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What the Notaio Checks, and What the Notaio Does Not

In an Italian purchase the notaio is a public official who receives the deed, checks the parties and the registers, and sees that the deed contains what the law requires. The notaio is not required to inspect the building, and the truth of the statements the law requires rests with the person who makes them. Where that line runs is the subject here.

By The Tuscan Editorial

Picture the room on the day of the deed: the parties around a table, the notary among them, the text read aloud, the pens ready. What the notary has checked, and what the notary has not, is the matter at hand.

What does the notaio do?

What does the notaio receive?

The notaio receives a deed only in the presence of the parties, investigates their will and directs the drafting under his or her own responsibility. The notarial law sets this out.[1] The notaio must be certain of the parties’ identity and cannot receive a deed that the law prohibits or that is contrary to public order or morals.[2][3]

Property must be designated precisely in the deed, with its nature, comune (municipality) and cadastral numbers.[4] The deed is in Italian. If a party does not know Italian, it may be in a foreign language known to the witnesses and the notaio, with an Italian translation.[5]

Who may act?

The notaio checks who may act: identity, capacity, powers of attorney and, for non-EU citizens, reciprocity or a residence permit. “How a Foreigner Buys Property in Italy” covers them.

What does the notaio check in the registers?

The Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato, the national council of the Italian notaries, describes the notary’s role as a preventive control of legality that includes checking for mortgages, attachments and pre-emption rights.[6] As to the extent of that duty, the Court of Cassation has said, in a 2013 judgment known from a summary, that mortgage and cadastral searches are part of the notary’s assignment and that only the parties’ concordant will can relieve the notaio of them.[7]

On the cadastre, the notary identifies the cadastral holders and checks them against the property registers.[8] Charges and pre-emptions are described in “Due Diligence: What Sinks a Purchase” and in “Pre-emption Rights: Who May Have the First Right to Buy”.

Which statements must the deed contain?

The deed must contain certain statements, and the notaio’s task is that they are there and complete. Each statement has its own author.

StatementMade byCovered in
Cadastral identification, reference to the filed plans, and the holders’ declaration that data and plans match the actual state (or a technician’s attestation)[8]The cadastral holders“The Cadastre and the Building File: Two Records, Two Purposes”
Details of the building permit or permit granted after the event; for work begun before 1 September 1967, the declaration to that effect[9]The seller“The Cadastre and the Building File: Two Records, Two Purposes”
How the price was paid, and whether a mediator was used, with the mediator’s details and fee[10]Each party“The Bank Account and the Source of Funds”
Receipt of the energy performance certificate, with the certificate attached[11]The buyer declares; the seller provides“How a Foreigner Buys Property in Italy”

If a mediator is not entered in the register of mediators, the notaio must report this to the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian revenue agency.[12]

What happens to a void deed?

Some deeds are made void by the consolidated building law, the Testo unico edilizia.[13] Receiving or authenticating one that cannot be confirmed is a breach of article 28 of the notarial law,[3] and carries the sanctions that law provides.[14] The notarial law provides suspension for a period of between six months and one year for breaches of a list of articles that includes those on prohibited deeds, on receiving the deed in the presence of the parties and on the certainty of identity.[15]

What must the notaio tell the parties?

The Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato states that the notary ascertains the parties’ will personally and gives advice before signing, and is independent and impartial by law, protecting all parties equally.[6]

Notarial commentary adds that the notary’s duty to inform the buyer includes telling the buyer, in good time and not only at the signing, that the law leaves the checking of the building’s regularity to the buyer. It includes telling the buyer, too, what follows if an irregularity appears later. The same commentary says that the notary bears the burden of showing that the information was given.[16]

Who handles the money and the taxes?

The notary collects, for the State, the taxes due on the deed. At the request of at least one party the price, or the balance, is held in a dedicated account and released after registration and transcription.[17] The amounts are in “The True Cost of Buying a Home in Tuscany”. The anti-money-laundering checks, including the origin of funds, are in “The Bank Account and the Source of Funds”.

What does the notaio not do?

The notaio does not inspect the building. The notary is not required to visit the property, or to compare it with the plans filed in the cadastre or with the building permit.

Nor does the notaio certify that the building matches its permit. The law requires the deed to state the permit details.[9] The Joint Sections of the Court of Cassation held in 2019 that, where the deed states the details of a real permit that refers to the building, the contract is valid whether or not the building matches the permit.[18] A notarial commentary on the decision states that, according to consistent case law, the notary is not required to investigate the planning regularity of buildings, and that verifying the building against its permit is outside the notary’s technical competence.[16]

The notaio does not guarantee the truth of the statements either. The statements are the declarant’s. In October 2025 the Court of Cassation held that the nullity for missing cadastral statements is formal and textual, and that a person who makes a false declaration remains liable civilly and, in some cases, criminally.[19]

The notaio does not treat the habitability certificate as a condition of sale. A 2025 first-instance decision, reported by a law firm, applied the Court of Cassation’s ruling of 2023 that the certificate of habitability is not a requirement for a property to be sold, and held that the notary was not required to verify it.[20] “Due Diligence: What Sinks a Purchase” treats agibilità, as the certificate is called in Italian.

