FAZIA is designed to detect and identify within a large range of charge and mass reaction products coming from heavy-ion induced reactions within the Fermi energy domain (10-100AMeV). The novel Pulse Shape and detection techniques already developed inside the collaboration, also exploiting a purposely designed digital electronics, are expected to significantly improve the identification capabilities of heavy-ion arrays presently available. The goal is to reach unit-charge identification up to Z=70 and mass identification at the same level up to A=50. Also to that purpose, time of flight will be implemented, with newly developed digital techniques. The expected energy resolution is better than one percent in the whole range from few MeV to few GeV. It will be obtained by using Si-Si-Csi telescopes (possibly in a novel, non-standard configuration under test) and digital Signal Processing. The granularity will also be optimized in order to get an angular resolution better than one degree in the laboratory frame (by using Silicon-strip detectors for example). Finally, FAZIA will have the maximal coverage of the whole space (at least 90% of 4Pi), in order to efficiently perform event-by-event reconstruction of exclusive measurements. Its modularity and portability will also be of paramount importance, since the detector is meant to run in different configurations, possibly with ancillary detectors such as neutron detectors or spectrometers. Moreover, it will operate in different laboratories such as the european facilities commissioned in the period 2010-2015.