Meeting Refusal on Barriers: Protections for the Disabled

When the owners' meeting refuses to remove architectural barriers or stays inactive, the owner with a disability has several tools of protection. Besides the right to carry out the works at their own expense under Article 2 of Law 13/1989, they can bring legal action invoking the anti-discrimination rules of Law 67/2006, because the Court of Cassation has clarified that a building's inaccessibility can constitute indirect discrimination. The meeting's refusal is therefore not the last word.

The first remedy: acting at one's own expense

The most direct route remains that of Article 2 of Law 13/1989: if the meeting votes against or does not resolve within three months of the written request, the owner may carry out the barrier-removal works independently, bearing the costs and respecting the limits of Articles 1120 and 1121 of the Italian Civil Code. No further authorisation is needed: the right arises from the law. This remedy is useful when the interested person has the resources to proceed and wants a quick solution.

Challenging the refusal resolution

If the resolution denying the work is unlawful, for example because adopted with the wrong quorum or because the refusal is pretextual and not based on real legal limits, the owner may challenge it before the judge within the set terms. The refusal cannot rely on a generic reference to decorum when the work is discreet and proportionate, nor can it ignore that accessibility works are facilitated and not discretionary. A resolution treating accessibility as a luxury and raising its quorum is defective.

The anti-discrimination action of Law 67/2006

Law No. 67 of 1 March 2006 protects persons with disabilities from discrimination. Its Article 2 regards as indirect discrimination a provision, criterion or conduct that is apparently neutral but places the person with a disability at a disadvantage compared to others. The Court of Cassation, with Order No. 17138 of 2023, confirmed that the inaccessibility of a building, even a private one, caused by the presence of architectural barriers, can constitute indirect discrimination under this rule, because it limits freedom of movement and access to common spaces.

This action offers broader protection than merely challenging the resolution, because it allows the judge to order the removal of the discrimination and the restoration of accessibility.

What can be asked of the judge

Those who act for discrimination have concrete remedies, not only declaratory ones.

• An order to cease the discriminatory conduct and remove the barriers
• The adoption of suitable measures to restore the building's accessibility
• Compensation for the harm, including non-financial harm, suffered by the person
• A plan to remove the effects of the discrimination within a set deadline

The anti-discrimination procedure is designed to be quick, so as to ensure effective protection for those who every day cannot enter or leave their home independently.

The manager's role

The manager has a delicate task. They must promptly place the owner's request on the agenda, explain the reduced majorities and legal limits to the meeting, and warn against the risks of an unfounded refusal, which exposes the condominium to a compensation action. A hasty refusal, besides being unjust, can cost the community dearly. Documenting the correct handling of the request protects both the owner and the condominium.

Preventing litigation

The best way to avoid lawsuits is to handle the request seriously: assess the technical solutions, seek the least invasive one, minute the reasons and inform the meeting correctly. Many conflicts arise from hasty resolutions or poor communication, not from a real clash of interests.

To handle requests, agendas, minutes and communications to owners in an orderly way, management software reduces the risk of procedural errors. AmministraPro records written requests, minutes the meetings with the correct majorities and keeps all the documentation: the features are on /funzioni and the plans for managers and firms on /prezzi.