½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

 if you have a friendly comune and a technical officer there would go along and ask him/her for help.. presume you have an existing drive that needs upgrading... if not could be slightly more difficult.. depending on what type of road you have the drive exiting into... if its comunal...it will be the same person...provincial another place ..etc etc...providing your comune officer is willing to talk with you and be reasonable.. accepting plans drawn by you and measurements you could do it yourself.. especialley if you have an existing poor driveway...if not.. then this isnt the place to be asking... you need to find a local geomtra..try and get a friend to suggest one and then pay him/her for drawing up plans and submitting them to the comune.. the DIA is a light form of planning permission... if they accept what you have put forwrd its basically given permison and is usually say for maintenance or slight changes.... main problems i would think are with the measurements.. if anywhere close to a boundary a geometra will need to be involved to take accurate measurements so that you will not have disputes with neighbours..    

 i certainly agree with many of the sentiments above but not that the ½ûÂþÌìÌà finace police could ever be equated with the UK inland revenuefor a start they are a very well numbered military force.. and are more like the equivalent of the customs and excise in the UK...  with virtually no one to answer to as regards who they investigate and bring a case against...  what i would think here is that the only ones safe from their clutches are the real criminals.. most politicians and their connections .. obviously valentino (the doctor) was not criminal enough.. they are also paper heavy investigators.. unlike the Uk... which uses computers more.. these people have the capacity to set thousands of staff looking through paperwork continuously for anomalies..basically a couple of years back Mr Prodi of the past government instituted new laws allowing them to widen their search... i wrote a fair bit about it back then.. it starts with your codice fiscale,... a powerful control of what people do in their lives.. for instance your phone mobile or not has this attached... and Italy has the ability to listen to all phone calls and is regarded as the most listened to population anywhere...  which is why when you phone up to ask the price of a bag of pellets say..the shop keeper tells you he doesn't discuss that sort of thing on the phone... (true story)you then have residence... every time you move here you have to declare your change of residence.. to carry out many purchases requires your C.F. ie the car...  Mr Prodi and his friends worked out that they had a huge database of who was spending what and where and when .. and they now use this to decide how income,tax returns and spending all line up...so for all those planning to keep their heads below the parapets.. its a bit late.. living here is pretty well bound to reveal all... and the only thing sad about it is that still they use a sledgehammer to crack the little nuts whilst letting the big fish carry on free of any worries..  thanks to Mr Prodi the finance police here are much more powerful but he and his friends will be forever safe from their controls ... anyway they are not an organisation i would ignore.. 

 cannot say more...this is not the place... naming and shaming that is..........sad in a way... because there are forums that do a good job in that sense ... for instance in Calabria where they are bringing a class action against various agents and their cohorts.. but they are privately run and can accept risks... also its to do with apartment blocks so easier to get all the buyers in one room so to speak...the point about this lot is that people acting singly have fought and won re property probs but in general with conditional settlements on keeping quite..many have also bought without probs... but all agents here have to comply with laws that place upon them the duty under law to reveal all facts regarding a property... and this has clearly been not the case.. and by supplying a complete service via finance,restructuring and notarial work people buying are vulnerable to  purchasing a property with problems that are not revealed or accepting on good faith what is told to them..arriving at situations where money spent means that they then accept to spend further money because they do not wish to loose everything...what makes the situation worse is that many ex scouts then of this method of selling then decide they can make more operating on their own and so like a cancer Abruzzo due to its hotspot status is or was rife with the same sort of operators...supported often by lazy journalism in the UK..  hyping various areas.. and selling people here that were operating without any credentials..both ½ûÂþÌìÌà law and the economic crisis has to my mind helped to reduce this... but Abruzzo due to the earthquake in L'Aquila is firmly back on the map and its a region to my mind where if buying it is more than necessary to follow the buyer beware advice and to check carefully everything... and to not follow the sort of system of package holiday purchase where you blindly give yourself over to a complete and no worry service... a dangerous way 

