Professional Limited Liability Partnership in Italy

In Italy since 2011 (Art. 10 of Law 183 of 2011) it’s possible to create companies formed by mixed skills with professionals from different sectors, activity codes, registers and social security funds. The aim is to create groups of professionals who can cope with the growing market demand for collegial and multifunctional responses to complex problems, especially in sectors where the integration of skills is essential, such as construction (AEC).

What is the true value of Professional LLP?

HYPER Società Tra Professionisti (Italian for PLLP) was born in Florence on November 8, 2013 and now has 7 years of experience behind it. To answer, let’s listen to the voices of some of the Professionals who compose it.

Stefano Capretti – senior Civil Engineer, professional partner, founder, CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors

HYPER STP, being a company between multi-purpose professionals (prevalent technical professions in the AEC sector, but also economic-legal professions), gives us the possibility to respond in a coordinated manner to complex needs of clients (public and private), who require a series of harmonized professional services. Within a PLLP, coordination is a task of the Company and a service offered, which otherwise would be a burden for the customer.

For many of us professionals, it gives the possibility of dealing with commissions of a higher level than one professional individually. Some orders of HYPER STP could not, in fact, have been assignments for any of the individually organized shareholders. Only by being together we had the opportunity to participate in tenders or compete for private assignments with the necessary competence, structure and curriculum requirements.

Finally, for younger members, it immediately allows an approach to the profession more as key players or, if we want, literally more as professionals than collaborators similar to employees.

Daniele Duccini – geometra, professional partner and member of the Board of Directors

HYPER STP has represented and represents for me a multiplier of my professional skills.
In fact, thanks to the specific associative nature of HYPER STP it was possible to increase my ability to respond to the needs and expectations of customers.

This is not only due to the ability to provide multidisciplinary professional services through HYPER STP but, above all, because the sharing of professional and human skills and experiences of individual members we’re usually able to generate a sort of ‘creative resonance‘ capable of generating value for the customer.

The design or functional recovery of complex infrastructures – such as those dedicated to water resources – involves knowing how to decline the different skills (hydraulic, structural, technical, legal, geological) in order to compose a complete and articulated project proposal for the customer. The working group in HYPER STP is composed by professionals who are called upon to operate as if they were directly ‘face to face’ with the customer. Each one is called upon to express their professionalism (and I would also say their personality) through their contribution to the team.

In my opinion, the corporate structure of HYPER STP favors this proactive and positive approach to teamwork more than other forms of association, as joining the working group is a free choice, just as the choice to join a company is free.

The integration of the individual in the working team seems to me to derive in equal measure both from his professional authority and from his availability towards the group itself. Naturally this way favors not only work on the project but also work on oneself, precisely because the result is the possibility of being able to grow both professionally and humanly. I think this is a challenge to be faced with pleasure.

After all, the fact that in a few years of activity HYPER STP has managed to acquire commissions in the water resources sector throughout the national territory – for customers who are among the main operators in the sector and in conditions of intense competition – can only encourage us to work together again in order to grow humanly and professionally.

Giovanna Padellaro – senior Architect, professional partner

For me it represents a great opportunity for both human and professional growth. The possibility of working in a group of professionals, each with different attitudes and abilities, helps to identify more clearly their professional skills, precisely because the comparison with others is constant.

I would say that the most interesting aspect is, therefore, the work between colleagues without a hierarchy of roles being established a priori and where the contribution of each one, precisely because it is different, brings enrichment and continuous stimuli.

There are also objective advantages, including the fact of making oneself more competitive internationally, or having the different profiles required in public tenders in a single structure – making the possibility of making temporary groupings with other firms a choice and not an obligation – or have the opportunity to follow specializations or training courses that would be unthinkable in a single profession, given the high costs and the huge amount of spare time required.

Sara Basile – Architect, professional partner

The real value, in my view, is not just the fact of constituting a structure. Although, in fact, PLLPs offer individual professionals a structured and constituted form through which it is possible to access jobs (through public or private procedures) of a certain importance and a high degree of complexity otherwise inaccessible, this is not yet the greatest advantage.

It is not even professional freedom. Being part of an PLLP in Italy, in fact, does not preclude the individual professional from participating in multiple companies (although not other PLLPs) or pursuing other careers at the same time; or even take personal work outside the Company, provided that all this is not in conflict with the Company Bylaws. However, this flexibility is not yet the main advantage of an PLLP.

The real value, according to my experience as a young professional, is the enhancement of distinctive individuals, only possible within a group. An PLLP can work if the members who are part of it are open to sharing both needs, expectations and work, giving everyone the opportunity to find support and comfort. In this way distinctive individuals are led to flourish – since they know where to take root and where to draw nourishment – and their specific skills are strengthened, bringing an ever-increasing qualitative contribution to the group.

In particular for young professionals who often find themselves working in precarious situations, moving from one job to another without finding a place where they can grow peacefully, I believe it is a more unique than rare opportunity.

The great advantage of an PLLP is its nature as a ‘deconstructed structure‘, made up of people rather than sectors.

Editorial Staff