Condominium charges: categories, voting, payment and dispute

Verified 01 June 2020 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Condominium expenses are the common expenses that must be paid collectively by the condominium owners. There are 2 main categories of charges: general charges for the administration, preservation and maintenance of common areas and special charges for common utilities and facilities. The participation of each co-owner varies according to the nature of the charges.

There are 2 main categories of charges:

  • General expenses relating to the administration, preservation and maintenance of the general common areas
  • Special charges for collective services and common facilities

The participation of each co-owner varies according to the nature of the charges (general or special).

General charges

General charges relate to the payment of the following charges:

  • Administration of the building (e.g. trustee fees, general meeting costs)
  • Building maintenance (e.g. cleaning of common areas, household waste removal costs)
  • Conservation of the building (for example, renovation of facades, repair of roofs)

All co-owners must contribute to the payment of general expenses up to their share of the common areas called tenth associated with each co-ownership lot. The tenths are thus calculated and expressed as a percentage of all the common parts of the building. It is the distribution of the tenants of the condominium which determines the distribution of the general charges between the condominiums.

The tenths may be expressed in thousandths, as in ten thousandths or one hundred thousandths depending on the size of the condominium.

Special Charges

Special charges relate to the payment of the following charges:

  • Utilities (e.g. babysitting, cleaning service, security system)
  • Common equipment (e.g. maintenance of collective boiler, elevator, installation of television antenna)

These charges shall be paid according to the objective utility of the services and equipment for each lot. For example, co-owners of condominium lots on the ground floor do not have to bear the cost of an elevator unless it serves the cellar or the car park.

FYI  

the possibility for the co-owner to have outside access to the elevator or to the level of his cellar is considered sufficient to impose a financial contribution on him, even if he does not own a garage.

Each year, the co-owners vote one provisional budget to cover current expenditure (general or special charges).

This expenditure covers the maintenance, operation and administration of common areas and common equipment.

Routine maintenance to maintain the condition of the building or prevent the failure of an item of equipment is included in the maintenance budget.

Example :

Replacement of boiler or lift components where the replacement price is included as a flat rate in the maintenance or servicing contract.

The co-owners may also participate in exceptional expenditure not provided for in the provisional budget. These expenses must be the subject of a case-by-case vote of the co-owners.

Example :

Improvement work (fitting-out or creation of common-use premises, building elevation, etc.), technical studies (diagnosis, consultation, etc.).

In practice, this expenditure is voted on at the same time as the work.

Each co-owner must pay the voted expenses according to his share of the common areas.

FYI  

if a co-owner has not agreed to the completion of improvement work (other than work required by law), the co-owner may apply to the trustee for payment over 10 years. To do so, it must notify within 2 months of notification of the minutes of the general meeting.

Planned expenditure in the provisional budget

The expenditure provided for in the provisional budget shall be financed by the payment of provisions.

These provisions shall be paid by the co-owners to the condominium trustee.

They shall be equal to ¼ of the voted budget, unless the General Assembly decides otherwise.

The provision shall be settled as follows:

  • The 1er day of each quarter
  • Or the 1er day of the period fixed by the general meeting

Before the maturity date, the trustee of the condominium sends each co-owner a notice indicating the amount of his reserve.

This notice shall be sent by simple letter or by e-mail if the co-owner has accepted this method of transmission.

Expenditure not included in the budget estimates

When voting on exceptional expenditure, the general meeting shall fix the amount of the expenditure and the date on which the corresponding provisions are due.

In practice, this expenditure is voted on at the same time as the work. For these expenses, the trustee may require payment of cash advances.

Before the due date fixed by the general meeting, the condominium trustee sends each condominium owner a notice indicating the purpose of the expenditure and the amount due.

This notice shall be sent by simple letter or by e-mail if the co-owner has accepted this method of transmission.

If the co-owner finds that his share is more than ¼ of what it should be, he may challenge this allocation by appealing to the court.

This action is also possible if one co-owner estimates that another co-owner's share is more ¼ less than it should be.

The action must be brought:

  • within 5 years of the publication of the co-ownership rules to the real estate file,
  • or within 2 years after 1re sale of the condominium lot took place after the publication of the condominium regulation in the real estate file.

If the co-owner's complaint is well founded, the judge shall establish a new allocation of costs which shall apply from 1er day of the accounting year following the date on which the decision became final.

Warning  

apart from these cases of disputed burdens, changing the burden sharing requires a vote at the unanimity of the co-owners.