Planning use certificate (CDU) in Italy: what it is and how to get one

The certificato di destinazione urbanistica (CDU), or planning use certificate, is the document in which the Comune (the local council) states what its land use plan provides for one or more parcels of land. You request it from the council's planning office, now almost always online, giving the cadastral sheet (foglio) and parcel numbers (particelle). The council has 30 days to issue it, and it stays valid for one year as long as the plan does not change. It is not free: administrative fees and stamp duty come to 132 euros in Milan, 137 in Bologna and just over 92 in Rimini. The law requires it above all when land is sold or given away, and a deed without it attached is void.

If you are buying land in Italy, this is the document that turns "building land" in a listing into something you can rely on. The short definition is in the glossary, and how to read the plan first is in Agricultural or building land in Italy: how to check.

What the certificate states, and what it leaves out

For each parcel the certificate gives the zone of the plan (agricultural, residential, industrial, public facilities) and refers to the implementation rules that set, for that zone, the building index, heights and permitted uses. If the council has adopted a new plan that is not yet approved, the certificate usually mentions it too, because in the meantime applications that conflict with the adopted plan are put on hold. It then lists the restrictions the council knows about: landscape protection, the hydrogeological restriction, buffer zones along roads and around cemeteries and wells, and the risk areas of the river basin plans. A parcel can also straddle two zones, partly agricultural and partly building land, and the certificate says so.

It does not tell you whether the buildings already on the land have the right permits: that is in the building files kept by the council. It does not say who owns the land, whether there are mortgages or easements, whether someone farms it under a lease, or where the boundaries run on the ground. A restriction the council has not written into its plan can also be missing: for landscape protection the definitive answer comes from the Soprintendenza, the state heritage office.

When the law requires it

The rule is in article 30 of DPR 380/2001, Italy's consolidated building act. Deeds between living persons that transfer, create or end the co-ownership of property rights in land are void, and cannot be signed or registered, unless the certificate is attached. That covers the sale and the gift of land, an exchange, and the division of a field between co-owners.

Land that belongs to a building recorded in the buildings register, such as the garden or yard of a house, is excluded if it adds up to less than 5,000 square metres: someone selling a villa with its garden does not attach one. Paragraph 10 also excludes the division of an inheritance, gifts between spouses and between relatives in the direct line (parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren), wills, mortgages and easements.

In the deed the seller declares that the plan has not changed since the certificate was issued. If the council does not reply within 30 days, the seller can replace the certificate with a declaration that the request was made, stating what the current or adopted plan provides for the land; Milan publishes a template on its service page. A deed signed without a certificate can still be rescued by a deed of confirmation, even from one party alone, with a certificate referring to the date of the original deed (paragraph 4-bis). That is what the historical CDU is for: Bologna charges 155 euros for up to ten parcels.

In an inheritance

The council's certificate is not attached to the Italian inheritance tax return (dichiarazione di successione). Since 2012, certificates issued by public offices are valid only between private parties, and a public office must accept a sworn self-declaration in their place (DPR 445/2000, article 40). The Agenzia delle Entrate instructions (the Italian Revenue Agency) accordingly recommend attaching a sworn declaration showing the planning designation of the land.

The designation matters for tax. Each parcel is marked as building land, partly building land or not building land, and the value declared is the market value at the date of death. For agricultural land the Agency cannot challenge a value of at least a set multiple of the land's notional income (reddito dominicale) on the land registry record; for land the plan designates for building, that protection does not apply (D.Lgs. 346/1990, article 34, paragraph 5). Heirs therefore need to know the zone before they write down a value: they can read it in the council's plan, and some councils, Rimini for one, still issue a certificate for inheritance use to keep with your own papers.

Mortgages, valuations and offers

Outside deeds it is not compulsory, but anyone putting a value on land relies on it: Bologna lists valuations among the reasons people request it. For a mortgage on a plot, expect the bank to want to see it. A buyer should have it before making an offer, because a building plot and a field can be priced very differently.

Who can request it and what you need

Article 30 does not say who may apply, so each council sets its own rules. Bologna issues the certificate to owners and to anyone with an interest linked to a sale, an inheritance or a valuation; Turin to holders of ownership or another property right and to people acting for them; Milan asks for the owner's authorisation if someone else applies. If you are buying, the simplest route is to have the seller request it, or your own surveyor (geometra) with the seller's authorisation. The online portals require SPID, CIE or CNS, the Italian digital identities, which many buyers living abroad do not have: one more reason to let the seller or a local professional file it.

