Pets in Common Areas: Owners' Duties and Limits

The final paragraph of Article 1138 of the Italian Civil Code states that the rules of the regulation cannot prohibit owning or keeping domestic pets. The right to keep a dog or a cat in a flat is therefore protected, but it is not unlimited: in common areas the owner must ensure hygiene, decorum and safety. The condominium may govern how animals move through and stay in shared spaces, but can never reach an absolute ban on keeping them.

The ban on banning pets

The rule introduced by Law 220/2012 concerns only the condominium regulation, that is the document governing the use of common property and the allocation of expenses. A clause preventing owners from keeping pets is void and is treated as unwritten. The protection covers companion animals commonly kept at home, such as dogs, cats and small pets, not farm or dangerous animals.

The case of contractual regulations accepted by all owners at the time of purchase is different: the prevailing case law still holds that, after the reform, they cannot introduce a total ban on keeping pets, apart from more restrictive positions that must be assessed case by case.

What the regulation can still govern

The condominium keeps the power to regulate the use of common areas to protect hygiene, safety and quiet. Clauses requiring responsible behaviour are legitimate, provided they do not amount to a substantive ban on keeping the animal.

• Obligation to keep the dog on a lead in entrance halls, stairs and the courtyard
• Use of a muzzle when required by the rules or the circumstances
• Ban on leaving animals unattended in common areas
• Obligation to pick up droppings immediately
• Ban on allowing animals into rooms used for particular purposes, such as a shared swimming pool

The owner's duties in common areas

The animal's owner is liable for damage it causes under Article 2052 of the Italian Civil Code, which imposes strict liability except for fortuitous events. This means that anyone keeping a dog or a cat must ensure the animal does not soil, damage common property or frighten other owners. Poor management of droppings, besides breaching the regulation, can be a hygiene issue that the municipality may also sanction.

Noise and disturbance: when protection applies

A dog barking continuously, especially at night, may amount to an intolerable emission under Article 844 of the Italian Civil Code. The disturbed owner can demand that the animal's owner take adequate measures and, in the most serious cases, act to stop the disturbance. Here too the normal tolerability test applies: an occasional bark is normal, prolonged and repeated noise is not.

Lift, green areas and shared spaces

No rule prohibits taking a dog into the lift, unless the regulation legitimately provides otherwise on the arrangements, for example requiring a short lead. For green areas the condominium can identify spaces where animals may stay and others where access is limited for hygiene reasons, provided the rules are reasonable and equal for everyone. What matters is that the rules do not have the practical effect of making living with the animal impossible.

How to pass valid rules at the meeting

Rules of use on how animals move through common areas can be adopted by the owners' meeting with the majorities required for the assembly regulation. It is good practice to base the decisions on concrete hygiene and safety needs, avoiding wording that could read as a hidden ban. The minutes must record the rules approved and their purpose.

Keeping order between reports and the regulation

A manager receiving reports about nuisance animals or uncollected droppings needs an orderly history in order to act with balance. With AmministraPro you can store the regulation, log reports and send tracked communications to owners. The available features are listed on the /funzioni page, while the plans are described on the /prezzi page.