About the company

BUFFA s.r.l. was founded by Paolo Buffa, now Sole Director of the company. A natural innovator, and a person blessed with notable human qualities, it was he who created the initial core of the company in the late 1960s. With ever increasing commitment, passion and dedication, he has guided the enterprise since then to its present position as one of the best known and most successful building materials manufacturers in southern Italy.

The commitment and enthusiasm of Paolo Buffa, still invaluable and crucial today, are more than complemented by the activity of his sons Antonio and Gaetano and daughter Ketty, who for years now have headed up the various divisions of the company.

Today, the top quality products and services offered by Buffa ensure that the company enjoys a high profile in Italy and many other countries (Canada, North Africa, Malta, Pakistan, etc.), thanks not least to tireless promotion of the brand, for which Paolo Buffa is mainly responsible.

Indeed the founder continues to be the main spokesperson for the image of the company, taking part in all the main events organized by the sector and engaging with top experts worldwide. All of which in order to pinpoint the main issues and innovations that are of interest currently to the building trade, and especially to the end user.

Starting with an idea — a specific need — the principle is developed in-house in terms of feasibility and effectiveness, with important assistance also provided by expert and prestigious international research structures such as the BCI Bautechnik Group.

Accordingly, the company can create innovative products, systems and services, all in step with the times, designed to meet the needs of the customer more and more effectively, be it a tiler/installer, a designer, a dealer, etc.

The Buffa company began trading in the 1970s, driven by the passion and commitment of Paolo Buffa, currently Sole Director. Right from the company's beginnings, Paolo Buffa initiated an intensive activity of collaboration with engineers and researchers from different European industries and/or structures, aimed at developing products of consistently high quality.

In 1985 Buffa presented BUFFA System Products, a line of products and systems designed to guarantee superior quality and performance. This marked the start of a fruitful collaboration with engineers, architects, surveyors, large and small construction businesses, as well as with specialist building materials suppliers, both in Italy and abroad.
During the 1980s, the company also launched its THERMOVITA brand, covering a range of products and systems providing thermal-and-sound insulation for the walls of buildings, including cladding systems utilizing sintered expanded polystyrene sheets.

In 1987, Buffa joined Confindustria, the Italian Employers Federation.

In the 1990s, encouraged by the considerable success and continued growth that was being achieved, Buffa expanded its business to include building renovation materials; this meant that the company could offer dependable solutions for problems with the waterproofing of roofs, terraces, balconies, walls, foundations, pools, etc., repair and protection of deteriorated concrete, recovery of buildings damaged by rising damp, etc.

In 1999, aware of increased environmental concerns and research into indoor well-being, Buffa introduced its Calcite Line. A product of enthusiasm and specific expertise, this traditional ORGANIC system uses natural hydraulic lime — NHL 3.5 — and is ideal for renovation and restoration work on historic buildings, but equally for new building projects where the use of natural and breathable products has been specified. In this same year, the company also secured certification to ISO 9002.

In 2000, Buffa renewed and upgraded its factory premises. Continuing to invest heavily in research, the company embarked on the manufacture of new products characterized by innovation and high quality.

In 2001, Buffa secured quality certification to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

In 2006 Buffa launched its Breathing Walls line, a wide range of especially innovative and highly breathable products guaranteeing maximum comfort for the occupants of buildings while also able to deliver real energy savings.

In 2009, Buffa presented its Dealer Partner brand, a clear and simple message to anyone willing to join the company in pursuing a professional work and business project.

In 2010, Buffa presented its Centre for Innovative Systems, a new project involving the company's top customers, at the service of building sector professionals, offering products and systems designed to guarantee superior performance in terms of quality, strength and technology, as well as dedicated services in the areas of technical assistance, training, etc.

In 2011, Buffa became a member of GBC (Green Building Council) Italia.

In 2012 Buffa launched the SISTEMA CASA brand, offering a range of innovative, eco-sustainable, breathable products designed to maximize care for the environment, and the health of both people and buildings, designed for use in new building and renovation projects alike.

The philosophy of the Buffa company is anchored in the conscientious design and production of innovative products and systems, designed to improve quality of life and using the right kind of building materials, able to offer maximum living comfort while ensuring care for the environment.

This approach has enabled Buffa, with great determination, to maintain a consistent policy of researching technologically advanced products and solutions guaranteeing superior functional efficiency, ease of application, notable durability and in some cases real energy savings, for example as provided by the company's sophisticated THERMOVITA thermal and sound insulation systems for both walls and floors.

All of which is designed to guarantee healthy and comfortable living spaces.

Living in a healthy and comfortable dwelling means living well and feeling good, both in ourselves and with our loved ones.

To provide the customer with a high quality product, easy to apply, and an exceptional level of service — all made possible thanks to a process of constant growth.

This has allowed us, and still allows us, to continue achieving:

• a high level of specialization and skill in all corporate activities;
• a research effort applied to all products that is always geared to innovation;
• the ability to provide products and services targeted at the multiple needs of customers;
• care for the environment and for the health of installers/users of our products.

