Private works affecting common areas: handling the request

An owner wants an air-conditioning unit on the facade. It is neither a purely private matter nor an automatic refusal: it is a file to prepare.

The request often comes late, and back to front: "I'm having air conditioning fitted next week, apparently I have to let you know". Yet as soon as private works touch the external appearance of the building or its structure, they are no longer the owner's business alone.

The question that settles it

Do the works affect a common area or the external appearance of the building? If so, authorisation from the general meeting is in principle required, with majority conditions varying by the nature of the works. If not — internal work with no effect on structure or shared services — the owner is at home.

Between the two lies a grey zone made of concrete cases: replacing windows in a different shade, fitting an outdoor unit, enclosing a balcony, drilling for ventilation, altering a downpipe. On those, professional advice before the meeting avoids a badly worded authorisation.

The seven points to clarify

1. The exact nature of the works, with a technical description and, where appearance is affected, visuals or a drawing.
2. The contractor chosen and their insurance.
3. The schedule, and the impact on the use of common areas during the works.
4. Any crossing of common areas: ducts, drilling, fixings on the facade.
5. Responsibility for future maintenance of the installation — systematically forgotten, and a source of dispute ten years later.
6. Reinstatement if the installation is removed or the unit sold.
7. The undertaking to repair any damage caused to common areas.

An authorisation silent on future maintenance creates a problem for the next board.

Drafting a resolution that protects the association

A resolution reading "authorisation of Mr X's works" is too vague. It must restate the description, specify that the authorisation is personal, place maintenance and reinstatement on the applicant and their successors, and recall that damage to common areas falls to them.

On wording a votable resolution, see the general meeting agenda: that is where the strength of the authorisation is decided.

The board's role

It authorises nothing — the meeting decides. Its contribution is to prepare: gather the documents, check consistency with works already authorised in the building, and flag precedents. A facade where three air-conditioning units were fitted without authorisation changes the discussion about the fourth.

That is the value of a history kept over time, the very one documented by the building maintenance log.

After the authorisation

Photograph the state before works, as for any project — see the issue log — and check at the end that the installation matches what was authorised. A discrepancy caught early can be corrected; caught five years later, it is settled.

With CoproHarmony, the request, the documents, the resolution and the photos stay together with their dates, including when the board changes. Create your space for free.

The two most frequent requests deserve their own method: replacing windows and fitting air conditioning.

The case that concentrates every difficulty is splitting or merging units.

Gardens and terraces are covered in exclusive use rights, and the basis of everything sits in the building rules.

Three frequent cases have their own article: works inside a flat, awnings and pergolas and converting a unit into housing.