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they are in fact not snow tires but winter tires..ie made of a rubber that performs in lower temps to allow you to reduce the risk of slipping and sliding whilst also adding grip in not only snow but ice and heavy rain.. i agree with all the comments above suggesting their use.. and would say that chains are solely for extreme weather conditions in very high and steep areas..  winter tires to my mind are pretty well as sensible a choice to make as the fact that you put on a seatbelt when you drive.. others have opposing views as to their costs and use.. because they look on them as snow assets .. however you will find that summer tires here are designed for work in very hot weather, in low temps the rubber becomes very hard and does not work correctly..  hence you find your vehicle sliding on bends and at stop signs.. whats the point.. 

there have been a huge amount of new road traffic and vehicle updates here in Italy, some are due to take effect jan 1 2011.. i believe some have been immediate... anyway a relevant section to this thread is the fact that its now illegal to own a foreign plated car here in Italy and use it on the roads ... not if your a tourist that is..  its legislation aimed at stopping the use by eastern european nationals living and working here of escaping paying vehicle tax and taking the national road-worthiness tests here.. so its more likely to be targeted towards cars plated with that type of number  but it will apply to all non italian registered cars.. its also something to be aware of that if staying in italy one has to have their presence registered in the comune in which they have accommodation..either owned or rented.. which pretty well then ties your presence down to a date.. again this is an oft ignored law .. although most of you will have noted that one has to present their passport if staying in an ½ûÂþÌìÌà establishment.. the details being sent off to the police registering your presence.. big fines if police visit and people are not registered.. 

i would suggest if allowed aluminium as the solution, and you will find makers of windows of this type in almost every small town in Abruzzo and they will all charge pretty much the same .. easiest way might be to see windows you like nearby and just ask that person where they bought them.. anyway before you recoil in horror on the metal solution they come in all sorts of colors and can even be made with real wood inside whilst appearing wood on the outside further thoughts, depending on where your property is.. ie high in the hills or inland L'Aquila you should install the highest spec double glazing you can afford, and they will most probably advice this.. adriatic side and in the hills you can drop down a couple of degrees in spec so it will be a lot cheaper windows here are not simple, and i would suggest essential additions to my mind are shutters which can be regulated and roller blind insect screens , and with aluminium these will last a life time and it will be a job to do once.. the infamous dia will be required most probably which will just state you are initiating the work and that the comune says ok.. the window company might well do that for you especially if they are local .. and its a simple but messy job..  make sure the company does the measuring as that covers any mistakes as theirs, i would use the builder they suggest as well as the main problems occur if builders do not get the hanging structural frame fitted square and level this is another area they can delay and fight over

i would take time on deciding which set of letters will apply and which set of rules when starting or attempting to start any work here as national rules always need to be the approved by regional entities before they are initiated, always maybe not true, but it seems more often than not, so we all end up reading new laws created to help lesson the time and simplify procedures which hardly ever get approved or allowed to work, i remember not so long ago that a new law was approved in parliament here that would allow houses to be expanded without  permmision  in most cases if there was room around it and no excessive historical impediments, its still not be approved in most regions the reason is that most professional bodies here have a marked interest in preserving the status quo in their favor, so even though national laws are made these people have control of local government and just never pass them so dont be surprised if no one seems to understand what you are talking about in many areas of Italy re all these changes because they will be applied slowly via regional and even down to provincial government over time, and time works slowly here

the DIA is worked on the presumption that silence is permision its ok to assume all these things will mean that you can carry out the work as stated before the 30 days but is not a safe assumption, because you really only have a geometras word that he is competent and knows comune law and should this not be the case it can lead to complications   it is also very unwise to assume that once the 30 days have passed that the work can be carried on regardless of rules, ie the site has to be properly restricted and you might find that even as owners you have no rights to be on site as access is restricted.. now these rules are often ignored but what it does mean is that even after the thirty days if the comune sees any violations regarding either the work being done as described in the application or the method its being done by .. ignoring strict safety rules which do exist..believe it or not.. then the work can be stopped  anyway heres the thing about the laws which allow you to start work after 30 days of silence provided your application has been accepted and stamped and you have the photocopy  

Il meccanismo del silenzio-assenso .. do a google search on that phrase and it should bring up the relevant details

