717/49 law known as the “two percent law”
Law 717/49 provides that, for each new public building built on Italian territory (courts, stations, parks and more), a portion of the total amount of the works – 2% in fact – is allocated by the client administrations (State , Regions, territorial bodies and, in general, all public bodies) to the embellishment of the new public space with works by contemporary artists, created ad hoc. Entered into force in 1949, the law is still in force and its application is regulated by a series of criteria, requirements and procedures expressed in guidelines.
The rule concerns all categories of public buildings such as stations, courts, offices, museums, infrastructures and parks and more, with the exception of industrial buildings, residential buildings (civil and military), school and university buildings and some cases of healthcare buildings.
The application of the law is bound by the amount of the planned works which must be greater than one million euros.
The percentage, initially set at a fixed rate of 2%, progressively decreases as the amount increases.
Since over time the law has often been disregarded, in 2006 the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the MiBACT published the first Guidelines to facilitate its application, defining for example that the selection of works takes place through a competition and is determined by a commission composed of:
- a representative of the Administration that finances the construction of the building
- the designer of the building
- the Superintendent of the MiBACT responsible for the territory
- two well-known artists nominated by the Administration
The MIBACT-MIT inter-ministerial commission, after an approval process through the State-Regions Conference, revised and issued with DM 15 May 2017 the new ones Guidelines for the application of Law no. 717/1949 containing rules for art in public buildingswhich provide a precise interpretation of the Law, adapting its provisions to the current technical and design needs of public works, and which replace those of the previous DM March 23, 2006.
The new Guidelines were published in the Official Journal, General Series, n. 165 of 17 July 2017 and in the Official Journal, General Series, n.172 of 25 July 2017.
UPDATE 10.30.2023 – Guidelines
The Scientific Steering Committee– established with Decree no. 303 of 24 April 2023 issued by the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Government for the 2016 earthquake emergency and composed of Cecilia Canziani, Fabio De Chirico, Roberta de Robertis, Raffaella Falconio, Paolo Iannelli, Stefano Papetti, Andrea Viliani – has drawn up the Guidelines for the beautification of public buildings to be reconstructed and/or refunctionalized in the areas affected by the 2016 earthquake. Result of the consultation between bodies and experts, specifically designated by the commissioner structure, the Guidelines take on the value of an indicator and guide for the acquisition (understood in a broad sense, also as creation ex novo< /em>) of the works of art referred to in Law 717/1949 as part of the reconstruction interventions after the 2016 earthquake, dictating criteria that guarantee, in the different territorial situations, the homogeneity and artistic quality of the works. The various interventions must necessarily refer to the Guidelines, meaning them as instructions for the purpose of appointing the tender commissions required by law, as well as for the preparation of the documents of the tender procedures for the acquisition of the works of art.