Unexecuted resolution: the manager's liability

A condominium manager who fails to execute a valid resolution of the owners' meeting breaches one of the core duties of the office and can be held liable. Article 1130 of the Italian Civil Code requires the manager to execute the meeting's resolutions; if the manager remains inactive or delays without justification and damage follows, the condominium can seek compensation and the meeting can remove the manager. The breach is assessed with the qualified diligence expected of someone who professionally manages the interests of others.

The duty to execute resolutions

The owners' meeting is the body that decides, while the manager is the body that acts. Once a resolution has been validly approved and not challenged, or whose execution has not been suspended by a court, it binds the manager, who must follow it through in the time and manner indicated. It is not for the manager to second-guess the merits of the decision: if it is believed to be unlawful, the manager can flag this and, within the limits allowed, challenge it, but as long as the resolution is effective there is a duty to execute it. Execution falls among the powers under Article 1130 and within the general duty of diligence of the agent under Articles 1176 and 1710 of the Italian Civil Code.

When failure to execute becomes wrongful

Not every delay gives rise to liability. A culpable breach must be distinguished from a justified one. It is justified, for example, not to start works whose resolution has been suspended by a court, or where the funding the meeting itself failed to make available is missing. It is instead culpable to remain idle when one could act: not engaging the approved contractor, not signing the resolved contract, not making a due payment or not bringing the legal action decided upon. Liability arises where the omission is accompanied by damage and a causal link between the two.

Common concrete cases

• Safety works resolved but not commissioned, with worsening decay and harm to third parties.
• A resolution to take out or renew the building insurance policy left unexecuted, leaving the condominium uncovered when a loss occurs.
• A mandate to act against a defaulting owner never activated, with limitation setting in or the debtor becoming insolvent.
• A lift maintenance contract resolved but never signed, leading to the system being shut down.
• A reimbursement to an owner approved at the meeting but never paid.

The consequences: compensation for damage

If financial damage follows from the failure to execute, the manager is liable in contract towards the condominium, which acts as principal. Recoverable damage includes the extra cost borne, the loss suffered and, if proven, the loss of profit. A recurring example is the loss not covered because the resolved policy was not activated: here the manager may be required to pay the amount the insurer would have covered. The burden of proving the damage and the causal link lies with the claimant, while the manager must show that the breach is not attributable to their conduct.

Removal for serious irregularities

Beyond compensation, failure to execute resolutions can amount to a serious irregularity in management. Article 1129 of the Italian Civil Code allows the meeting to remove the manager at any time and provides for judicial removal on the application of even a single owner in the most serious cases. Systematic inertia in carrying out the meeting's decisions, especially where it exposes the condominium to avoidable risks or costs, is among the conduct that can justify removal from office.

How to prevent the risk

The best defence is traceable management. A prudent manager translates every executive resolution into a series of dated activities: engagements, contracts, payments, communications. Documenting the start of the procedures and any grounds for suspension makes it possible to distinguish a culpable breach from a justified delay. Where execution depends on funds not yet paid by the owners, it is advisable to record this in writing and prompt the meeting, so as not to be accused of an inertia that in fact stems from others' default.

With AmministraPro the manager links every resolution to the activities to be carried out, with deadlines, documents and progress status, so as to demonstrate at any time that the meeting's decisions have been acted upon. The features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.