The general meeting, from the first letter to the last remedy
Nine stages in the order they arrive: getting an item on the agenda, receiving the notice in time, gathering proxies, voting under the right majority, checking the minutes — and knowing how long a resolution stays open to challenge.
The general meeting is the only moment at which a co-ownership decides. Everything else — the managing agent, the board, the contracts — is its execution. It is also the most tightly framed moment: most annulments come down to a missed date or a badly worded item, not to a disagreement on the substance.
- 1
Who convenes it, and when
The meeting is convened by the managing agent, at least once a year. The condo board may ask them to; failing that, its chair may convene it after a formal notice has gone unanswered. Co-owners representing at least a quarter of the votes have the same lever.
- At least one meeting a year, and within six months of the year end.
- The board’s chair may convene after an unanswered formal notice.
- A meeting may be convened at any time where urgency justifies it.
Articles 7 and 8 of the decree of 17 March 1967
Organising a condo general meeting - 2
Getting an item on the agenda
The meeting may only vote on what is listed. An item notified to the agent goes on the agenda provided it arrives before the notice is sent — and is worded so it can be put to the vote as it stands.
- Notify the item by recorded delivery, several weeks ahead.
- Word it as a resolution, not as a complaint.
- Attach the required documents: without them the resolution is fragile.
- “Any other business” can never be put to the vote.
Articles 10 and 13 of the decree of 17 March 1967
Getting an item onto the condo agenda - 3
The twenty-one days’ notice
The notice must be served at least twenty-one days before the meeting, and the clock runs from the first delivery attempt of the recorded letter — not from posting. It is the most common ground for annulment, and the easiest to prove.
- Twenty-one days minimum; the rules may require more, never less.
- The clock starts at delivery, so posting must happen several days earlier.
- The required documents travel with the notice; they do not follow later.
Articles 9 and 11 of the decree of 17 March 1967
Working out your general meeting deadlines - 4
Proxies and absent owners’ votes
An owner who cannot attend delegates their vote. Three delegations at most per holder — more only if the total votes they hold, their own included, stays under 10 % of the co-ownership. The agent and their close circle are excluded.
- A proxy is written, dated and signed; it may be left blank.
- Blank proxies are distributed by the chair, who cannot keep them all.
- An invalid proxy distorts the count and weakens narrow resolutions.
Article 22 of the act of 10 July 1965
Gathering proxies before the general meeting - 5
Postal voting and remote attendance
An owner may vote by post on a form attached to the notice, or attend remotely where the meeting has arranged it. Those votes count as votes cast — with one subtlety that sometimes decides the outcome.
- The postal voting form is attached to the notice.
- It must reach the agent before the meeting, otherwise it is set aside.
- A postal vote on a resolution amended in the room is treated as a vote against.
- Remote attendance assumes technical means decided by the meeting.
Article 17-1 A of the act of 10 July 1965
Postal voting at the condo general meeting - 6
The officers and the attendance sheet
The first resolution of any meeting appoints the chair, the secretary and, where needed, the tellers. The attendance sheet, signed and annexed to the minutes, is what proves who was voting and with how many votes.
- The agent is usually secretary; they are not the chair.
- The sheet records the principals represented and their ownership shares.
- It is annexed to the minutes and certified accurate by the chair.
Articles 14 and 15 of the decree of 17 March 1967
The meeting’s officers: chair and tellers - 7
Which majority for which decision
Four regimes, and two fallbacks routinely forgotten in the room. Article 24 counts the votes cast by those present; article 25 counts every co-owner, absentees included; article 26 requires a double majority; unanimity covers the rest.
- Article 24: majority of votes cast; abstentions do not count.
- Article 25: majority of all co-owners; absence weighs like a refusal.
- Fallback 25-1: at a third of the votes, an immediate second vote under article 24.
- Article 26: majority of members representing at least two thirds of the votes.
Articles 24, 25, 25-1, 26 and 26-1 of the act of 10 July 1965
Simulating a general meeting majority - 8
The minutes, and what they must contain
The minutes are drawn up at the end of the session and signed by the officers. They record, resolution by resolution, the outcome of the vote and the names of dissenting or abstaining owners — and it is that mention which opens the right to challenge.
- The outcome of each vote, with the names of dissenters and abstainers.
- Notified to dissenting and absent owners within one month of the meeting.
- Read them: a badly transcribed resolution is carried out as written.
Articles 17 and 19 of the decree of 17 March 1967
Checking your general meeting minutes - 9
Challenging a decision
Only dissenting or absent owners can act, and only within two months of the minutes being notified. After that the resolution becomes final, even if irregular — hence the importance of having your opposition recorded in the minutes.
- Two months from notification of the minutes, not from the meeting.
- You must have voted against or been absent: an abstainer present cannot act.
- The claim does not suspend anything: the decision is carried out meanwhile.
Article 42 of the act of 10 July 1965
Challenging a general meeting decision
Four situations that come round every year
They belong to no chapter because they do not happen at a set moment: they simply come up, and you need to know what to do with them.
The immediate second vote
Where an article 25 resolution fails for want of a majority but gathers at least a third of the votes, a second vote is held straight away under article 24. It is not a new meeting.
Meeting by video
It assumes the meeting has decided on the technical means, and that everyone can be identified and can vote. An improvised video call puts the resolutions at risk.
Refusing to approve the accounts
An unreasoned refusal protects no one. Have the disputed lines and the documents that were never produced recorded in the minutes.
A new building’s first meeting
It appoints the first agent outside the developer and elects the board. It is the only chance to take control from the start.
These tools are calculation aids, provided for guidance only. They replace neither your co-ownership rules, nor the minutes of the general meeting, nor professional advice: in case of disagreement, your building’s own documents prevail.
Frequently asked questions about the general meeting
At least twenty-one days before the date of the meeting, counted from the first delivery attempt of the recorded letter. The co-ownership rules may set a longer period, never a shorter one.
The meeting lasts three hours. The rest is twelve months.
A meeting is won before the session: with the quotes compared, the incidents dated, the requests left unanswered. That file is what the condo board almost always lacks, and it is exactly what CoproHarmony keeps from one meeting to the next.
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