The opening date is decided early
A brand or a hotel group usually arrives with a design manual, a budget and an opening date. In Italy the date depends less on how fast the works go than on decisions taken before they start: what the lease allows, which permits the project needs, and who signs them.
1. Before the lease
- What the space is authorised for. A shop, a restaurant and a hotel are different uses. Changing use can need a planning procedure, and in a historic centre it may not be possible at all.
- What the building allows. Listed status, a condominium's rules, structure, ceiling heights, fire escapes and accessibility can all limit the design manual.
- The lease itself. Italian commercial leases run for at least six years, renewable for six more; hotel leases for nine and nine. Agree in writing which works the landlord authorises, who pays for what, and what has to be restored at the end.
2. Design and permits
- Works. Depending on what is changed, the works need a notice (CILA), a certified notice (SCIA) or a building permit. A licensed architect or engineer prepares and signs them, and remains responsible for the design and the works.
- Protection. In a listed building, or wherever works show from outside, the Soprintendenza or the landscape authority must approve. Their timing often sets the timing of the whole project.
- Fire prevention. Hotels above a certain size and many public spaces are subject to fire prevention procedures with the Fire Brigade.
- Signs and windows. Shop signs, awnings and window graphics need their own approval, and historic centres such as Venice, Florence and Rome are strict about them.
- Food and drink. A bar or restaurant needs the health requirements and the notice to the local health authority.
3. Works and supply
Local contractors know the rules and the building; a brand's own shopfitters know the standard. Most projects use both, and the friction sits between them: drawings that do not match the site, materials that are not approved locally, furniture that arrives before the room is ready.
Plan the deliveries around the real access. In Venice everything arrives by boat; in other historic centres, through limited traffic zones at set hours. August slows down the whole country, and suppliers close for part of it.
4. Handover
Before opening, every installer issues a declaration of conformity for the electrical, gas, heating and other systems, and the technician files the certificate that the space can be used. Without these papers the space cannot open, however finished it looks. Collect them as each trade finishes, not in the last week.
Where Gibson comes in
On the owner's side, Gibson keeps the design manual, the local professionals, the landlord and the suppliers to one plan, checks the space at the moments that decide the outcome, and brings decisions to you in time.