Service charges, from the cost key to recovery
What you pay, on which key, decided by which vote, called on which date — and how to check it. Nine chapters in the order the money moves, with the statutes and the in-depth article for each.
Almost every service charge dispute comes from confusing three separate things: what is spent, the key it is split on, and when it is called. A board that keeps them apart answers 90 % of the questions raised at the meeting without opening a file.
- 1
What service charges cover
Charges are the costs of preserving, maintaining and administering the building, plus those tied to shared services and equipment. They cover neither works voted separately nor anything belonging to the private parts.
- Routine upkeep, contracts, insurance, management fees.
- Shared consumption: water, heating, electricity for the common parts.
- One-off works get their own vote and their own call for funds.
Articles 10 and 14-1 of the act of 10 July 1965
Calculating and splitting condo service charges - 2
General charges, special charges
Two families, two keys. General charges split on the ownership shares of the common parts; special charges — lift, heating, water — split according to the benefit each lot derives, on a key of their own.
- A ground-floor lot with no access to the lift bears none of its costs.
- Each special key has its own total, separate from the general one.
- Splitting a special charge on the general key is the most frequent error.
- The keys are in the co-ownership rules, not in the agent’s spreadsheet.
Article 10 of the act of 10 July 1965
Splitting a cost across ownership shares - 3
Ownership shares and quotas
The tantième is the unit expressing a lot’s share of the common parts. It does two jobs at once: counting votes at the meeting and splitting charges. That is why an error in shares shows up everywhere.
- Expressed out of 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 depending on the building.
- Set by the schedule of division, not by the managing agent.
- Changing them takes a vote and a published notarial deed.
Articles 5 and 10 of the act of 10 July 1965
Understanding tantièmes and millièmes - 4
The annual budget
This is the running budget voted each year for day-to-day spending. It is called in instalments, usually quarterly. Voting it without reading it amounts to signing a blank cheque for twelve months.
- Voted under article 24, before or during the year concerned.
- Compare every line with the previous year’s actuals.
- A line up more than 10 % deserves a written explanation.
- One-off works are not in it: they are voted separately.
Articles 14-1 and 24 of the act of 10 July 1965
Questions to ask before voting the budget - 5
Charge demands and the annual adjustment
Each instalment is called in advance, on a fixed date. After the year end, the instalments called are reconciled with actual spending: that is the adjustment, producing a balance to pay or an overpayment to refund.
- The instalment falls due on the first day of each quarter, unless another date is voted.
- The adjustment happens once the accounts are approved.
- A call for works follows the schedule voted with the resolution.
Articles 14-1 and 14-2 of the act of 10 July 1965
Charge demands and the annual adjustment - 6
Reading the accounting annexes
Five statements come with the notice of the meeting that approves the accounts. You are not hunting a bookkeeping error: you are looking for gaps against the voted budget and lines that swell with no explanation.
- Annex 1: the association’s financial position at the year end.
- Annex 2: the management account, spending line by line.
- Annexes 3 to 5: budget, works voted and works in progress.
Accounting decree of 14 March 2005
Reading your building’s accounting annexes - 7
Scrutinising the accounts before the meeting
Scrutiny is one of the board’s two duties. It takes half a day if you go in order, and it turns a vague unease into precise questions the agent has to answer in writing.
- Work from the annexes, not from whatever file the agent chooses to send.
- Compare two years: a trend says more than an isolated gap.
- Ask for invoices behind the lines that move, and record any refusal.
- Check the separate account and the works fund balance.
Articles 18-1 and 21 of the act of 10 July 1965
The accounts scrutiny checklist - 8
Disputing a cost split
A split that does not follow the co-ownership rules can be challenged. Be careful not to confuse two very different actions: challenging the key itself, or challenging how it was applied to one particular cost.
- A key that breaches the statute can be revised, with no time limit.
- A misapplication is settled first in writing with the managing agent.
- Challenging the approval resolution requires having voted against or been absent.
Articles 11, 12 and 43 of the act of 10 July 1965
Disputing how service charges are split - 9
When charges do not come in
Arrears are not a matter between the agent and one owner: they are funded by all the others, whose cash covers the gap. That is why the board should track them, without ever taking the agent’s place in recovery.
- Ask for the named arrears schedule and the age of the debts.
- The agent can place a hold on the sale price of a defaulting owner’s lot.
- Beyond a certain level the building becomes distressed and a court steps in.
Articles 19-2 and 20 of the act of 10 July 1965
Recovering unpaid service charges
Four situations that come round every year
None is a dispute. All are settled in two emails when you know what to ask for — and drag on for months when you do not.
The numbers never match exactly
Instalments called and actual spending never coincide precisely: that is the whole point of the annual adjustment, not an error.
A lot sold mid-year
The split between seller and buyer is settled at the notary’s, from the sale statement. The association itself bills whoever owns the lot on the due date.
What the tenant reimburses
Some charges are recoverable from the tenant, others are not. The list is set by regulation: it is not negotiated in the lease.
A special key overlooked
A lift cost split on the general key makes lots without access pay for it. It is correctable, and it shows on annex 2.
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 service charges
You start from the cost, identify the applicable key — general or special — then apply the lot’s share of that key. A lot of 450 out of 10,000 general shares bears 4.5 % of the general charges.
Checking the accounts assumes you noted things all year
Scrutiny almost always trips on the same thing: working out, eight months later, which quote was accepted and why that line doubled. CoproHarmony keeps quotes, incidents and exchanges dated, so the review rests on facts rather than recollections.
Create my free spaceFree to start · No credit card · Ready in 45 seconds