Extraordinary condominium meeting: when it is called

An extraordinary condominium meeting is the gathering of owners held outside the fixed dates of the financial year, when a matter arises that cannot wait for the annual meeting. Unlike the ordinary meeting, which approves the financial statement and the budget on a regular basis, the extraordinary one stems from a specific need: an urgent breakdown, a dispute to start, an unforeseen expense. The Italian Civil Code does not use this distinction formally, but practice adopts it to separate scheduled meetings from occasional ones.

What an extraordinary condominium meeting is

From a legal standpoint the meeting is a single body, governed by articles 1135, 1136 and 1137 of the Civil Code. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary does not concern powers, which remain the same, but the occasion for the call. The ordinary meeting is held at least once a year to approve the final statement, the expense budget and to confirm or appoint the administrator. Anything outside this calendar that requires a timely decision goes through an extraordinary meeting.

When the extraordinary meeting is called

The extraordinary meeting is called when owners must resolve on matters that fall outside ordinary administration or cannot be postponed to the annual gathering. The most frequent cases are extraordinary maintenance works, the reconstruction of parts of the building, starting or defending a lawsuit, approving a loan, amending the rules, or joining a tax incentive with tight deadlines.

• Extraordinary maintenance or urgent safety works.
• Reconstruction of the building or extraordinary repairs of significant extent.
• Appointment or removal of the administrator outside the scheduled term.
• Disputes exceeding the administrator's authority, whether as claimant or defendant.
• Unforeseen expenses beyond the approved budget.

Who can request the call

The call is normally up to the administrator, who provides for it whenever deemed necessary. But the administrator is not the only one with the initiative. An extraordinary meeting can be requested by at least two owners representing one sixth of the building's value: in that case the administrator must act within ten days of the request. If that term passes with no action, the requesting owners can call the meeting directly. When there is no administrator, any owner can take the initiative.

How it is called: notice and deadlines

The notice of call must be communicated to every entitled party at least five days before the date set for the first call, using a means that proves receipt: registered letter, certified email, fax or hand delivery. The notice must specifically state the agenda, the place and the time of the meeting. Failing to call, or calling late, even a single owner makes the resolution voidable on challenge by the absent or dissenting owner.

The meeting can also be held by videoconference, if the rules provide for it or if the majority of owners agree. This is a useful option for urgent extraordinary meetings, when gathering all entitled parties in person at short notice is difficult. The duties on the notice, the agenda and the drafting of the minutes remain, and the minutes must also record the remote participation arrangements and the identification of the connected attendees.

The majorities to resolve

Majorities do not depend on whether the meeting is ordinary or extraordinary, but on the matter under discussion. At first call the meeting is validly constituted with the participation of the majority of owners representing at least two thirds of the millesimal value. At second call one third of the participants and one third of the building's value are enough, and the resolution is valid if approved by the majority of those present with at least one third of the thousandths.

Matters requiring a qualified majority

Some decisions always require the majority of those present and at least half of the building's value, even at second call: the appointment and removal of the administrator, disputes exceeding the administrator's authority, and extraordinary repairs of significant extent. The innovations under article 1120 and other specific works have their own, usually higher, thresholds. Checking the correct majority before the vote is essential, because a resolution passed with an insufficient quorum is voidable.

The most frequent mistakes

The errors that make an extraordinary resolution contestable are almost always procedural: a generic agenda, no proof that the notice was received, a wrong count of the thousandths present, a decision on a topic not on the agenda. The minutes deserve attention too, because they must record attendees, proxies, thousandths and votes cast in a way that allows the majorities to be verified.

Managing the call with software

Condominium management software reduces exactly the procedural errors that undermine an extraordinary meeting: it computes the thousandths of the entitled parties, generates the notice with the agenda and tracks its delivery, and verifies the constitutive and deliberative quorums in real time during the meeting. AmministraPro lets you prepare the call, manage proxies and votes and produce the minutes with the majorities already computed. You can see how it works on the features page or compare the plans in the pricing section.