, gratings, and parapets
• Replacement of sanitary fixtures

The renovation of systems (air conditioning, sanitary, electrical, gas) also falls under the ‘free building’ regime. Only in rare cases might some of these interventions require a Notice of Commencement of Works (CIL).

Permits and Documents Necessary for Building Renovations

Regarding extraordinary maintenance, restoration, conservative renovation, and building renovation works, permits must be requested that vary depending on the work to be carried out:

Extraordinary Maintenance

Extraordinary maintenance of a property includes:

• Renewal and replacement of structural parts of a building;
• Creation and integration of sanitary services;
• Division or merging of property units, varying the surfaces of individual property units and the urban load.

These interventions cannot alter the overall volume of buildings or change their intended use. For works that do not involve structural modifications, a Certified Notice of Commencement of Works (CILA) must be submitted through a surveyor appointed to prepare all the documentation.

Restoration, conservative renovation, and building renovation

Restoration and conservative renovation works refer to the consolidation and renewal of a building’s residential functions. When we talk about building renovation, we refer to interventions of demolition and reconstruction of a building.

For these works, it is essential to contact the One-Stop Shop for Productive Activities of your municipality and submit:

• the certified notification of commencement of activity (SCIA), to be sent electronically through a qualified technician;
• the notification of completion of works together with the test certificate from the appointed technician to demonstrate the conformity of the interventions to the initial project. If necessary, the test can be accompanied by a declaration of cadastral variation or a document attesting to no change in classification.

Those who do not follow the correct procedures may incur high penalties, as well as the obligation to restore the property to its previous state. This is why it is essential to always consult a professional who carefully follows all bureaucratic aspects of the renovation. Our Architects will take care of submitting all documentation to the Municipality at every stage of the project, relieving you of any worries.