Real estate news

Cadastral plan, certification of conformity, viability, energy performance and building permits. Here are the documents that you need at the time of the sale.

If you need to sell a house or intend to buy it, you will be tempted to leave all the practice to an experienced real estate agency to advise you on how to proceed and, above all, provide you with the necessary advice on legal obligations.

Obligations that, in the matter of property purchase, are particularly dense.
But if you prefer to do everything on your own you need to know what the law provides and, in particular, what are the town planning documents to sell and buy. Usually these checks are performed by the notary, but it is good to know in advance what you are going to meet. Here then what the law provides.
It is the seller's obligation to deliver to the buyer a series of documents, the lack of which in some cases may determine the nullity of the contract.

Let's examine them individually.

Cadastral plan and certification of conformity

The seller must first deliver a copy of the land registry of the property to the buyer.
Moreover, from 1 July 2010, for all sales of existing properties, together with the floor plan, the seller must also issue the declaration of conformity to the cadastral data. With this it is attested that the state of affairs of the property complies with the cadastral data and the plans. This is to ensure that no work has been carried out, after the stacking, that have changed the consistency of the building. If the declaration of conformity to the cadastral data is missing, the contract of sale is void, with the result that the contract can be dissolved by resorting to the judge and the seller must return to the buyer all sums already paid. The declaration can be replaced by a "declaration of conformity" issued by a technician authorized to submit the cadastral updating documents. If the declaration or attestation of conformity is missing, the notary can not proceed with the deed; if he does so he is personally responsible.

Urban documentation

Another burden of the seller is to deliver the town planning documentation: that is, the administrative authorizations that allowed the construction of the building, for example, the building permit, the building permit, the building permit, the Dia (declaration of start of activity) , the Scia (certified start-up report). The measures are different depending on the year of construction of the building or the type of intervention carried out within it. In the deed of sale, mention must be made of the details of these authorizations. This fulfillment serves to protect the purchaser in the event that the property presents unsustainable building abuses, which could make it (although not criminally responsible) subject to the demolition order despite the purchase in good faith.
For constructions prior to September 1, 1967, it is possible to limit oneself to issuing a substitutive declaration of notarial deed with which the seller certifies that the construction started before the aforesaid date without having to expressly indicate the administrative concession.
If an application for building amnesty has been submitted, the seller must provide a copy of the same with the receipts for payment of the sums to the Municipality.
If this documentation is missing, the contract is void and the buyer, in addition to suing the seller to get the money back, can also claim against the notary (with a professional liability action) for not having ascertained that everything was in order. It is in fact the task of the notary to verify that the contract of sale includes all the conditions to guarantee a valid transfer of ownership of the house.
According to the Court of Cassation, the sale of an irregular building from an urban planning point of view or for which the amnesty procedure is still ongoing is to be considered void.

The practicability

The usability is the document that certifies the respect of the conditions of safety, hygiene, healthiness and energy saving of the house.
The practicability is mandatory only in three cases:
new building (ie built after June 30, 2003); for previous buildings there is no obligation to deliver the usability;
property on which interventions consisting of reconstructions or elevations, total or partial, have been carried out;
property on which interventions have been carried out that may affect its conditions of safety, hygiene, healthiness, energy saving.
For buildings or building works carried out after 11 December 2016, the viability is attested by a certified report. This is a report filed by the building permit holder at the one-stop shop for construction. At the time of the deed, it is sufficient to give a copy of the deposit of this document.

The energy performance certificate (Ape)

Every existing building must have the Ape, that is the Energy Performance Certificate (for those prior to June 30, 2003, it is necessary only when it is intended to sell). It is a document, written by qualified technicians that is valid for 10 years, aimed at describing the energy performance of the house by giving any recommendations for the improvement of the same. The Ape gives the property a rating of its ability to exploit energy resources and is subsequently included in one of the energy performance classes.
The energy performance classes from October 1, 2015 are ten: A4, A3, A2, A1, B, C, D, E, F, G (where the A is the most efficient and the G the less).
It is up to the notary, when drafting the deed, to insert a clause in which the buyer declares to have received, together with the Ape, all the information and documentation, including the certificate, necessary to understand the property's energy performance . The Ape is then attached to the contract itself.

Condo documentation

If the sale concerns a condominium apartment, the seller must attach a copy of the condominium regulation and a declaration from the condominium administrator stating that the condominium charges have been properly paid on the date of the deed. However, the lack of such documents does not render the act null and void but it is equally important. In fact, the buyer is usually responsible with the seller for all debts left by them during the current year at the time of the deed and the previous one. In addition, thanks to the rules of condominium will be aware if there are restrictions on the use of the apartment (such as the ban on displaying cloths, planting flowers on the balcony, renting the apartment for commercial or noisy activities, etc.) .

Also called "habitability", the certificate of viability must be procured by the seller under penalty - also in this case - of nullity of the contract and the possibility of obtaining reimbursement of the sums paid. If, however, in the sales deeds it is specified that the property is unusable and the buyer has also signed the contract, it is not possible to raise subsequent disputes.