Every one of these terms will appear in your paperwork. I keep them in Italian throughout, because translating them into an approximate English equivalent is how people end up thinking they have something they do not.
Catasto
The land and buildings registry. It records every property in Italy with an identifier, a classification, a floor plan and a notional income figure.
The catasto is a fiscal register, not proof of ownership and not a building permit. This is the most common misunderstanding: a property can be perfectly recorded at the catasto and still be unlawful in planning terms.
Visura catastale
The extract from the catasto. It shows who is recorded as the holder, the category and class of the property, the size in cadastral units, and the rendita catastale.
The rendita matters beyond record-keeping: purchase taxes and annual property tax are calculated from it, and it feeds the cadastral value used under the prezzo-valore mechanism.
A visura is obtainable without the owner's involvement, so it is usually the first document to get.
Planimetria catastale
The floor plan filed at the catasto.
Take it to the property and compare. Walls in different places, a room that is not on the drawing, a different number of windows — each is a sign that work was done and never declared. That is your earliest and cheapest warning of a compliance problem.
Unlike the visura, the planimetria is restricted: it is released to the owner, or to somebody the owner has authorised. A prospective buyer cannot simply request it, which is why it usually has to come from the seller or through the agency.
Conformità urbanistica
Planning compliance: whether the building as it stands matches what was authorised.
This is the single most important check on an Italian purchase, and the one nobody in the transaction performs unless you ask. The seller declares it in the deed. The notary records the declaration. Nobody goes and looks.
Where it fails, the consequences are real: a bank may refuse to lend, a notary may refuse to complete, and regularising the situation may cost a great deal or be impossible.
Titolo edilizio
The building permit under which the property was built or altered — the document that conformità urbanistica is measured against.
Older buildings may predate the requirement, which changes the analysis rather than removing it.
Agibilità
The certificate that the building is fit to be occupied: structural safety, hygiene, services.
Older and rural buildings often lack it. That is not automatically fatal, but you need to know why it is missing. Sometimes the paperwork was never finished. Sometimes the building genuinely does not meet the standards, and obtaining it would mean substantial work.
Sanatoria
The procedure for regularising work carried out without, or in departure from, a permit.
Two things to understand. It costs money — fees plus a penalty. And it is not always available: whether the work can be regularised depends on when it was done and what the rules were then. Establish feasibility before you buy, not after.
Condono
An amnesty: a law that at particular moments allowed unauthorised works to be regularised on favourable terms, outside the ordinary sanatoria route.
Relevant to you as history. If a previous owner applied under a condono, check whether the application was actually concluded. A pending, never-finalised condono is a live problem attached to the property, and it is more common than you would expect.
Compromesso
The preliminary contract, also called contratto preliminare. It fixes the price, the deadline for the deed and the consequences of withdrawal.
The deposit paid here is usually a caparra confirmatoria: if you withdraw you lose it, if the seller withdraws they owe you double. The compromesso must be registered, and can also be transcribed in the property registers, which protects you against the seller selling to somebody else in the meantime.
Rogito
The notarial deed of sale — the moment ownership transfers.
The notary is a public official, not anybody's lawyer, and in Italy the buyer chooses and pays them. If you cannot follow Italian well enough, the law requires an interpreter and often two witnesses.
APE
Attestato di Prestazione Energetica: the energy performance certificate. Legally required for a sale, and the energy class must appear in the listing.
Treat it as a starting point rather than a verdict. It tells you the class; it does not tell you the windows are single-glazed and the boiler is twenty years old.
Conformità impianti
The declarations that the electrical, gas and heating systems comply with the standards in force when they were installed.
If nobody can produce them, assume the cost of bringing the systems up to standard falls on you, and price it in.
If a term here is new to you, that is normal — none of it is intuitive, and none of it is explained in a listing. For how these documents fit into the purchase, see buying property in Italy as a foreigner.