Basic Hygiene and Sanitary Requirements
Areas where food is handled must comply with precise requirements regarding surfaces, ventilation, facilities, and workflow. Detailed rules vary between local Health Authorities (ASL) and Municipalities, but the principles are consistent and should be designed before finishes are applied, not afterwards.
- Smooth, washable, and disinfectable surfaces in the kitchen and preparation areas, up to an appropriate height.
- Impermeable flooring with sanitary coved skirtings.
- Adequate natural or mechanical ventilation in processing areas.
- Staff changing rooms and sanitary facilities separate from those for the public.
- Separate routes for raw materials, finished products, and waste, where possible.
- Dedicated rooms or zones for changing rooms, dishwashing, and dry goods storage.
The HACCP Plan
HACCP is not a certificate to display; it's the system by which the operator controls critical points in the food supply chain. It directly influences the design of the premises: the number and location of sinks, staff circulation routes, materials for work surfaces, and equipment layout are all derived from the hazard analysis conducted with the food safety consultant.
Extraction and Flue: The Critical Point
Cooking requires mechanical extraction with a chimney to the roof and, below certain thresholds, smoke and odour abatement. In historic city centres or apartment buildings, this is the factor that halts most projects: verifying the feasibility of the flue before signing for the property avoids buying an insoluble problem.
Procedures and Timelines
The typical process involves: urban planning and property usability verification, SCIA (Certified Notification of Activity Commencement) to the Municipality, notification to the Health Authority (ASL) with floor plans of the premises, an optional preliminary hygiene-sanitary opinion, and authorisations for signage and outdoor seating. Overall timelines rarely fall below 2-4 months before construction work can even begin.
How We Design Compliant Premises
We start by laying out the workflows with the client's HACCP consultant, then develop systems and finishes around those constraints. We provide the premises with compliance documentation for the systems and specifications for materials used in food areas: this is what the Health Authority (ASL) requests during the initial inspection.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a Health Authority (ASL) opinion required before starting work?
- It is not always mandatory, but seeking a preliminary consultation with the competent SIAN (Food and Nutrition Hygiene Service) is almost always the most cost-effective choice: correcting a layout on paper costs nothing, correcting it after finishes have been applied costs thousands of euros.
- Is a premise that was previously a restaurant automatically compliant?
- No: regulations are updated, and a change of management may require new notification. Verifying the status of previous procedures is one of the first steps in our site survey.
- How much does the building services portion impact the budget?
- In food establishments, building services typically account for 30-45% of the total fit-out cost: extraction, gas, electrical loads, and kitchen plumbing are the technical core of the project.
Translated from the Italian original. Contact us for the official version.