I have purchased a 'fabbricato' which is quite small, roofed and still generally intact. It is designated as a house. It currently has no kitchen or bathroom and has 3 levels: 2 rooms, a cucina at ground floor, una stanza at first floor and cantina on the lowest floor level. The room sizes are approx 3.5x4 m including a stair. Can anyone tell me what the building regulations are for houses in regards to: minimum size of rooms - kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.; heights of rooms - I understand rooms should be 2.7 m and bathrooms can be less; insulation levels and current insulation standards; drainage - I understand if the drainage is private I can connect without any consents?
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There aren't building regs in the same way as the UK. There are various rules and regs - some national, some regional and some unique to each comune. It will depend very much on what you want to do with the property. For example, some older properties can have a head height lower than 2.7m but that depends on where you are and there are special rules for tourist accommodation or farm buildings. It also depends on what classification of property you have bought. You refer to it as a "fabbricato" but say it is registered as a house. If it is registered as a house then it will have a classification such as A3 or A1 etc. or does it say "fabbricato rurale" on the "visura"? It wil also say on the visura how many rooms this equates to. If you want to use the other two floors and they are not registered as habitation then you will need to get permission to turn them into habitable space which may or may not be granted depending on where you live and the specific rules there. If it has been registered as a house then there will be a cadastral map showing which bits are registered as habitable. You should have this from the purchase. The best way to find out what is permitted in your particular area is to either have a chat with the comune technico (assuming he is the approachable type) or speak to a local, recommended geometra. You say the drainage outside is private but then someone must have installed it. You may have to pay to join their "consortium" to connect to it. It could be a private drainage system for a few houses or just your neighbour. As to whether you need permission (other than from the owners) to connect, that would depend on if you have to cross any public roads/land. If you need to install your own septic tank then you will need a geologists report and the location of the septic tank goes on a register but again, the comune technico or a local geometra can advise. It is very difficult for someone to comment generally as so much is controlled locally.
Good luck with it - it is clearly just a 'pied a terre'. It sounds to me as if you have 'habitable space', catastally, on the first and second floors - but a cantina isn't regarded as 'habitable'. That does not mean it cannot be made 'habitable' - (but you are going to have to make the ceiling height 2.7m, as a minimum requirement, which depending on the rock below could be a little bit costly). You will also have to pay a tax (commonly referred to as Bucalossi or Legge 11) to the comune to get it classified as 'habitable' - I'd guess at €2000. Drains - if you are (I'm speaking about my Provincia here, yours might differ) within 200m of a 'mains drain' then your septic tank is obliged to discharge into it. If you are further away then either you do your own dispersion, or share with your neighbors. You need a geometra!
We're in the process of buying an old farmhouse in Liguria and the head height only needs to be 2.3m in the rooms as it is below a certain sqm. Also the comune will grant permission to extend the property to put stairs or a bathroom or kitchen in (within certain limits). I know there is a minimum bathroom size of 3sqm if you are planning to let a room. No idea if it is a private house, however, sorry. It is so absolutely comune-specific though, and your comune could well be different. Could you find someone to translate for you locally and then go to the comune/geometra and ask? That would be my recommendation as unless someone on this forum has a house in the same comune, their advice may not apply to your property, unfortunately.
Previous posters have mentioned the local planning laws - and I agree they are very specific to the location and in our case very very strict! I would recommend finding a great architect/geometra who can work with you. Ours is based in Dolceacqua and came highly recommended from a number of people- he speaks good english and is married to an architect who is fluent in english - perfecto - as our Italian is very limited at the moment. Our plan is to put in for our permission as soon as the plans are agreed by us - with a view to starting the build early in the new Year - we can only go so far and then will not to stop as we will need to sell the family home in order to finish which will be after June (have a daughter who wil be completing final year of sixth form) we will then sell up here in the UK. We're over in a just over a few weeks - and intend to view properties that the builders who we will be inviting to tender have built - sooo many things to think about as you'll be experiencing too!!!