Autonomous Spending Limits of the Condominium Manager

The law does not set a cap in euros within which the manager may spend alone. The boundary is functional, not numerical: the manager may autonomously handle ordinary maintenance expenses and the provision of common services, as set out in Article 1130 of the Italian Civil Code and within the approved budget, while extraordinary maintenance and improvements require an assembly resolution. Outside these cases, autonomous spending power exists only where there is urgency.

The boundary is the nature of the expense, not the amount

Many owners imagine a fixed threshold, say a few hundred euros, above which the meeting must approve. That is not the case. An ordinary maintenance expense, even a substantial one, can fall within the manager's autonomous powers if budgeted or necessary to the normal running of services. Conversely, an extraordinary work of modest value still requires a collective decision. What matters is how the intervention is classified.

What falls within autonomous ordinary management

Article 1130 tasks the manager with collecting contributions and paying the expenses needed for ordinary maintenance of the common parts and for the operation of common services. This scope includes, among others:

• Cleaning of stairs and common areas
• Periodic maintenance of lift, boiler, and systems under contract
• Supply of electricity, water, and gas for the common parts
• Small repairs and ordinary replacements (bulbs, locks, hardware)
• Fees and obligations tied to existing service contracts

These expenses are covered by the management budget approved by the meeting. By approving the budget, the meeting authorizes the manager in advance to incur the budgeted ordinary items, without needing a resolution for each individual payment.

Conservatory acts on the common parts

Article 1130 also requires the manager to perform conservatory acts relating to the common parts. These are actions aimed at preserving the integrity of the common asset and preventing its deterioration. An urgent conservatory act may justify an autonomous expense of an extraordinary nature too, provided it is meant to prevent imminent damage. Even here, however, the power is limited to what is necessary for preservation, not to carrying out improvement works.

When an assembly resolution is always required

Some decisions remain reserved to the meeting regardless of amount. These include extraordinary maintenance and the setting up of the related special fund (Article 1135), improvements (Article 1120), contracts binding the condominium beyond ordinary management, and non-urgent lawsuits brought or defended. A manager who spends in these areas without authorization acts beyond the mandate and may be held liable.

The urgency exception

Urgency temporarily widens spending power. Faced with a present danger or a fault that cannot be postponed, the manager orders the necessary extraordinary intervention and reports it to the first meeting, under the rule of Article 1135. This power does not turn the manager into an unlimited decision-maker: urgency must be proven, the intervention must be kept to what is strictly necessary, and the expense must be accounted for promptly.

How the rules can narrow the powers

The condominium regulations or an assembly resolution may specify the manager's spending powers, for example by setting an agreed limit above which authorization is required even for ordinary works. This is an internal constraint that strengthens owner oversight. Respecting it is part of correctly performing the mandate: exceeding it, save for urgency, exposes the manager to challenges. Always checking whether the regulations contain such clauses is a good habit.

Keeping the ordinary budget under control

Managing spending powers without overrunning the budget requires constant visibility over movements and the remaining balance of each item. With a platform like AmministraPro the manager compares in real time expenses incurred against the approved budget, separates ordinary items from those to bring to the meeting, and documents every payment: the features are on /funzioni, the plans for every firm on /prezzi.