Concorso Vice Direttore Vigili del Fuoco common mistakes
Concorso Vice Direttore Vigili del Fuoco · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering questions on the ordinamento of the Corpo Nazionale by relying on generic civil-service memory (e.g., treating the Corpo as a simple direzione generale of the Ministero dell'Interno) instead of distinguishing the roles of the Capo Dipartimento, the Capo del Corpo, and the Direzioni Centrali, and citing the wrong source norm (d.lgs. 139/2006 as amended by d.lgs. 97/2017 versus the d.P.R. 398/1999 or older laws).
Most candidates study from summaries that predate the 2017 riordino or that conflate the Dipartimento with the Corpo; the two bodies share personnel and budget lines, so the distinction is easy to blur, and exam distractors deliberately swap 'Capo del Corpo' and 'Capo Dipartimento' attributions.
What to do instead
Build a one-page organigram from the d.lgs. 139/2006 (as modified by d.lgs. 97/2017) and the d.P.R. 398/1999, listing for each organ its nomination, duration, and specific competences; then for every past-style question verify which organ the norm actually assigns the function to. Rehearse the distinction Capo Dipartimento (amministrazione generale, coordinamento) vs Capo del Corpo (direzione tecnico-operativa).
On procedimento amministrativo questions, reciting the 30-day term of art. 2 l. 241/1990 as an absolute rule and ignoring the special terms, the possibility of suspension, and the difference between the term for concluding the procedure and the term for the provvedimento's efficacy; also confusing the responsabile del procedimento with the responsabile del provvedimento and misapplying the silenzio-assenso/ silenzio-diniego regimes.
The general rule is the most memorable number, so candidates stop there; the exam targets the exceptions (art. 2 commi 2-4) and the interplay with art. 20 (silenzio-assenso) and art. 19 (SCIA), which are precisely where the distractors are built.
What to do instead
Create a table of terms: general 30 days, terms set by regolamento, terms for specific procedures (e.g., conferenza di servizi, autorizzazioni ambientali), and the rules on suspension (max 90 days) and on the effects of missed terms. For each, note whether the silence produces assenso, diniego, or nothing. Test yourself by classifying scenarios rather than recalling single articles.
Treating trasparenza as a single obligation (publish everything on the Amministrazione Trasparente page) and failing to distinguish accesso civico semplice (art. 5 co. 1 d.lgs. 33/2013) from accesso civico generalizzato (art. 5 co. 2, FOIA) and from accesso documentale ex l. 241/1990, including the different limits (art. 5-bis) and the role of the RPCT and the difensore civico/ Garante.
Candidates learn 'trasparenza = pubblicazione' from generic material and do not map the three access regimes; the exam asks which instrument applies to a concrete request, and the wrong answer is often plausible because the regimes overlap in practice.
What to do instead
Memorize a three-column comparison: presupposto (obbligo di pubblicazione / interesse pubblico / interesse concreto e attuale), legittimazione (chiunque / chiunque / titolare di situazione giuridica), rimedi (RPCT, difensore civico, TAR). Then solve 10 scenario questions where you must name the correct instrument before checking the answer.
In diritto penale, answering reati contro la PA questions by using the pre-2012 or pre-2019 wording: e.g., describing concussione and corruzione as if the boundary were still the old art. 317, ignoring the riforma Severino (l. 190/2012) that recast art. 317 and introduced art. 319-quater (induzione indebita), and the l. 3/2019 (spazzacorrotti) changes to pene accessorie, prescrizione, and the nuovo art. 346-bis (traffico di influenze illecite).
Older manuals remain in circulation and penalty figures are the easiest thing to memorize wrongly; the exam uses the current text and asks to distinguish fattispecie that differ only in the direction of the pressure (costrizione vs induzione) or in the role of the pubblico ufficiale.
What to do instead
Study the current Codice penale text for artt. 314-323-bis and 346-bis, and for each reato write the soggetto attivo, the condotta, the oggetto materiale, and the pena edittale. Build contrast pairs: concussione vs induzione indebita; corruzione propria vs impropria; peculato vs malversazione. Verify every penalty against the current text, not a summary.
On reati ambientali, applying only the Codice dell'ambiente (d.lgs. 152/2006) and forgetting the l. 68/2015 which inserted Titolo VI-bis into the Codice penale (artt. 452-bis ss.: inquinamento ambientale, disastro ambientale, traffico di rifiuti) and the 231/2001 liability; also confusing the sanzioni amministrative of the Testo Unico with the penal ones and misstating the soglie di punibilità.
The double track (penale + amministrativo) is the hardest part of the materia, and candidates often study only one; the exam tests whether you know which source criminalizes the conduct and which merely sanctions it.
What to do instead
Draw a map with two columns: Codice penale (artt. 452-bis to 452-quaterdeci) and d.lgs. 152/2006 (parte VI, sanzioni). For each conduct (abbandono rifiuti, gestione illecita, superamento soglie) note the norm, the soggetto, and the sanzione. Add a row for responsabilità degli enti ex d.lgs. 231/2001 and the reati presupposto ambientali.
