Sometimes we don't realize we've committed it, other times we inherit it, other times we underestimate it.
But when does a work constitute building abuse?
A OfBuilding compliance is a criminal offence, which consists in creating a building intervention without building permit (licence, concession depending on the construction period), without authorization or communication to the Municipality.
It does not matter whether an illegal condominium or a small bathroom has been built, it is still a crime.
There are tools provided by the law that allow these works to be regularised: The I forgive construction and the amnesty building.
The terms "I forgive" And "amnesty” are, however, often used as synonyms to indicate the administrative procedure aimed at eliminating building abuse.
However, these terms identify different situations, both in terms of assumptions and purposes. It is therefore appropriate to analyze them separately.
BUILDING AMENDMENT
The building amnesty presupposes a building abuse and allows for the regularization of a building intervention that could not have been carried out because the qualification was missing and i works were contrary to current legislation.
For these reasons, The building amnesty can be requested within certain time limits and only in the presence of a special law that regulates it.
It is, of course, a procedure which is onerous: the cost for the amnesty of a building varies from 60 to 150 euros per square meter (also based on the type of abuse), to which all costs ancillary to the practice must be added, such as professionals' fees.
The latest building amnesties issued with the laws of 1985, 1994 and 2003 are (already) history. In reality, in recent months there has been much discussion about the possibility of passing a new law regarding building amnesty for 2024.
Any measures envisaged therein they should lead to an automatic "amnesty" of some extremely specific abuses (made before January 30, 1977). However, all those buildings built in areas classified as at hydrogeological risk would remain excluded.
In any case, the use of the conditional is a must: it is a measure that is still (only) under discussion.
BUILDING AMANATORY
The term building amnesty identifies, however, the administrative act with which the modifications made to a property in the absence of the relevant authorization are regularised.
The procedure is governed by art. 36 et seq. of the Consolidated Building Act (Presidential Decree 380/2001) and, as mentioned, it is applicable only to formal abuses that comply with urban planning and building regulations, even if carried out without administrative authorization.
For the purposes of granting the amnesty, the so-called "double compliance", i.e. the demonstration that the intervention subject to amnesty was compliant with building and urban planning regulations both at the time of construction and at the time of submitting the amnesty application.
The application for building amnesty can be submitted at any time.
However, the moment in which the application is submitted (during construction or after the works have been completed) and the type of authorization missing (CILA - Sworn Notice of Commencement of Work o SCIA - Certified Report of Start of Activity) may affect the costs to be incurred to obtain the building amnesty, therefore:
- Building amnesty, with CILA request during construction: 333.33 euros;
- Building amnesty, with request for SCIA during construction: from 516.00 euros upwards;
- Building amnesty, with CILA request upon completion of works: 1,000.00 euros;
- Building amnesty, with request for SCIA upon completion of works: from 1,000.00 euros upwards,
to which the fee of the appointed professionals must be added.
Legitimate to request the amnesty are the owner of the property or those who could request the issuance of a building permit (thus holders of a real right on the property), the person responsible for the abuse (which, obviously, can coincide with the owner) and the prospective buyer.
The procedure for requesting the building amnesty is as follows:
- Submission of the application: within 90 days of ascertaining the offence, the applicant presents a request to the competent authority (Municipality or Region according to local regulations), which must include detailed technical documentation regarding the illegal work; declaration of conformity of the systems; payment of the amnesty contribution;
- Evaluation of the competent authority which initiates the verification of the documentation received, ensuring that it is complete and compliant with current laws;
- Issuance of the amnesty measure by the competent authority in the event of a positive assessment.
In case of failure to respond by the authority after 60 days, the silence is classified as silence-dissent and the request is considered rejected.
This is without prejudice to the possibility of appealing against the silent dissent of the administration.