The Manager Must Keep to the Approved Budget

The management budget approved by the owners' meeting is not an indicative document but the spending perimeter within which the manager is required to operate. By approving the budget, the owners authorize certain outlays for ordinary management; the manager must keep to those items and amounts, save for exceptions provided by law. Spending beyond the budget, on items or amounts not resolved, means acting outside the mandate and may entail personal liability for the unauthorized sums.

The binding value of the budget

Article 1135 of the Italian Civil Code entrusts the owners' meeting with approving the estimate of expenses and its allocation. With this resolution the meeting grants the manager authorization to spend within certain limits for ordinary management: maintenance of the common parts, utilities, fees, recurring services. The budget thus becomes a binding instruction under Article 1711, which requires the mandatary not to exceed the limits of the mandate.

Ordinary expenses covered by the budget

Ordinary administration expenses provided for in the budget do not require further resolutions: the manager may incur them because they are already authorized. This category typically includes recurring and foreseeable items, such as cleaning, electricity for the common parts, periodic maintenance of systems, and minor works. For these outlays the manager acts within the ordinary managing power, up to the ceilings set by the meeting.

When a specific resolution is needed

Extraordinary and unforeseen expenses fall outside the budget and require an ad hoc decision of the meeting. An extraordinary maintenance work of significant amount, a work not contemplated among the approved items, or a significant overrun of an item must be brought to the meeting before being incurred. Otherwise the manager acts beyond the powers granted and takes on the risk of the expense personally.

• Non-urgent extraordinary maintenance works
• Expenses on items not present in the approved budget
• Significant overruns compared to the resolved amounts
• Multi-year commitments or contracts exceeding ordinary management

The exception for urgent expenses

There is a precise exception. Article 1135, final paragraph, allows the manager to order on their own initiative extraordinary maintenance works of an urgent nature, that is, works that cannot be postponed without danger. In these cases the manager may spend beyond the budget, but with the duty to report to the first meeting, which will assess whether the urgency existed and approve the expense. Urgency is therefore the justification for the departure, not a general free pass.

Ratifying the overrun

When the manager has spent beyond the budget, the expense may be cured by ratification of the meeting. If the collective body, once informed, approves the outlay and includes it in the report, the expense becomes chargeable to the condominium. If instead the meeting does not ratify it, considering the overrun unjustified, the unauthorized amount remains with the manager, who cannot charge it to the owners. This is why it is essential to document the reasons for every unforeseen outlay.

The manager's liabilities

A manager who systematically spends outside the budget, without resolutions or urgency, breaches the duties of the mandate. The consequences range from having to bear the unratified expenses to compensating for damage, up to revocation of the appointment where disorderly management of outlays amounts to a serious irregularity. Keeping to the budget, or obtaining authorization in good time, is therefore a form of protection for the manager as well as a right of the owners to predictable management.

Keeping the approved budget under control and comparing it in real time with actual expenses avoids unauthorized overruns. AmministraPro places budget, final accounts and transactions side by side, so the manager can immediately see when an item approaches the resolved limit. Discover the features at /funzioni and the plans at /prezzi.