In protezione civile, describing the sistema as if the Stato directed everything, or conversely as if the Regioni were autonomous: failing to state the ripartizione of competenze (Stato, Regioni, Province, Comuni, Prefetture), the role of the Dipartimento della Protezione Civile, and the sequence of the stato di emergenza (delibera del Consiglio dei ministri, ordinanze del Capo Dipartimento) versus the dichiarazione di calamità.
The Codice della protezione civile (d.lgs. 1/2018) reorganized a body of norms built up over decades, and candidates mix pre-2018 terminology (e.g., 'dichiarazione di grande evento') with current instruments; the exam asks who does what and in which order.
What to do instead
Build a flowchart from evento (a, b, c) to the instrument (ordinanza, stato di emergenza, dichiarazione di calamità), naming the organ for each step and the source article of d.lgs. 1/2018. Then do scenario questions where you must identify the competent authority and the legal basis, not just the name of the instrument.
On prevenzione incendi, answering by recalling the old prescriptive tables and ignoring the approccio prestazionale: mixing up the Codice di prevenzione incendi (d.m. 3 agosto 2015, as amended) with the d.P.R. 151/2011 (attività soggette e procedure) and the d.m. 10 marzo 1998 (gestione della sicurezza), and misapplying the RTO/RVEPA chapters to a concrete activity.
The technical normativa has changed several times and the exam uses the current framework; candidates who memorized 'classi di rischio' and 'tabelle' answer with outdated criteria, and confuse the activity classification (d.P.R. 151/2011) with the fire-safety design method (Codice).
What to do instead
Separate three notebooks: (1) d.P.R. 151/2011 - activities, categories A/B/C, SCIA antincendio and rinnovo; (2) Codice di prevenzione incendi - chapters S, G, RTO, RVEPA and how to apply them; (3) d.m. 10 marzo 1998 - gestione della sicurezza e misure. For each, solve at least one exercise that requires choosing the correct instrument and justifying it.
In sicurezza sul lavoro, quoting d.lgs. 81/2008 as a monolithic text and failing to apply the Titolo I principles to a specific role: confusing datore di lavoro, dirigente, preposto, RSPP, and RLS; missing the obblighi di valutazione dei rischi, the DVR contents, and the novità of the d.lgs. 106/2009 (e.g., art. 28 and art. 29) and the sanctions regime.
The Testo Unico is huge and candidates memorize definitions without learning who bears which duty; the exam presents an organizational scenario and asks who failed to act, which requires mapping functions to obligations, not reciting articles.
What to do instead
For each figure (datore, dirigente, preposto, RSPP, RLS, medico competente) write a card with: obblighi, delegabilità, responsabilità, sanzione. Then solve scenarios by first identifying the role of the person described, then the specific obligation, then the norm. Verify the delegation requirements (art. 16) because they change the answer.
In contabilità pubblica and contratti pubblici, applying the old Codice dei contratti (d.lgs. 50/2016) to questions now governed by d.lgs. 36/2023: e.g., using the vecchie soglie, the vecchio sistema di qualificazione SOA, or the vecchie procedure (procedura negoziata senza bando) instead of the new istituti (affidamento diretto, procedura negoziata, accordi quadro) and the principio del risultato and della fiducia (artt. 1-2).
The 2023 Code entered into force recently and many study materials and past papers still reflect the 2016 text; the numerical thresholds and the names of the procedures changed, so a candidate who memorized the old numbers gives confidently wrong answers.
What to do instead
Rebuild the threshold table from the current d.lgs. 36/2023 (affidamento diretto, procedura negoziata, procedure aperte) and list the new principles (risultato, fiducia, accesso al mercato). For each istituto, write the old name and the new name side by side, then answer only from the new column. Check every figure against the Allegati.
In diritto del lavoro pubblico, treating the pubblico impiego as if it were still entirely governed by atti unilaterali: ignoring the privatizzazione (d.lgs. 165/2001 as amended, especially artt. 2, 5, 40 and the riforma Brunetta/ Madia), the ruolo della contrattazione collettiva, the procedure di mobilità, and the distinction between dirigenti and personale non dirigente; and in the Inglese and Informatica sections, giving up on the technical vocabulary rather than preparing it.
Candidates who come from a legal background over-rely on the 'atto amministrativo' model and forget that most rapporti di lavoro are now contrattuali; separately, English and IT are treated as 'soft' sections and left unprepared, yet they contain predictable technical vocabulary (fire safety, emergency management, GDPR, cybersecurity) that is easy to learn.
What to do instead
For lavoro pubblico, build a scheme: atti di gestione (dirigenza) vs atti di indirizzo (organi politici), and the limits to contrattazione (art. 40 co. 1). For English, compile a glossary of 150 terms from protezione civile, antincendio, and sicurezza sul lavoro, and practice reading comprehension on technical texts. For Informatica, cover GDPR, sicurezza informatica di base, CAD, protocollo informatico, and SPID/CIE with one-page summaries each.