Building rules: reading them, applying them, changing them

It settles half the arguments at a general meeting. Almost nobody has read it, and many boards do not even hold a copy.

A discussion stalls at a meeting: can air conditioning go on the façade, are dogs allowed, who pays to resurface the courtyard, can the lodge be let? In most cases the answer already exists — in the building rules, which nobody has to hand.

Yet this document is the building’s internal law. Knowing it, even just its structure, saves the board considerable time and avoids decisions that get challenged later.

What the rules actually contain

• The building’s designated use: residential, mixed, professional — this is what permits or forbids certain activities.
• The line between common and private areas, building by building and often unit by unit.
• Rules of use: noise, pets, façade appearance, signage, use of courtyards and gardens.
• How charges are allocated, with different keys depending on the type of spending.
• How the association operates, sometimes more demanding than the legal minimum.

The schedule of division is usually annexed: it numbers the units and sets their shares. It is the document to consult to understand how shares are calculated.

Finding an answer in five minutes

The rules often run to eighty pages, but the structure is nearly always the same. Three reflexes suffice: find the definition of common areas, then the section on use of private areas, then the charge allocation annex.

A digitised, searchable copy changes how the document is used entirely. It is one of the first to put online for the board: see the documents a board can obtain.

When the rules are out of date

Many sets of rules are decades old and contain clauses that no longer have effect: outright bans on pets, restrictions on occupants’ professions, an obligation to use one named contractor. A clause contrary to a mandatory legal provision does not apply, even if it is still printed.

Conversely, a clause stricter than the law where the law allows choice remains applicable — a longer notice period, for instance. Hence the value of reading it before asserting anything at a meeting.

Amending the rules

Amendments are voted at the general meeting, at majorities that vary with what is being changed: rules of use, charge allocation and the building’s designated use do not follow the same regime. Some amendments require unanimity.

A voted amendment must then be registered to bind future buyers: a formality not to be forgotten, or the vote achieves nothing. Have the manager confirm the exact route before drafting, as with any sensitive decision.

The board’s role

• Hold a complete copy, annexes included, and make it accessible.
• Spot obviously obsolete clauses and flag them rather than applying them.
• Check what the rules say about each agenda item before every meeting.
• Give the document to new owners, who have often never read it.
• Propose one grouped update rather than piecemeal amendments year after year.

That last point is the most effective: one global update, prepared with a professional and voted once, costs less than five successive amendments. See how to build the agenda.

Half the disagreements at a general meeting are settled by opening a document nobody brought.

Keep your documents at hand with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony centralises the rules, the schedule of division, minutes and contracts, available to the whole board from anywhere. Create your free space.