 yours is to my mind a special case... you are caught up in most probably the most criminal of all the sellers and their cohorts in that area...  not alone sadly and there are others just as bad... am hoping that ed has just been the victim of a less organised and blatantly criminal organisation that you were involved in...funnily enough i just wrote back on an article her in Italy about the historical position of Abruzzo a regards south/north mentality or centrral... its a quite important definition of the mentality of the people that do work or are professionals.... and no its doesnt apply to everyone but is a general guide of what service to expect... the point of the article is that Abruzzo because of hard work and position, economic growth could now be regarded as firmly out of the south... indeed position wise most of the province of Teramo is further north than Rome... so geographically at least Abruzzo has some justification to be regarded as a central region...my reply to the article was that wealth and the opportunity of quick Euros has lead to a downward spiral of what is regarded by many in Italy as the soul of the people of Abruzzo ..its honesty and its hospitality... its sad to see that amongst its people are those willing to sell out their principles, their heritage of worth for a few euro ...  and that maybe Abruzzo is on the edge of moving from the southern mentality to the central north more law abiding and responsible ... but promises of quick killings are there and the people here need to make a clear choice to punish those that would sell the whole region out for a few quick pennies or sink further into the mire..  you know as well as i do all the general problems...we have all seen the criminal collapse and loss of life in L'Aquila.. if Abruzzo is to grow up and join the civilised world those people have to be punished, the regional president that was sacked for taking all the health funding needs to be prosecuted and serve time... Bussi...someone needs to pay... the Pescara water company needs to be punished.. the oil exploration needs to be managed in an environmental way...and the coastal towns north of Pescara need to be rescued from the grip of the mafia...a long way from the original question...  sorry.. 

 they may not work but you might decide its worth a go... first link is to a consumer org in emillia romagna..  because the further north you go the more legality exists around problems... and i will post it to you because it has various links leading from it to various consumer councils...being Italy pluralism is rife...  below is the national site of one of the best known of the consumer help orgs  then there is the national geometras site         this however may prove useless as indeed most of the above...however with a contract from the geometra and his charge to you ... they add a certain percentage ... usually another 3 % which is charged by his professional body  on all his contracted work.. this i would think would be a first line of attack...if not clearly stated on his card who he is insured by as regards his liability on his works... then a visit to him or his office to find out who his professional association is, there address and telephone number as you need to contact them for forms to initiate a formal complaint about the work  so that his public liability insurance can cover the costs of the faulty works might well move his lazy arse a bit...even if he agrees to start to put right the work still ask for the info and proceed ...explaining to him that it will save time in case the work is not completed within a few weeks and if it is then you will withdraw the complaint... may work... you seem determined and angry... for which i do not blame you at all.. it will need lots of full frontal bravado to make sure he understands you are not someone to be messed with i would have a formal letter available as well to as many consumer fed people in the area... and leave him copies... of those you are either about to post or have sent...he will also need to have membership of the local chamber of commerce wherever you are... i would visit them and request any formal docs you need to initiate a complaint regarding the work...  i agree that no one should be allowed to behave and get away with shoddy work unless you have paid them in black or they are not registered to do the work you used them for...  Italy is not a lawless country... there are many rules and regs not only via the state but each of us that runs a business here is governed by rules that have to be upheld to remain a member... so good luck and a good result please ...you sound bright enough and determined enough to maybe get something worked out

 olive trees need a good sunny exposition and non deeply cold winter ground...to produce well... farmers will not plant cropping trees where they will not grow and produce... to me these are also human requirements..not everyone... but i like what olive trees like.. no flooding,no extreme cold..sunny expo..  plenty of air..

