Air conditioning and heat pumps in a condo: what gets voted, what gets refused

Every summer the requests arrive — and every summer some units appear on the façade with nothing ever voted.

The request has become routine: an owner wants air conditioning or a heat pump, with an outdoor unit fixed to the façade, set on a balcony or on the roof. Indoor comfort is their choice; the outdoor unit is not entirely theirs.

The principle is easy to remember: as soon as equipment is fixed to a common area or changes the building’s external appearance, the meeting’s approval is generally required. The board is often the first port of call — so it should know the route.

First thing to check: the building rules

Before any discussion, read the building’s regulations. Some expressly ban any projecting installation on façades. Others set conditions: an imposed position, the unit’s colour, a required cover, a ban on the street façade but tolerance in the courtyard.

This reading avoids pointless debate: if the rules prohibit it, the question is no longer "can we approve?" but "should the rules be amended?", which is an entirely different decision.

What the meeting must examine

• The exact position of the outdoor unit, with a photo or drawing, not a vague description.
• The fixing method and how waterproofing is restored where it pierces a façade or roof.
• Condensate drainage: the most forgotten point, and the first source of neighbour disputes.
• The unit’s stated noise level and its distance from neighbours’ windows.
• The owner’s commitment to maintain it and reinstate the surface on removal.
• Liability for any damage caused to the common area.

An approval voted without these details protects nobody: it leaves everything to interpretation when a problem appears three years later.

Planning rules, on top of the association

Where the installation changes the building’s external appearance, a prior declaration to the town hall may be required, independently of the meeting’s approval. In protected areas the constraints are considerably tighter.

The two are cumulative: association approval does not replace the planning formality, or vice versa. Same mechanism as replacing windows.

Noise: the real flashpoint

An outdoor unit running at night under a neighbour’s window causes more disputes than any aesthetic concern. The board does not measure decibels, but it can insist the approval records the unit’s noise level and position, which makes later checks possible.

Where the nuisance already exists, it falls under neighbour disturbance: record, discuss, then involve the manager if needed.

Units already fitted without consent

The most common case. A unit appears on the façade and nobody asked. The board observes, photographs, dates and passes it to the manager: only they can act for the association, including to require reinstatement.

The meeting may regularise it, but never automatically. Documenting from the first sighting changes everything: see how to keep an incident log.

A precise approval — position, fixing, condensate, noise — beats an approval in principle that nobody can enforce.

Document every approval with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony records requests, before-and-after photos, the conditions set by the meeting and any later incidents, unit by unit. Create your free space.