How much goes into the works fund?
The legal minimum is not simply “5 % of the budget”. It is the higher of two floors: 5 % of the annual budget, or 2.5 % of the works listed in the multi-year plan. This tool computes both, keeps the right one, and splits it lot by lot.
The two legal floors
The annual budget as voted, and the works plan total if one has been adopted.
The running budget for the financial year, excluding one-off works.
The total of the adopted works plan. Leave at 0 if your building does not have one yet.
Budget floor5%
€2,100.00
Works plan floor2.5%
€9,500.00
This is the floor that applies
Minimum annual contribution
€9,500.00
The works plan floor governs here: 2.5 % of the planned works exceeds 5 % of the budget. This is the case everyone forgets, and the most expensive one to discover in the meeting room.
What the meeting actually voted
A general meeting may vote more than the minimum. Never less.
The split per lot
The fund is split on general ownership shares, exactly like the budget.
The denominator of the general key: 1,000, 10,000, sometimes 100,000.
Entered total
6,40064%
| Lot | Share | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 12,450 / 10,000 | 24.5% | €2,327.50 | €193.96 |
| Lot 22,100 / 10,000 | 21% | €1,995.00 | €166.25 |
| Lot 31,850 / 10,000 | 18.5% | €1,757.50 | €146.46 |
What the fund will have built up
The balance already saved, and the horizon you are projecting over.
The amount held in the works fund’s separate bank account.
Between 1 and 30 years. Five years is the horizon of a works plan.
The fund in 5 years
€47,500.00
- Yr 1€9,500
- Yr 2€19,000
- Yr 3€28,500
- Yr 4€38,000
- Yr 5€47,500
The rule, in two floors
Article 14-2-1 of the act of 10 July 1965 does not set one rate, it sets two — and the higher one always applies.
5 % of the annual budget
The floor everyone knows. It is computed on the running budget voted for the financial year, the one that funds day-to-day upkeep, not on one-off works.
2.5 % of the multi-year works plan
The floor nobody quotes. As soon as a works plan is adopted, the contribution can no longer fall below 2.5 % of the works it projects — often far more than 5 % of the budget in an older building.
The formula
Annual contribution ≥ the higher of (5 % × annual budget) and (2.5 % × works plan total)
A €42,000 budget gives a floor of €2,100. But a €380,000 works plan imposes one of €9,500: that is the figure that applies, more than four times what was expected.
Which buildings must build up this fund
The works fund has become the rule rather than the exception: it no longer targets only large buildings. A building handed over less than 5 years ago is still exempt.
Every residential co-ownership
The exemption reserved for small buildings is gone: size alone no longer excuses a building from building up the fund.
Except new buildings
The obligation only opens once five years have passed since the works were handed over: a recently delivered building has nothing to pay in yet.
Fully or partly residential
A mixed building, where flats sit alongside shops or offices, falls within scope as soon as part of it is used as housing.
What the money can be spent on
This is not a free reserve: the uses of the works fund are listed exhaustively, and anything outside the list has to be funded another way.
- 1
Works from the multi-year plan
The main use: funding the works listed in the plan, once the general meeting has voted them.
- 2
Emergency works
A roof giving way, a boiler dead in January: the fund avoids an emergency cash call decided in a panic.
- 3
Works imposed by law
Compliance, safety, regulatory obligations: works prescribed by statute are among the authorised uses.
- 4
Preliminary studies
Drawing up the multi-year works plan and the overall technical survey can be funded from the fund.
The five works fund traps
These are the ones that turn up in the minutes year after year, and that leave the resolution open to challenge.
Forgetting the works plan floor
Voting 5 % of the budget when a works plan has been adopted: if 2.5 % of its works comes to more, the contribution is too low.
Assuming the seller gets the money back
Sums paid in attach to the lot, not to the owner: they stay with the co-ownership when the flat is sold. That is negotiated in the price, not at completion.
Leaving the fund in the current account
The works fund must be held in a bank account separate from the co-ownership’s current account, and that account earns interest.
Mixing up fund and budget
The contribution to the fund does not replace the annual budget: it comes on top. A charge demand shows them on two separate lines.
Refusing to vote more
The statute sets a minimum, not a maximum. A building that knows its works are underfunded has every reason to vote above the floor.
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 works fund
For fully or partly residential co-ownerships, yes. Exemptions based on the size of the building are gone; only the one for buildings handed over less than five years ago remains.
The fund pays for the works. CoproHarmony keeps the record.
A works fund only means something with a memory behind it: which quotes were compared, which defect justified the emergency, which photo proves the state of the roof before the repair. That is exactly what a condo board loses from one year to the next — and what CoproHarmony keeps.
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