Two distinct legal natures
The permesso di costruire is an express administrative instrument. The municipality adopts it following a review, and without it the work cannot begin.
The SCIA and the CILA are privately formed consents. There is no municipal instrument: there is an act of the private party, accompanied by the certification of a qualified professional, which makes the work lawful. The municipality retains powers of control and prohibition, but exercises them downstream rather than upstream.
This difference explains how risk is distributed. With a permesso di costruire the compliance check precedes the start of work and the instrument consolidates an assessment by the authority. With a SCIA or a CILA the substantive check rests on the professional's certification, for which they assume responsibility, and the authority's control follows.
| Aspect | Permesso di costruire | SCIA | CILA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature | Express instrument | Privately formed consent | Certified notification |
| Start of works | After issue | From filing | From filing |
| Municipal control | Prior review | Subsequent, within the statutory period | Subsequent |
| Professional certification | Design documents | Required | Required |
The permit review process
The procedure is governed by article 20 of the code and runs through stages with defined time limits: filing of the application, check of documentary completeness, review with any request for further information, obtaining the assent of other authorities where required, proposed decision and issue. The periods may, however, be interrupted only once.
Two elements deserve attention when programming. The first is that the time limits are interrupted or suspended by requests for further information, so the quality of the initial filing bears directly on the effective duration. The second is that the presence of constraints triggers sub procedures before other authorities, with their own timescales added to those of the building review.
The system also provides a mechanism for concluding the procedure where the authority fails to act, subject to conditions and limits to be checked case by case and which do not operate where certain constraints apply. The mechanism does not operate where constraints apply.
Control over the SCIA
Once the notice is filed, work may begin. The authority retains a period within which to verify that the conditions are met and, where they are not, to adopt measures prohibiting continuation and requiring the effects to be removed, subject to the party's ability to bring the work into compliance.
The practical consequence is that starting work immediately does not amount to established compliance. On significant projects it is worth weighing the advantage of an immediate start against the risk of a stop order once the site is open.
The CILA and its procedural scope
The CILA is the lightest form and its procedure is minimal: certified notification, start of works, notification of completion. It requires no instrument to be issued and the authority's control follows.
The code also contemplates notification filed once work has already started or finished, attracting a financial penalty and without this amounting to regularisation in the proper sense. The situation has a precise scope and is covered in the branch on regularisation.
Duration and lapse
A consent does not last indefinitely. Article 15 of the code governs the duration and lapse of the permesso di costruire, with time limits for starting and for completing the works and the possibility of extension in the cases provided.
Lapse also operates where conflicting planning provisions come into force, unless work has already started and is completed within the period. It is a factor to weigh when programming projects with uncertain start dates.
Variations
Designs almost always change during construction. How the change is classified determines the regime applicable: some variations may be notified on completion, others require a consent in variation before execution, and others amount to a material variation and are subject to the regime of the original consent.
The distinction is not formal. Carrying out as a minor variation what amounts to a material variation produces a non conformity, with the consequences of the sanctions regime. The subject is covered separately in this branch.
The quality of the filing governs the timescale
One non statutory factor bears on the effective duration of the procedure more than any statutory time limit: the completeness of the initial filing. It is the completeness of the filing.
Every request for further information suspends or interrupts the time limits, and the suspension does not depend on how significant the gap is. A minor missing document has the same effect on timescales as a substantive defect.
Three categories of gap account for most requests for further information. Documentation evidencing the lawfulness of the existing building, where the work concerns an existing property and the original consent has not been attached or is incomplete. The assent of other authorities, where the property is subject to constraints and the relevant application has not been started in parallel. Consistency between drawings, report and certified declarations, which is the most immediate check the reviewer can carry out.
Anticipating these three checks before filing does not speed the procedure up: it avoids slowing it down. It does, however, avoid slowing it with a request for further material.
A caution on the local dimension
The time limits and procedural arrangements have a national basis, but their application runs through the municipality's one stop building office, the forms adopted and regional legislation. Some regions have exercised their competence through their own statutes, and the nationally standardised forms are subject to adaptations received through the municipal building regulation.
A preliminary check with the competent office is not a formality: it bears on the completeness of the filing and therefore on the effective duration of the procedure. It bears on the completeness of the file and therefore on the timing.
Note: the legislative references in this page relate to Italy and are current as at the date of publication. Procedural time limits and forms are subject to regional and municipal adaptation: the competent one stop building office should be consulted before any operational use.