         

i regard rome as our second local airport.. its about 140 km from Teramo , Ciampino that is ..or about an 80 minute drive..  in fact its one of the reasons for choosing Teramo as an area to live in.. as we can also get to Ancona and of course the airport already mentioned in Pescara.. which incidentally if you look at its schedule as far as i remember has quite a few other flights available, for instance milan , and i belive a few others in other northern areas of europe.. a few people i know make a change and then fly into Pescara avoiding the london drive.. often to my mind the use of the major carriers outside the lo cost area also can work out viable into the other rome airport Fumicino.. and might well offer more choice      

others will differ in what they say but to my mind its almost a no brainer.. traditional looking restorations as a finished project will cost you in the region of 2000 euro per m sq, thats including fees and planning say and you are looking at 600,000 for your building..  new builds around 1500  renovative restructuring work obviously less.. eg a new roof to todays modern insulation and regulations on structure around 1700 per sq m .. my 2000 euro per m sq is conservative as regards an estimate and  i would not be led down that path by lower quotes which will leave out many of the extras.. like tiles and wiring, fees and planning permits and outside finishing work.. and then add in the initial ground works.. plus buying the ruin.. re returns.. what you will pay and what you will get back if you sold it have no relationship as you will pay a lot for this sort of work and the prices will depend on its location re cities and or sea.. ie building land or land with old buildings on will cost you a lot in prime locations.. if you are buying a farm house ruin in a non prime location ie.. not within a couple of km of the coast or a major city.. you will most probably never get back in your life time what you put into it..by a long way fixed prices..  a joke here... there are always clauses for extra ordinary work which was not taken into account when the quote was made.. my prices might well be a bit low due to newer building regulations re insulation and thermal efficiency          

to be honest, certification has no value at all apart from in new builds or fully renovated property..as in almost a new build, what happens at the moment is that you pay a geometra a few 100 euro and you get a certificate for the act.. its just another way that they have the right to take money off of you.. of course you have to make your own choices and do the best for you, but when buying you can consider it just as much value as a survey for example in the UK, unless you are buying new.. it means and does nothing and thats basically it

i think you can sell your house even without a certificate although it will loose you money.. by signing a decleration at the act in front of the notary that the services have not been checked and are not certified  

sometimes the problems occur because we do not understand how ½ûÂþÌìÌà law works, or even the caste system which guarantees income and work to those that have a professional status i could not belive at first that almost just by speaking to an architect or geometra to look at a building and estimate what work needed to be done you are almost in effect signing a contract with them to carry out the work for you.. when getting advice here it is in my opinion when dealing with anyone involved in building works to clearly have a signed contract about the extent of what you are asking and its maybe best to do this in all cases as these people have rights that in places most of us come from cannot and would not be exercised, so its better to be clear and safe the other point is that once the project has the go ahead and a director of works appointed, ie usually the geometra or architect you will  have no rights to access your own property until the work is signed off by them due to the fact that on a building site the access is regulated to qualified personel wearing safety equipment   now its obvious that most people you work with will be flexible and honest about the whole thing and many people do build and complete projects with no problems at all, so i suggest that its best not to get totally nervous about the strange system, however once a contract is signed here the person will be entitled to his payment even if the job is never started or completed so be very aware of this when you have completed the purchase and are starting on works, and once the property is a building site with that notice board of the project erected you have no rights to enter your own property until the guy in charge signs it off and gives it back now in most cases although the system is totally fixed for this caste to operate with immunity it all works ok.. not well, just ok but you need to be aware that when it doesnt there is very little you have any right on or with to allow you back into your property should you decide to have a dispute, so you might well have believed that ½ûÂþÌìÌà property law is a nightmare when buying, indeed should you even look at a house from the outside with an agency they then have the right to claim a fee should you in fact ever buy the property, even if they do not have a mandate to sell, much the same but even more costly applies to building works   in fact in Italy an estate agent cannot be a geometra or another professional such as an architect, well they can be but they cannot practice both roles, its obvious that there would be a massive conflict of interest if they were allowed to not only contractually bind you within a sale but also whilst showing you around the property and advising on works they could then bind you to a contract to rebuild or renovate, obvious conflicts of interest in a massive sense as an agent that is registered is duty bound to work for you and offer you all the advice required to allow you to make a considered choice, but then if acting also as a building consultant he obviously would want you to purchase a building where he/she will make much more money than an agency fee out of you i do find it strange that people when looking and buying property here seem to accept that they are helped through by teams all working for the same company or even geometras pretending to be agents when there is an obvious conflict of interest within the two roles, hence the reason legally that they cannot be combined here,