Co-owners and tenants must be informed about the quality of the water they consume

The Ordinance of 22 December 2022 transposes European Directive 2020/2184, known as the Drinking Water Directive. It concerns in particular provisions on the transmission of water bills and additional information on water quality by trustees and lessors to co-owners and tenants, both in the social and private sector, where the water supply contract is not individualized.

In a condominium that has only one general meter, the condominium syndicate (trustee) takes care of the water bills. The co-ownership regulation specifies the arrangements for allocating water expenditure. The general consumption of the building is distributed according to the tenths of charges (unless otherwise specified in the co-ownership regulation).

As a co-owner, you are not directly engaged with a water supplier: you do not receive an invoice related to your consumption but you pay what you owe as part of the provisional calls for funds calculated by the trustee.

Since December 2022, trustees have a new obligation: if the water supply contract is not individualized, the trustee must transmit to each co-owner:

• the water bill;
• a summary note containing additional information on the quality of tap water.

Information on water quality shall be provided by the competent municipality or public cooperation institution.

The liquidator must provide this information at least once a year, for example at the same time as the convocation of the annual general meeting of the co-owners.

This new obligation to provide information applies more broadly to any housing provider, since the water supply contract is not individualized. The lessor must send the water invoice and the additional information on the quality of the water sent to him to his tenant at the same time as the statement of charges or, failing that, at least once a year.