 everyone is free to make choices...  so therefore these are to me logical steps but are not writ in stone..... they are the same here as anywhere... a bargain within an area is not a bargain because no ½ûÂþÌìÌà gives their property away at a discount...its rather the other way around.. and its difficult to explain to many of them that the price they set is sometimes not quite realistic in terms of market valuations.... wherever your home country is you will know of exactly the same situations... one are even a road cheaper than others and behind it will be some underlying devaluing factor... here in Italy its pretty well the same..  although to my mind here it is a much more common practice for ½ûÂþÌìÌÃs to ignore estate agents valuations and to stick with their own...  which sometimes makes the advice often given to wander in the local bar and chat to the locals to find the best offer around to my mind somewhat dubious ... because often this will be an opportunity to get rid of something that agents will not have taken on... but i doubt any bargains will be found this way... saving fees aside...which can work out as a discount in some areas of plus 3 % for each party... so in Italy there are three major factors over the whole area without going into the north south divide.. flooding and earth movements... more people killed and property destroyed throughout Italy than any other natural cause and it happens everywhere and often..  certain areas are just going to be disastrous in those terms ... there are maps zoning the whole of Italy regarding these and they are held by the comune... no region is exempt from these areas..  and this zoning makes a property either valuable or a well to throw money down in terms of working on it...  costs of restorations can be doubled if the building engineer checks the zoning and tests the ground surrounding and below a property and finds bedrock is too far down to carry the weight of a new or restructured building... small summer streams that trickle in the summer in the winter here can be turned into flooding nightmares... Italy in general has the same amount of rain as the UK for instance... but it comes down in a lot less time...earthquake zones.. category one zones are best avoided... avoiding seismic zoning when 90 % of Italy almost is classified at risk is not easy ... but making sure its not on the actual plates where the epicentres occur is ...  far less risk of a problem via this than flooding etc...weather...  again this is a north south thing... but also a very local specific micro climate system exists here too... making a difference of plus or minus several degrees within a few miles...add to this if you buy in a remote area all costs will be higher from building works to your shopping.... and any works you carry out are unllikely to recoup costs in terms of property value in those sorts of situations...fixed building costs say for a new build or full restructure run at 1500 euro per m sq... if you buy a property where the market price is set at around the 800 euro per m sq for a habitable house... you buy the ruin at say 100-200 euro per m sq you are unlikely ever to sell at a break even point...   anyway a brief reply ... and most of it is down to common sense.....  specifics are down to local knowledge...hard if you are buying from abroad...  for instance there are local issues here in Abruzzo... Bussi and its contamination, L'Aquila and its earthquakes, someone on this forum highlighted a proposal for an incinerator near Bisenti,  there are plans for some sort of oil processing refinery near Ortona, oil drilling in many areas is being proposed and opposed...  water supply problems in much of the Chieti province ... contaminated water supply along the Pescara valley.. these things are in the newspaper every day here...so its easy to follow...  anyway will let Lisas post get back on topic...  would think Lisa that you might be best searching amongst ½ûÂþÌìÌà based organisations in America... for a tax specialist... there are many groups... and many of them have interests still in Italy... most of the forum advice will pertain to people from within the EU and this is supposed to be at least to have simplified everything...  

 sorry had an appointment and dint really realise how time was slipping past...  structurally sound and good location and tired... this enables you say to install the best heating systems say in non converted downstairs areas needing to be converted or updated ... replace windows .. add bathrooms... reveal features below plasterwork... stick in a new kitchen... the place then feels like yours... also you have not paid for a fairly modern property with its premium for the previous owner doing everything before you... its hard to rip up tiles that you have paid a lot for because the color is not quite right or the previous owners idea of sufficient heating leaves you feeling frozen...  if you have the downstairs to do it allows so many more option re underfloor heating...or geothermal systems...without having to either do lots of building works re the main structure but to convert the property into an efficient well heated place to live... and with a kitchen you can live with...an appearance that you like ... to my mind these are the cheapest types of properties both to buy and to change... which is way off your original question but it seems to me there are many people surviving here in one living area and thats ok ...we all make choices but i like bathrooms that dont have condensation and walking around in winter not in a T-shirt but at least without a fleece on...inside my home... the other thing is using a computer without a well heated home is freezing on the fingers...making a choice to move to Italy was easy... making a choice to live comfortably in our house... the whole house ...otherwise we would have bought a garden shed also makes sense to me..  and there are not many modern properties here or converted that will arrive at what tomorrow will offer in terms of energy efficiency so take control of that part from the start...

 i know we have talked all this before.. but its nice to be in at the start because the first choice is important... my  thought has always been that when you buy a property here make sure that its sited facing south...and not above the olive tree line...keep away from properties that have high hills to the east or west,river valleys or even worse on a north facing slope... the 150 sq m option is also sound... sort of optimal for living accommodation and enough space to have friends to stay...without costing a fortune...agree also on restoration projects.... without independent expert advice when buying its almost impossible to arrive at a true estimate of what the budget will be...i think best value is to be had on properties that do not look so hot in terms of appearance... windows ugly gold aluminium... plastered and square... and with a new roof... there are tons of these... even better if the ground floor is still animal accommodation or cantinas...  this provides good value purchase wise and reasonable development costs..because the work is predictable..make sure it has huge supporting walls good roads access and close to village or town... costs a fortune in shopping trips if you decide on remote...try and find a property with some outhouse / barn type areas even if ruins...and make sure they are registered ...it allows you to have storage and or hobby areas... retirement is fun... but its nice to have somewhere to carry on separate existances sometimes... sorry got to go out... but its start... and choosing well will save more than you imagine in the long term costs of living

 this is a good site re house building works... here in Italy.. to be honest with the way regulations change a book on the subject would be hard to rely on in terms of what can and cannot be done and how..   add to that the provincial and or regional rules to follow it would be hard to keep up the site is this......it also has the news laws , a design help space and lots of other stuff including pricing work.. the only problem is its in ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ.. but in a sense even if you dont have ½ûÂþÌìÌà its maybe time to start learning a bit of the building terms... so it might help