You will need, almost everywhere:

• the municipality, sheet and parcel numbers in the land registry, from the visura catastale or, free of charge, from an address with sheet and parcel from an address;
• an extract of the cadastral map, which the Agenzia delle Entrate supplies free online as a PDF, also for land you do not own (map extract online); Milan wants it at 1:1,000 scale and no older than three months, Bologna at 1:2,000;
• 16-euro revenue stamps (marche da bollo), one for the application and one for the certificate, and the receipt for the fees paid through pagoPA, the Italian public payments system.

Milan, Turin and Bologna take applications through their online portals; Rimini accepts them by PEC, Italian certified email. Milan and Bologna have no fast track, so plan the 30 days before the completion deed (rogito); Rimini issues an urgent certificate in ten working days for 50% more in fees. For a sample application, see Bologna's form.

What it costs

Each council sets its own administrative fees (diritti di segreteria); stamp duty is set by law. The amounts published today for a standard certificate:

Turin asks for a single payment of 138.47 euros through pagoPA.

Some of the groundwork is free. The plan must be published on the council's website and has no effect until it is (D.Lgs. 33/2013, article 39), so its maps and rules can be read without asking anyone. Private websites offering a "CDU online" apply to the same council for you and add their own charge to the fees.

If the certificate says zone E

Zone E, or "agricultural area", means the plan sets the land aside for farming: very little can be built, and usually only by people who farm, within the limits of the 1968 decree on homogeneous zones and of regional law (the zones explained).

The zone on the certificate also tells you whether the agricultural right of first refusal (prelazione agraria) comes into play. The law that creates it rules it out when the land use plan, even one not yet approved, designates the land for building, industrial or tourist use (law 590/1965, article 8). With a zone E certificate the question stays open, and you should check with the notary (notaio) whether a tenant or a neighbouring owner-farmer can buy ahead of you. Who holds the right and the deadlines are explained in agricultural or building land.

What to check yourself before applying

Start with the parcels: a certificate requested with a wrong or missing parcel has to be requested and paid for again. Then the plan: the map gives the zone, the implementation rules say what it means. In Lombardy, Veneto, the Province of Bolzano and the Metropolitan City of Turin the councils' plans are brought together in maps you can view online (Municipal plans); elsewhere you start from the council's own website, usually its "Amministrazione trasparente" (transparency) section.

What the report says about land

Find the land by sheet and parcel or by coordinates and you see straight away, free of charge, the land summary: area, slope, elevation and what is around it. The full report, choosing "A plot of land", adds landslides and flooding from the ISPRA maps, landscape restrictions, parks and Natura 2000 sites, burnt areas seen by satellite, and the questions to ask the council, the seller and the notary, starting with the planning use certificate. In Lombardy, Veneto, the Province of Bolzano and the Metropolitan City of Turin it also says what the council's plan provides for the parcel, with the share of the parcel in each area.

The report comes before the certificate. It brings together straight away the maps published by regions and national bodies and helps you decide, before paying fees and stamp duty or making an offer, whether the land is worth the application and what to ask. The certificate, with the plan's building indices and heights, is then attached to the deed. A real example is the report on a poplar grove by the river Po; everything else is on Check land in Italy before you buy it and in the guide What to check before buying land in Italy.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get the planning use certificate online for free?

Online, yes, in most large and medium-sized municipalities. For free, no: you pay the council's administrative fees and two 16-euro stamps. Reading the plan on the council's website and downloading the map extract from the Agenzia delle Entrate cost nothing.

Does the Agenzia delle Entrate issue it?

No, only the municipality where the land lies. The Agency supplies the land registry record and the map extract you attach to the application, and for an inheritance it receives a sworn declaration, not the certificate.

Is it needed to sell agricultural land?

Yes: the requirement covers agricultural and building land alike, except grounds under 5,000 square metres belonging to a registered building. For a field it also tells the notary whether the right of first refusal needs checking.

Sources

• DPR 380/2001, article 30, paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 4-bis and 10 (planning use certificate, void deeds, exclusions).
• DPR 445/2000, article 40 (certificates valid only between private parties).
• D.Lgs. 346/1990, article 34, paragraph 5 (value of land in an inheritance).
• Agenzia delle Entrate, inheritance tax return, form and instructions, booklet 1 updated 15 July 2025.
• Agenzia delle Entrate, map extract online.
• Law 590/1965, article 8 (agricultural right of first refusal and land designated for building).
• D.Lgs. 33/2013, article 39 (publication of plans).
• Comune di Milano, certificato di destinazione urbanistica, updated 16 June 2026.
• Comune di Bologna, rilascio del certificato di destinazione urbanistica, updated 16 September 2026.
• Città di Torino, certificazioni urbanistiche, updated 9 March 2026, and frequently asked questions, April 2025.
• Comune di Rimini, certificato di destinazione urbanistica e attestazione di zona, updated 3 August 2026.