Permit free works: what can be done without consent

Article 6 of the code lists the works that may be carried out as permit free activity. The list includes, among others, ordinary maintenance, meaning repair, renewal and replacement of the finishes of buildings and the works needed to supplement or keep existing building services in working order.

It also covers the removal of architectural barriers, without alteration of the envelope and without creating new volume, the installation of air to air heat pumps within the power limit the rules provide, temporary works for subsoil research, earth movement connected with agricultural activity, seasonal moveable greenhouses, external paving within permeability limits, play areas without commercial purpose and furnishing elements in ancillary areas. The list is exhaustive and admits no reasoning by analogy.

Decree Law 69 of 2024, converted by Law 105 of 2024, widened the scope of article 6 on two fronts. Both additions concern works of enclosure and protection.

Retractable and fully transparent panoramic glazing, already within permit free activity for enclosing projecting balconies and recessed loggias, has been extended to the enclosure of porticoes, understood as covered building elements at ground floor level, punctuated by columns or piers and open on one or more sides towards the exterior, falling within the building itself. The amendment extended its scope beyond balconies.

Also added were works protecting against sun and weather whose principal structure consists of awnings, sun awnings, external blinds, pergola awnings with retractable and possibly waterproof fabric, or pergola awnings with moveable or adjustable solar protection elements, attached or annexed to buildings including with fixed structures needed to support and extend the work. The nature of the principal structure is the decisive test.

Work	Regime before the Salva Casa decree	Regime after the Salva Casa decree
Removable panoramic glazing, projecting balconies and recessed loggias	Permit free works	Permit free works
Removable panoramic glazing, enclosure of recessed porticoes	Consent according to the works	Permit free works
Awnings, sun awnings, pergola awnings with retractable fabric or adjustable elements	Case by case classification	Permit free works
Structures whose principal element is not fabric	Consent according to the works	Consent according to the works

The panoramic glazing remains subject to the functional requirements the rules set out, including serving temporary functions of protection against the weather, improving acoustic and energy performance, reducing heat loss and providing partial protection against rainwater. If one of them falls away, so does the permit free regime.

Supporting article 6 is the glossary approved by ministerial decree of 2 March 2018, listing the principal works that may be carried out as permit free activity, organised by category of work: ordinary maintenance, works on building services, safety and architectural barrier works, arrangement and furnishing of external spaces, small scale renewable energy installations, temporary or seasonal structures. The document assists classification but does not replace it.

Two limits of that document should be known before relying on it. Both concern its non exhaustive nature.

The list is expressly non exhaustive. The absence of an item from the glossary does not imply that a consent is required, and classification must in any event be carried out under article 6.

Inclusion in the glossary is not in itself sufficient. The work remains permit free only if it meets the substantive requirements and complies with the planning instruments, the sector rules and the constraints. Work bearing the name of a glossary entry but having different construction characteristics does not benefit from the regime.

A separate case is that of works serving objective contingent and temporary needs, intended to be removed once the need ceases. The regime depends on removal within the period.

The regime is particular: the work falls within permit free activity but the rules require notification of the start of works to the municipality, and it may remain in place within the maximum period the provision lays down, which should be checked against the text in force. The work is permit free but the notification remains due.

Failure to remove it at the deadline removes the premise of the regime, and the work then stands as having been carried out without the consent that would have been required of it as a permanent structure. The work is then treated as carried out without consent.

This is the most litigated boundary of permit free activity, and both administrative and supreme court case law continue to refine it. Case law continues to refine its limits case by case.

The test emerging is functional and constructional at once. A pergola open on three sides and above requires no consent. A structure whose covering is stable and not readily removable qualifies instead as a canopy, creating volume and consequently requiring a permesso di costruire.

The pergotenda, an awning structure on a pergola frame, sits between the two: it is permitted as permit free activity where the fabric is retractable and the function is temporary protection, while stiffening the covering or enclosing the sides moves the work towards the higher regimes. Classification turns on the retractability of the cover, not on the trade name.

The practical consequence is that classification depends on the actual construction characteristics and not on the commercial name of the product installed. A structure sold as a pergotenda but built with a fixed covering is a canopy.

One aspect permit free activity does not resolve is that of relations between co owners, and confusing the two levels is common. A building consent does not substitute for the assembly's approval.

The regime of article 6 concerns the relationship between the private party and the authority. It does not bear on relations between co owners nor on the requirements of the building's own regulations, which may restrict or prohibit works entirely permitted as permit free activity.

The typical case is panoramic glazing and awnings on balconies and loggias. The absence of a building consent does not dispense with checking the co ownership regulations, which may contain requirements on the architectural appearance of the facade, and where the work affects architectural amenity the question may require a resolution of the general meeting.

The operational consequence for the professional is that the client must be advised on both levels. Stating that the work requires no building consent, without flagging the need to check the co ownership regulations, is incomplete advice that generates private disputes.

The point that closes every assessment. Permit free works may be carried out freely but not arbitrarily, because the municipal planning instruments and the sector rules affecting building activity continue to apply.

Among these the rules expressly refer to seismic, safety, fire, health and hygiene rules, those on energy efficiency, hydrogeological risk protection and the provisions of the code of cultural heritage and landscape. The list serves as a reminder of the parallel checks.

It follows that permit free work on a protected property may require landscape authorisation or that of the heritage authority, which are not building consents and are not replaced by the regime of article 6. The permit free regime concerns the building consent, not the constraints.

It should be added that renewable energy installations now follow their own rules, identifying specific authorisation regimes, which must be checked separately. Referring to article 6 is therefore not sufficient for those works.

Assuming that free means exempt from every check is the first, and ignores the constraints and sector rules that continue to apply. Constraints and sector legislation continue to apply in full.

Using the glossary as a closed list is the second, in both directions: excluding works that would fall within it and including others that do not meet the substantive requirements. Works that are covered get excluded and works that are not get included.

Classifying the work from its commercial name is the third, and is the mechanism producing the litigation over awning structures and canopies. It is the mechanism producing the litigation over awnings and canopies.

Neglecting to remove temporary works at the deadline is the fourth, and retrospectively turns permit free work into work without consent. Permit free work is retrospectively turned into a breach.