A mobile antenna on the roof: what the board should examine first

An operator offers annual rent for an antenna on your roof. Before looking at the income, look at the lease and the roof.

The scenario is always the same. An operator, or more often a specialist firm acting for one, writes to the manager proposing a rooftop antenna in exchange for annual rent paid to the association. The figure looks comfortable, especially in a building struggling to fund its works.

The board is usually the first body consulted, before the item even reaches the agenda. That is the moment to ask the questions that matter — because once the lease is signed, the association is often committed for a very long time.

How these files usually unfold

• The operator or its agent approaches the manager.
• A technical feasibility survey on site: access, structure, equipment location, cable routing.
• A draft lease with rent, term and renewal conditions.
• Owners are informed and the item goes on the agenda.
• A vote at the general meeting, at a reinforced majority given the nature of the decision.

The applicable majority and any second-vote mechanism depend on the case: have them confirmed by the manager and, on a significant file, by a property lawyer. A decision taken at the wrong majority stays fragile for years.

Questions to ask before anything else

• What is the real term of the lease, including automatic renewal? Some commitments outlast several boards.
• Is the rent indexed? A fixed amount over twenty years loses much of its value.
• Who repairs what? The installation must not prevent or complicate routine roof maintenance.
• What happens if the association carries out works — façade renovation, waterproofing, roof extension?
• What are the termination conditions, and for whom? Operators can often leave more easily than the association can remove them.
• Who restores the roof when the antenna goes, and on what basis?

The decisive technical point: waterproofing

An antenna means a base, fixings, a technical cabinet, cables, and above all penetrations through the roof. On an ageing flat roof, the installation makes future waterproofing work far more complex — and nobody wants to discover that the day the meeting votes the job.

So the reflex is to weigh the project against the building’s real condition: see how to build a multi-year works plan and the annual walk-through checklist.

What the rent actually changes

The rent is income for the association. It can reduce charge calls or feed the works fund, depending on what the meeting decides. It pays nothing to an individual owner: it changes the collective budget.

The board should set out that trade-off clearly before the vote, with figures. It is the same exercise as reviewing the projected budget before the meeting.

What about owners who object?

The subject is sensitive and often raises health concerns. The board’s role is neither to reassure artificially nor to dramatise: it is to provide complete information, point to official sources on exposure, and let the meeting decide.

A decision of this scale taken without prior debate is frequently challenged afterwards — see the deadlines and conditions for a challenge.

An attractive annual rent on a twenty-year lease deserves as much scrutiny as a works quote of the same cumulative amount.

Document the file with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony lets the board gather proposals, exchanges, draft leases, roof photographs and the final decision in one place. Ten years later, the file is still there. Create your free space.