Salva Casa 2024: Key Updates for Property Owners
The law converting the Salva Casa 2024 decree (Decree-Law №69 of May 29, 2024) was published in the Official Gazette on July 27, 2024. Several significant amendments were introduced during its parliamentary review. These include expanded interventions under free building regulations, new rules for proving the legal status of properties, construction tolerances, regularization of pre-1977 variations, conformity verification, changes in property use, and attic recovery.
Expanded Interventions in Free Building Regulations
Article 6 of the Consolidated Building Code, governing free building activities, has been further amended. The Salva Casa decree added letter b-bis to Article 6, allowing the installation of removable and fully transparent panoramic glass windows (Vepa) in free building activities, including for porches within buildings. These glass windows must meet specific criteria, such as providing temporary protection from the elements, improving acoustic and energy performance, reducing thermal dispersion, and offering partial waterproofing. They must not create permanently enclosed spaces, which would otherwise constitute new volume and change the property’s use, falling outside free building activities.
Another notable amendment is letter b-ter, which includes various types of awnings and pergolas in free building activities. These structures, attached or adjacent to buildings, must not create permanently enclosed spaces or alter the volume and surface area. They must also minimize visual impact and harmonize with existing architectural lines. The conversion law specifies that even bioclimatic retractable pergolas are included in free building activities.
New Rules for Proving the Legal Status of Properties
Article 9-bis, which governs the legal status of properties, has been revised under the Salva Casa decree. The new approach allows certified technicians to refer only to the last approved building title instead of requiring the cumulative legal status from all previous titles. This change simplifies the process for submitting new building applications or certifying compliance during property transactions. The conversion law further clarified that the relevant administration must have verified the legality of previous titles when issuing the last building title, ensuring legitimate trust for property owners.
For condominiums, the new clause 1-ter in Article 9-bis states that discrepancies in common areas do not affect the legal status of individual units, and vice versa. Additional clauses (5-bis, 5-ter, and 5-quater) in Article 24 address minimum sanitary requirements, allowing for lower ceilings and smaller single-room dwellings under specific conditions, although these exceptions come with significant limitations.
Construction Tolerances
The Salva Casa decree also amended Article 34-bis of the Consolidated Building Code, introducing proportional construction tolerances based on the unit’s surface area. While the standard 2% tolerance for height, distance, volume, and covered surface deviations remains, a new clause allows greater flexibility for smaller units.
Regularization of Pre-1977 Variations
Article 34-ter was introduced to allow the regularization of works executed as partial deviations from the original building permit before January 1977. These variations are subject to conditions such as the absence of demolition or restoration orders and the issuance of a habitability or usability certificate.
Conformity Verification
Articles 36 and 36-bis were amended to enable obtaining a building permit or a simplified compliance certificate (Scia) for partial deviations from the original permit. The conversion law extended these provisions to include significant variations listed in Article 32 of the Consolidated Building Code.
Change in Property Use
New clauses (1-bis to 1-quinquies) in Article 23-ter govern changes in property use. The Salva Casa decree allows changes within the same functional category with or without construction works, subject to compliance with sector regulations and municipal planning conditions. For properties in zones A, B, and C, changes between different functional categories, excluding rural, are permitted.
Attic Recovery
Article 2-bis provides state-level support for regional regulations on attic recovery, even when current distance requirements between buildings cannot be met. Recovery projects must comply with the original building’s height and area limits, with more lenient regional laws taking precedence.
These updates aim to streamline property regulations, improve the marketability of properties, and provide clarity and flexibility for property owners.
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