Innovations in a condominium under article 1120

Not all works on common parts are treated equally under the law. Condominium innovations under article 1120 of the Italian Civil Code are works that go beyond simple maintenance and transform the common property, making it in some way new or different from before. Precisely because they affect everyone's asset, their approval requires higher majorities than ordinary ones and meets some clear limits.

What counts as an innovation

An innovation is a work that goes beyond the limits of preserving and maintaining the common property, changing its substance, purpose or form. The distinction matters because maintenance, even extraordinary maintenance, aims to keep what already exists efficient, while an innovation introduces something new. Typical examples are turning a courtyard into a car park, installing a lift where there was none, or creating a centralised system that did not exist before. This classification is not a formality: the majority needed to approve the work depends on the nature of the intervention, and a resolution adopted with the wrong quorum can be annulled even much later at the request of a dissenting or absent owner.

Condominium innovations under article 1120

Article 1120 states that owners may resolve on innovations aimed at improving, at more convenient use of, or at a greater yield from the common parts. The first paragraph deals with ordinary innovations, the second paragraph lists certain socially valuable innovations that are incentivised, and the final paragraph sets out prohibited innovations. The required majorities are referred to article 1136 of the Civil Code.

Majorities for ordinary innovations

Innovations aimed at improvement or greater yield of the common parts require the qualified majority set by the fifth paragraph of article 1136: a number of votes representing the majority of those present and at least two thirds of the value of the building. It is a high quorum, reflecting the weight of a decision meant to change the common property permanently.

Incentivised innovations

The second paragraph of article 1120 identifies certain innovations of particular social value, for which a lower quorum applies. This category includes the works that follow.

• Works for the safety and healthiness of buildings and installations.
• Works for the removal of architectural barriers.
• Measures for reducing energy consumption.
• The creation of car parks and of installations producing energy from renewable sources.
• The installation of centralised systems for radio and television reception and access to information flows.

For these innovations the resolution is adopted with the majority of those present and at least half of the value of the building, a lower quorum than the two thirds required for ordinary innovations.

Prohibited innovations

The final paragraph of article 1120 sets limits that cannot be crossed: innovations are prohibited if they could harm the stability or safety of the building, alter its architectural appearance, or make some common parts unusable for the use or enjoyment of even a single owner. These limits apply whatever majority is reached: not even a unanimous vote can authorise a work that compromises the building's safety or makes a common part unusable for a single owner.

Costly and non-essential innovations

Alongside article 1120, article 1121 of the Civil Code must be kept in mind, governing very costly or non-essential innovations. When an innovation entails a very heavy expense or is of a non-essential nature, meaning it does not answer a real common need, the owners who do not intend to benefit from it are exempt from any contribution to the cost, provided the innovation is capable of separate use. In that case the work is carried out at the expense of only the interested owners, who keep its use; the others retain the right to take part later in the benefits of the innovation, contributing to the costs of execution and maintenance. This rule serves to prevent a majority from imposing disproportionate costs on everyone for non-essential works.

Notice and minutes

Because these are important decisions, the meeting agenda must clearly state the proposed innovation, so that every owner can assess it before the meeting. The minutes must record the majority reached, the thousandths in favour and against, and the proper notice given to all those entitled. A resolution adopted with an insufficient majority or a vague agenda is open to challenge before a court.

Managing innovations and majorities with software

With management software the calculation of majorities becomes immediate: the system knows the thousandth tables and checks in real time whether the quorum of those present and the quorum of thousandths have been reached for the type of innovation under discussion. This reduces the risk of recording a void or voidable resolution and makes it easier to document the decision's validity.

AmministraPro manages the meeting from notice to minutes, automatically calculating the majorities required by article 1136 on the building's thousandths. You can see how it works on the features page or compare the plans in the pricing section.