Services
Seven services, each with its scope and its limits written down.
Ivan Nozzi is an Ingegnere, the Italian title for a state-registered engineer, practising in Abruzzo. Every engagement begins with what is included, what is excluded and what you receive at the end, in writing, before anything is signed.
Scope of practice
What the practice covers, and where it stops
Ivan Nozzi is an Ingegnere, the Italian professional title for a state-registered engineer, entered in Section A, civil and environmental sector, of the register held by the Ordine degli Ingegneri della Provincia di Chieti under number 2489. There is no British or American title to translate that into, and this site does not try. What the entry means in practice is specific: building and structural design, site supervision, planning and cadastral filings, compliance checks, bills of quantities and valuations, and acting as a party-appointed technical adviser.
Where a building carries a vincolo, the formal designation as a cultural or landscape asset, Italian law reserves the lead architectural design to an architect under article 52 of Royal Decree 2537/1925. On those buildings I do not take the lead role. I work alongside the architect who coordinates the design and deals with the Soprintendenza, and I cover the structural calculations, the energy side and planning and cadastral compliance. If your building is listed, you will hear it at first contact, before you have spent anything.
I practise on my own. You deal with the person who prepares and signs the drawings rather than an account manager, and in return my capacity is finite and some certificates require an accreditation beyond registration with the Ordine. Where a filing needs one, the written proposal says so and names who issues it. A foreign buyer has no way of knowing which signature is missing until it is too late, so the honest place to raise it is at the quotation stage.
The seven services
What does a civil engineer in Italy actually do?
Each page states what the service includes, the document you receive at the end, and what it deliberately does not cover.
Method
How an engagement runs
Six steps, in the same order every time. Each one produces something you can hold, because a technical engagement is judged by the documents it leaves behind.
- 1. First contact
- You tell me the comune, the type of property and the decision in front of you. I reply in writing, saying whether the case falls inside what I am registered to do, which documents are worth gathering, and whether you also need an architect, a geometra or a notary. This exchange is there to establish whether it makes sense to go further, and commits neither of us.
- 2. Site visit
- I visit the property, photograph what is accessible, take the principal dimensions and compare them with the cadastral plan. You receive the photographs and a short note of the points that need investigating. Nothing is opened up and nothing is tested destructively, so anything concealed stays an assumption to be verified, and is written down as one.
- 3. Written proposal
- You receive a quotation listing the work included, the work expressly excluded, the documents I will hand over, the timescale and the fee. The fee is kept separate from the comune's own charges, the filing duties and the stamp duties, which are paid to the authority and never to me. Nothing begins before you accept it.
- 4. Appointment
- You and I sign a lettera d'incarico, the written engagement letter that precedes professional work in Italy. It fixes the scope, the fee, the timescale and the disclosures the law requires me to make to you before starting. The dates quoted in the proposal run from that signature, not from the first conversation.
- 5. Development
- I produce the design or the assessment and write to you at every point that needs a decision. Options arrive with the cost and the consequence of each, so you choose between two described outcomes rather than two abstractions. Everything stays in writing, which matters when you are reading it in a second language and rereading it a month later.
- 6. Handover
- You receive the signed drawings and reports as PDFs, in editable format where that is useful, the lodgement receipts for every filing, and a call in plain language explaining what you now hold. I also tell you which documents to keep: they are the same ones a future buyer's engineer will ask for.
Professional roles
Geometra, architetto or ingegnere: who can sign what?
The three Italian professions overlap across most ordinary building work and separate at a few precise points, fixed by Royal Decree 2537/1925, Law 1086/1971 and Presidential Decree 328/2001. None ranks above the others. Buyers from abroad are often told a geometra is simply the cheap option; the accurate version is that for a great deal of what an Italian house needs, a geometra is the correct professional, and the boundary only bites on structure and on listed buildings.
| The work | Geometra | Architetto | Ingegnere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal works with no structural change (CILA) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Modest new build or extension | Yes, within the limits of art. 16 R.D. 274/1929 | Yes | Yes |
| Reinforced concrete or steel structural calculation | No | Yes | Yes |
| Seismic assessment and seismic strengthening | No | Yes | Yes |
| Listed building carrying a vincolo | No | Yes, and leads the design | Structure, energy and compliance only, alongside the architect |
| Permesso di costruire, SCIA, CILA and cadastral filings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Site supervision | Yes, within their own field of competence | Yes | Yes |
An orientation table, not legal advice. The Italian courts have redrawn this boundary repeatedly, and it depends on the size and the construction technique of the work as much as on the category. If your project sits on the line, I say so in the proposal and point you to the profession that can take it.
Common questions
What buyers and owners ask before instructing me
Can I instruct you for one service only?
Yes. Each service can be instructed on its own: the pre-purchase check without the design, the structural calculation without the site supervision, the permit filing without the design work. The written proposal covers only what you asked for. If something outside that scope turns out to be necessary, I quote it separately and you decide whether to authorise it.
The agent says the paperwork is in order. Do I still need a check?
An estate agent in Italy has no duty to verify that a building matches its permits, and the notary checks title, mortgages and the seller's declarations rather than whether the house as built matches the approved drawings. Neither catches an undeclared extension or a cadastral plan that no longer reflects the layout. Closing that gap is what the pre-purchase technical check is for, and it is far cheaper before the compromesso than after it.
I live outside Italy. Can this be handled remotely?
Yes. Documents, progress updates and the final handover travel by e-mail and by PEC, the certified address that carries legal effect in Italy. I work in Italian, but you are welcome to write to me in English or German: an enquiry in either is read and answered. Quotes, reports and filings are still drawn up in Italian, the only language the comune and the catasto act on. Meetings and calls are held in Italian, so bring someone to interpret or ask me to suggest someone locally. Filings need either a power of attorney or the owner's Italian digital signature, and I explain how to obtain one before the engagement starts.
How are Italian professional fees structured?
A fee is either a percentage of the value of the works or a fixed amount per filing, depending on the service, and it is quoted in writing before anything starts. On top of the fee sit a 4 per cent statutory pension-fund contribution and 22 per cent Italian VAT. Council charges, filing duties and stamp duties are listed separately and paid to the authority, never to me. No figures are published here because a number detached from a specific property would mislead you.
What happens if the building is listed?
A vincolo means the property is formally designated as a cultural or landscape asset, and the lead architectural design is reserved to an architect under article 52 of Royal Decree 2537/1925. I then take the structural, energy and compliance side alongside the architect, who coordinates the project and obtains the Soprintendenza consent. It changes the timescale, the cost and the number of people involved, which is why it is worth establishing before you make an offer.
First contact
Describe the property and I will tell you whether it is my job
The comune, the type of building and the decision you are facing are enough to begin. I reply in writing, list the documents worth gathering, and say plainly if the case belongs to a different profession.