Studio Tecnico Michele Sozzo
Studio Tecnico Michele Sozzo
I am a geometra, the Italian professional who measures buildings, verifies what has been legally authorised on them, files the permits and follows the works on site. I work in Salento, where I grew up, and most of my private clients come from abroad.
The person who reads your email is the person who walks through the building, pulls the permits from the archive and stands on the site while the works are going on. There is no account manager in between, and nothing is passed to a junior once the engagement is signed.
It also means I take on a limited number of engagements at a time. If I cannot give a property the attention it needs in the timeframe you have, I will tell you so rather than take the work.
There is no exact equivalent in English, which is part of the confusion foreign buyers run into. A geometra is not an estate agent and not an architect. The work sits between the building itself and the public records that describe it: the cadastre, the building permits, the municipal archive. Verifying that those three tell the same story is the single most useful thing anyone can do for you before you buy a house in Italy.
Pre-purchase inspections, technical due diligence, feasibility studies and the management of renovation works, from the first site visit to the final handover.
Instrument surveys with laser scanner, drone and GNSS, point cloud processing, as-built documentation, cadastral and planning procedures.
Someone buying in Salento from London or Amsterdam is not short of enthusiasm. What they lack is a way to check anything: whether the veranda was ever authorised, whether the builder’s figure is serious, whether the work on site this week is the work being invoiced. Everyone they meet has an interest in the sale going through. I do not: I am paid by the buyer, and only by the buyer.
Over the years that has turned into something wider than a technical service. For many clients I become the local point of reference for the whole process: finding the right professionals, dealing with the town hall, translating what a document actually commits them to, and being the person who physically stands in the building when they cannot.
Signor Sozzo is great to work with. His English is excellent, he’s very knowledgeable, cautious and courteous. I am very glad to have found him; highly recommend.
For non-Italians looking to buy property, Michele has proved to be an absolute gem when it comes to steering us through the process.
Michele has been, by far, the most efficient and professional individual I’ve come across in Lecce.
Michele was a great help with his geometra services, even remotely, by providing inspection service including videos.
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