Of Gas and Electricity

Richard and Marie Image
09/14/2010 - 10:21

I have two questions which I wonder if anyone can help me with: Gas - since we started getting deliveries of LPG gas some 5 years ago our supplier has always, automatically, applied a discount of some 8c per litre because we are outside the mains gas area i.e. we are in a 'zona non metanizzate'. I filled up the tank in August and was surprised to see when I received the invoice that the discount had not been applied. I queried this and the supplier said that the law (now?) is that every year I have to sign a form saying that I am outside the mains gas zone and therefore am entitled to the discount. Before signing I just wanted to check that this is indeed the case. My supplier does not seem to be able (or want) to give me a map or other info showing where the mains gas zone ends so I went to speak to our neighbours who live about 500metres away and was surprised to hear from them that they have never received the discount and they had always assumed that they were inside the mains gas zone - this depite the fact that we are on a hillside and I cannot believe that there is a mains gas pipe anywhere closer than 2kms from us. I have checked my Comune's website (Arezzo) but can find no info there. My next steps are to go into the Comune to ask (though I am not sure really where to start) and/or press my gas supplier for more info. Before doing this I just thought I would ask if anyone else has come across this issue and might have some pointers. Electricity - I assume that if you have any substantial electrical work done to your house - eg rewiring - you should get some form of certification for this. Or would this be covered in an overall Certificata d'Agibilita or similar? As you can deduce we are lacking certification! Any advice would be welcome. Many thanks Richard

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I think you DO have to 'fill in a form' these days to get the discount. I remember helping someone translate a letter last year, and my recollection is that it came from the GPL supplier, but I'm not 100% sure about that. The comune should be able to help point you in the right direction. If you go onto your comune website and search for "zone non metanizzate" you'll probably find something. Good luck! Regarding the re-wiring - it is sometimes difficult if you don't have a whole house installation done, because the electrician may well suggest that he'll do it without a certificate. The snag from his point of view is, if he agrees to certificate the work, he is in effect taking responsibility for everything - even though a different electrician has had a hand in it. Speak to the electrician who did the recent work and ask him if he will give you a certificate.

Technically, for electrical systems you require at least a DIA.  However, you must have it certified, otherwise you can't sell your house.  You can pay the original electricial if he is qualified to issue a certificate, though you will find another to certify the plant even though you will pay over the odds... 

In response to adriatica - it is good that he points out that you CAN sell your house without any certification (plumbing or electrical), which means you have the option to chase up the certification (or just forget about  it). If you can get the certification (often this involves only asking for it, frequently it isn't 'offered') then it is worthwhile having it, and you can 'demand' certification if one plumber or one electrician has done the whole job - but it is not the end of the world if (for whatever reason) you have not got your impianti certificati.

You can only sell without certification if you say that you have never touched the system and it is at it was when it was installed.  That could be 50 years old.  If you have done work and want the buyers to know it must be certified.

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

Thanks for the reponses. I will chase up the electrician for a certificate as I think he should be able to supply one. That said I think that, for us, it is probably only a box ticking exercise/ means of recourse to the electrician if anything goes wrong over the next few years. We dont have any intention of selling and if our kids  do decide to sell (which hopefully will be at least 20 years in the future!!) I guess a 20 year old certificate wont have much relevance then and they would have to get new certification at that time anyway. Richard

We are buying a fully renovated property from a developer. Will we automatically get a certificate guaranteeing the plumbing and electrical work from the developer, or do we have to ask for one from the contractors? And what is the DIA that Ram referred to? Thanks in advance for any replies.