Finally, the notaio does not act for one party. The notary acts for neither the buyer nor the seller and is impartial by law.[6] As to the price, the law requires each party to declare how it was paid.[10]

Where is the line contested?

Case law on the notary’s duties is partly known only through professional commentary. The notary is not required to investigate planning regularity, but notarial commentary says the notary may be liable, civilly and in discipline, if an irregularity appears from the documents shown and the notary did not point it out to the parties. In the example the commentary gives, the notary also did not refuse to receive a deed containing a declaration shown to be false by those documents.[21]

The Court of Cassation has said that the notary’s duty of advice extends to whatever is useful and necessary to protect the party’s interest, and that the notary must carry out the cadastral and mortgage searches unless expressly relieved.[7] A 2022 order concerned a buyer whose property was found to differ from the permit, with an attic not qualified as habitable because of its height. The Court of Cassation set aside the appeal judgment that had cleared the notary, because that judgment narrowed the notary’s duty of checking in a formal way and left out the duty to inform and advise. The order sends the case back to the appeal court and does not itself decide whether the notary was liable.[22]

A 2025 first-instance decision, reported by a law firm, states that the notary is not required to verify planning conformity.[20] This article does not treat the point as settled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the notaio check that the house matches its permit?
Not by inspecting it. The deed must state the permit details, on the seller’s declaration.[9] The law makes the deed void where the required statement is missing; in the Joint Sections’ reading, a real permit that refers to the building is enough for validity whatever the building’s actual state (Cass. SU 8230/2019).[18]
Is the notaio the buyer’s lawyer?
No. The notary acts for neither party, is impartial by law and owes a duty to inform to all parties.[6]
Can the notaio refuse to sign a deed?
The notary cannot receive a deed the law prohibits (art. 28 L. 89/1913),[3] nor a deed made void by arts 46 or 30 DPR 380/2001 that cannot be confirmed (art. 47 DPR 380/2001).[13][14] The notary may refuse if the parties do not deposit taxes and fees.[3]
In which language is the deed?
In Italian. If a party does not know Italian, the deed may be in a foreign language known to the witnesses and the notary, with an Italian translation (art. 54 L. 89/1913).[5]
Who is responsible if a declaration in the deed is false?
The person who made it, civilly and, in some cases, criminally (Cass. 27531/2025).[19] The notary’s own liability depends on the duties described above.
Does the notaio check where the money comes from?
The anti-money-laundering checks can include the origin of funds; see “The Bank Account and the Source of Funds”.

Notes to the article

  1. L. 89/1913 (notarial law), art. 47 (presence of the parties, will, drafting). ↩︎
  2. L. 89/1913, art. 49 (identity). ↩︎
  3. L. 89/1913, art. 28, no. 1 (deeds prohibited by law or manifestly contrary to public order or morals); art. 28, last paragraph (refusal if taxes, fees and expenses are not deposited). ↩︎
  4. L. 89/1913, art. 51 (designation of the property). ↩︎
  5. L. 89/1913, art. 54 (language of the deed). ↩︎
  6. Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato, “Funzioni e competenze del notaio”. ↩︎
  7. Cass. 15715/2013, a 2013 judgment known from a summary. ↩︎
  8. Art. 29, para. 1-bis, L. 52/1985. ↩︎
  9. Art. 46 DPR 380/2001; art. 40 L. 47/1985. ↩︎
  10. Art. 35, para. 22, DL 223/2006, restated in art. 299, para. 11, of the Testo unico adempimenti e accertamento (D.Lgs. 141/2026, applicable from 1 January 2027). ↩︎
  11. Art. 6, para. 3, D.Lgs 192/2005. ↩︎
  12. Art. 35, para. 22.1, DL 223/2006, in the text read. ↩︎
  13. Arts 46 and 30 DPR 380/2001. ↩︎
  14. Art. 47 DPR 380/2001 (sanctions). ↩︎
  15. Art. 138 of the notarial law (suspension for a period of between six months and one year) applies to breaches of a list of articles that includes arts 28, 47 and 49. ↩︎
  16. Fondazione Notariato, notarial commentary on Cass. SU 8230/2019. ↩︎
  17. Art. 1, paras 63 and 66, L. 147/2013. ↩︎
  18. Cass. SU 8230/2019 (2019). ↩︎
  19. Cass. 27531/2025 (October 2025). ↩︎
  20. Tribunale di Roma, 13 March 2025, citing Cass. 23370/2023, as reported by a law firm. ↩︎
  21. Notarial commentary, footnote 24. ↩︎
  22. Cass. ord. 33439/2022, 14 November 2022 (the attic case). ↩︎
  23. Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato. ↩︎
  24. See “The Cadastre and the Building File: Two Records, Two Purposes”. ↩︎

About the Journal

The Tuscan Editorial

The editorial team of the office

The Tuscan Editorial is the editorial team of The Tuscan, a private property office in Tuscany. Every article is built on official texts and published guidance, and checked against the rules in force on the date shown at its head.

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