The resulting growth achieved — thanks to the passion, commitment and selflessness of the Buffa family — has been aimed at:

• focusing primarily on the specific needs of the local market;
• reaching out increasingly to the remainder of the Italy and export markets.

Because Buffa attaches fundamental importance to the human factor as well as to that of technological innovation, also to know how and to growth on different markets, the company seeks always to work in close contact with businesses, contractors and customers/agents (including engineers/designers), and always with the aim of pinpointing new needs and requirements of the “professionals”, so that it can develop, produce and offer more and more innovative and effective materials and solutions designed to satisfy their increasingly urgent necessities in terms of quality, ease of application and, importantly, reducing costs by saving time and money.

The continuing search for innovative products and systems, synergies with expert partners in developing materials, a suitably trained and informed staff of young and motivated technical and sales people... these are factors enabling the company to offer different markets and different players in the building sector (contractors, installers/tilers, designers, dealers, etc.) a comprehensive selection of top quality, reliable and technologically advanced products covering a wide range of applications, namely:

• Base coats, adhesives and grouts for floors and walls
• Setting, skimming and decorative plasters, hydraulic binders, base coats
• Special products for the building trade
• Repair and protection of concrete
• Repair and protection of masonry
• Plasters and colour finishes for facades, old and new
• Paints, contrasts, colour and decoration
• Bio Calcite: the art of the classical world in preservation and restoration work
• Thermal-and-sound insulation systems for roofs, terraces, walls and floors
• Waterproofers for roofs, terraces, balconies, foundations, showers and pools
• Products for industrial floors, food containers, pools and sports fields

The ultra high quality of Buffa products and systems is a reflection of intense research activity carried on primarily in the company's own laboratories by highly qualified staff, but also with the help of outside consultants attached to specialist international structures such as BCI Bautechnik Group, who provide a fundamental supporting role.

This enables Buffa to control the entire process, from the initial selection of raw materials through to active and constant monitoring of end product quality, always looking for new and innovative formulations, and ultimately offering a service of excellence guaranteed to provide unfailingly dependable technical advice, thanks not least to the particular skills developed by Buffa technical and sales staff in studying and monitoring the market, which enable them to identify changes and aspects of demand in the building sector with maximum expertise, coming up with new ideas and offering improved and effective solutions to operators and to users of products and systems within the trade.

And always with the needs of the environment firmly in mind.

Training

Buffa promotes the training of architects, engineers, surveyors, contractors, installers/tilers, customers/dealers, organized and conducted by the company's own technical and sales staff, through periodic workshops & meetings designed to cover both theoretical and practical aspects of building materials and their utilization.

As a result, all parties acquire increased knowledge and awareness of the way that Buffa materials are used.

Sales force

The Buffa sales force is made up of in-house staff and agents/representatives in the field, all highly qualified, entirely at the disposal of the customer and able to offer a high level of technical advice.

Buffa sales operations also rely on a penetrative network of customers/dealers from whom users can purchase products made by the company.

Expert technical assistance

In-house technicians are highly experienced and skilled, fully up to speed on all the latest developments and able to offer solutions for any kind of problem encountered on site. Members of the technical staff work in close cooperation with the R&D and Sales departments of the company, with the aim of tailoring products and systems to the specific needs of individual end users.

If requested, Buffa technicians will work alongside the customer right from the design stage, advising case by case on the solutions considered to be most appropriate, in the light of the particular requirements and on the basis of their professional experience.

For immediate help, customers can contact Buffa on the telephone help line, where technical staff will provide a swift and direct response service, always with maximum professionalism and reliability.

Quality Control

Buffa has internal laboratories that carry out close checks on raw materials and end products alike, applying the most stringent quality control parameters to ensure compliance with specific national and international industry standards.

All in order to guarantee the constant quality of the company's products.

Buffa invites anyone visiting the company showroom to talk to the technical staff and — availability permitting — make an appointment to look around the factory as well.

This invitation reflects a desire on the part of Buffa to offer a matchless service and, at the same time, to establish direct contact with customers and learn about the problems they encounter in the building sector.

These same problems are analyzed by the company's technical staff, who will then provide the customer with the best advice possible. The bottom line…

Your satisfaction is our main objective.

The factory

The BUFFA factory, founded by Paolo Buffa in the 1970s at Vita near Trapani, in Sicily, while retaining the image of a family and in some respects traditional business premises, has undergone many alterations and enlargements over the years, designed to create increasingly greater production capacity and deliver products of better and better quality.

Bookings

To book your visit to the premises of Buffa s.r.l. at Vita (Trapani, in Sicily) telephone +39 0924 955152 or send a mail to buffasrl@buffasrl.it.

The factory is open for visits from 09:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, you can visit one of the many Buffa C.I.S. points (Centres for Innovative Systems) around the country.

In either case, you will be met by expert technical staff, guided round a welcoming and well-organized showroom, and given the best advice the company can offer its valued customers.