This follows our earlier article on buying a property in Italy, that was written following discussions with expats in Le Marche who have bought Italian properties and overcome many obstacles. This article will provide you with tips for any renovation, restoration or rebuild projects. If you are about to buy a property in Italy that requires work, then you should have obtained a detailed restoration quote before buying the property of your dreams, and have had this checked by a qualified and independent 3rd party. Once you have bought your house in Italy, this quotation or estimate should now become your start point for creating your project plans.
Tenders for Italian building works
Returning to your saved initial estimates, you need to size and specify the plumbing work, the electrical work, building work and prepare 5 separate proforma sheets for each trade. Now start chatting with locals and expats, use forums and ask in shops and bars for recommendations of plumbers, electricians and builders. You need at least 3 quotes for your Italian renovation project, but preferably 5 and you must stipulate that they all quote in a standard format, so either by the hour or per square metre, this will allow you to compare like with like and to make an informed decision.
Once you have the completed pro-formas, input the information into a spread sheet, compare the results and decide on whom to outsource these works to. Then add the costs for the chosen company into a new column on your initial spread sheet for budgeted costs.
Now ask your building firm to sign a contract with built in penalty clauses to underwrite any possible overruns. and the geometra undertook to plan and manage the project.
An architect or geometra with a good reputation at the right price.
Chatting to our Italy property pioneers, this is probably the second biggest decision that you will make, after the purchase of your property, and the decision that will cause you the most pain and stress if you get it wrong! A wrong decision could well cause you delays and a project overrun, poor quality workmanship, a blown budget, an unfinished building, legal fees and even ill health. Don’t take our word for it, chat to those who’ve been there and done it already, and learn from their mistakes.
Apply the same logic to your architect or geometra that you would to a builder or plumber, obtain quotes from at least 3 architects or geometras, establish what is included and what is not. Get a feel for them and if the fee is on a percentage basis, identify which aspects of the project it is being applied to. Fees can range from 5% to 12% or more of the rebuild budget; if you are able to perform certain project elements yourself you should specify that these must not be included, remembering that the smaller the scope, the smaller the budget and also the fee. Also, follow these same steps with your engineer.
One project, saw a UK expat being given advice by another Brit who knew no better, this resulted in an architect’s project management contract being drawn up for a 12.5% fee of the total project cost. The contract also stipulated the builder, so that the property owner had no opportunity to offer the work for tender. The budget for this project was €300,000 but almost definitely would have overrun, leaving the owner with a €40,000 fee. Not speaking Italian, the owner became aware of this through discussion with other expats, who assisted him in careful negotiations with other architects. They finally decided upon an architect charging 7% for just the structural works, the total cost was reduced to €9000!
You may feel that the higher fee is justified due to the workloads involved, however, whichever path you take, you must receive a signed contract documenting the geometra or architects specific role and responsibilities.
The role of your geometra or architect on your Italian property restoration
The minimum requirement is for your architect or geometra to draw up plans, to direct the builders and then check that the build has followed the architectural and engineering specifications. Once the project is completed the plans are adjusted for any last minute changes, you must receive sign off from the electrician, the plumber and the architect or geometra and also the structural engineer.
If your geometra or architect is also performing a project management role and charging a higher fee across the whole project (not just structural works), then you should expect the following deliverables in addition to the minimum requirements above:
1. Financial plans, with budgeted, actual and forecasted costs plus details of any over or under spend.
2. A project Definition document detailing objectives, scope, resources, constraints, risks, timescales, Costs, roles and responsibilities.
3. A project Plan or Gantt chart detailing, tasks and activities, project phasing, task interdependencies, resources (who does what), resource availability, durations and milestones or deliverables for each phase. You should be made aware of Critical tasks whose delay will impact the overall project duration.
4. Quantities surveyed and materials ordered on time
5. Timely communication with dedicated builders, plumbers, electricians and other resources to ensure that they turn up on time and are aware of the work that they must perform.
6. Weekly progress reports to you with progress against this week’s tasks
7. Detailed monthly reporting of financial plans, High level project plans and detailed progress reports including any risks and issues.
Please note that if you plan to manage the project yourself, you should purchase a copy of MS Project and Excel and perform these planning and reporting tasks. The ability to track your project will give you wonderful peace of mind and drastically increase your abilities to sleep at night.
These plans are essential for prioritization, momentum and from a psychological perspective, as they will reassure you that any overspends and overruns can be recouped somewhere and the project brought back on schedule.
The contract with your Geometra or Architect
Whether you decide that your geometra or architect should perform the minimum role or one which includes project management, you should ensure that you sign a contract with him before commencing any work.
The contract must detail explicitly their role and responsibilities, whether the fees include the engineers and geologists fees and then a payment schedule must be stipulated in which a a third is paid when your Italian renovation plans are approved by the Comune, a third when your Italian properties structural works are complete and a third when the rebuild project is signed off. This will enable you to leverage the completion of your dream Italian Villa or farmhouse.
Please remember to protect yourself by getting everything in writing especially from your architect or geometra. In Italy the courts usually favour the “professional” and unless there is sufficient evidence to the contrary, you will be charged a fee that is up around the averages for rebuild of your property size and your area of Italy.
Follow this link for more information on Italy property, in the stunning Le Marche region, Italian property Law and for buying a property in Italy
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Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
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