The recent ruling of the Council of State n. 8591 of 28 October 2024 addressed a crucial issue for the construction sector: the compatibility between design freedom, building tolerances and respect for landscape constraints.
The case concerns the suspension of a SCIAmotivated by the failure to comply with landscape regulations and construction tolerance limits, rekindling the debate between building development needs and land protection.
What are the implications of this decision for industry professionals? How to navigate between technical standards and administrative constraints?
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Context of the sentence
The dispute arises from the decision of a Municipality to suspend the SCIA presented by a real estate company, motivating it with the failure to comply with the requirements required for the restoration works of a property located in an area subject to landscape restrictions.
The property in question, originally built in the 1980s, had been the subject of multiple building amnesties, issued in 1999 based on requests presented by the previous owner. However, during a subsequent inspection, numerous discrepancies were found between the real state of the building and what was declared in the building permits, including a new building and non-compliant structural modifications.
In 2021, the owner company had started a project to restore the property, but the Municipality, noting the lack of compliance with the landscape constraints, had suspended the SCIA. The company then appealed the decision, arguing that the proposed works fell within the limits of 2% manufacturing tolerance provided for by Presidential Decree 380/2001 and that no further landscape authorization was necessary.
The Municipality, for its part, had contested the validity of these arguments, believing that the proposed interventions did not comply with the requirements required for the faithful restoration of the state of the places and that, as works subject to restrictions, they necessarily required landscape authorization to the pursuant to Legislative Decree 42/2004.
This complex affair led the Council of State to pronounce itself, defining the application limits of building regulations and their interaction with landscape constraints, thus providing a clearer regulatory framework for professionals and local administrations.
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The ruling of the Council of State
With sentence no. 8591/2024 the Council of State established that the construction tolerances of 2%, governed by art. 34-bis of Presidential Decree 380/2001, can be applied exclusively to accidental discrepancies emerged during the implementation of an already approved project, excluding its use for project interventions that foresee deviations from the beginning.
This limit ensures that tolerances do not become a tool to circumvent constraints imposed by building permits or environmental regulations.
Another key principle of the ruling concerns the centrality oflandscape authorization for building interventions in areas subject to restrictions. The Council reiterated that this authorization is essential, except for specific exceptions provided for by current legislation. In its absence, every building act, including the SCIA, has no legal effect.
This orientation strengthens the protection of the landscape heritage, reaffirming the primacy of environmental regulations over the needs for procedural simplification.
Finally, the ruling underlines the role of local administrations in ensuring the correct application of the rules, recognizing their power to intervene even in the presence of minimal irregularities, where these could affect assets of landscape importance. This ruling is part of rigorous jurisprudence, aimed at preserving the integrity of the territory and the sustainability of construction activities.
