The Legal Nature of the Condominium Manager's Mandate

The relationship between a condominium manager and the owners' meeting is a contract of mandate with representation. The manager is the mandatary who acts in the interest and on behalf of the owners, while the owners' meeting is the principal that confers the appointment and sets its direction. This classification, settled in both scholarship and case law, has concrete consequences for powers, duties and liability, because the relationship is governed both by the special condominium rules and, where compatible, by the general rules on mandate set out in the Italian Civil Code.

Why we speak of a mandate

Article 1703 of the Italian Civil Code defines a mandate as the contract by which one party undertakes to perform one or more legal acts on behalf of another. This is exactly what the manager does: entering into contracts with suppliers, collecting contributions, paying expenses, maintaining the common parts and representing the condominium toward third parties. Because the manager acts in the name of the condominium and not in their own name, it is a mandate with representation, with effects falling directly on the community of owners.

The rules that govern the relationship

Two sets of rules apply and complement each other. First come the specific condominium provisions, in particular Articles 1129, 1130, 1130-bis, 1135 and 1136 of the Italian Civil Code and the implementing provisions. For everything these rules do not cover, one turns to the general rules on mandate in Articles 1703 and following, applicable insofar as they are compatible with the collective structure of the condominium.

• Diligence in carrying out the appointment, under Article 1710 of the Italian Civil Code
• The duty to keep within the limits of the mandate and follow the owners' meeting instructions, under Article 1711
• The duty to render an account of the work performed, under Article 1713
• The right to remuneration, which in a condominium must be stated in detail at the time of appointment

A mandate that is, as a rule, for consideration

Unlike a mandate that may be gratuitous, that of the professional manager is typically for consideration. The 2012 reform, under Law 220, required that remuneration be specified at the time of appointment, failing which the appointment itself is void. Being for consideration also affects the assessment of liability: the diligence required is the qualified diligence of a professional, given the training and updating requirements set by the implementing provisions and by practice, as codified also in the UNI 10801 standard.

Powers and limits of the mandatary

The mandate does not grant the manager unlimited power. The manager may perform acts of preservation and ordinary administration of the common parts, execute resolutions and collect contributions, but decisions exceeding ordinary management belong to the owners' meeting. A manager who acts beyond the limits of the mandate is personally liable for the act, unless the owners' meeting ratifies it. This boundary between ordinary administration and the powers reserved to the meeting is the key to understanding how far the managing power extends.

The fiduciary character of the relationship

The mandate is a fiduciary relationship, based on the trust the owners place in whoever manages common assets and money. That trust translates into duties of loyalty, transparency and impartiality: the manager must pursue the collective interest, avoid conflicts and keep the condominium's assets separate from their own, including through the duty to hold a dedicated bank account. The fiduciary nature also explains why the owners' meeting may revoke the appointment at any time, without waiting for the term to expire.

The practical consequences of the classification

Classifying the relationship as a mandate is not a theoretical exercise. It allows one to identify the applicable rule when the condominium provisions are silent: liability for performance, the consequences of exceeding one's powers, the duty at the end of the term to hand over everything received on behalf of the condominium, and the right to reimbursement of advances. Understanding this framework helps managers and owners read their mutual rights and duties correctly.

Managing a mandate transparently means documenting every act, keeping accounts in order and reporting clearly. AmministraPro is built for this: it keeps the manager's work, contracts and transactions traceable and verifiable, so the manager can show they acted in the common interest. You can see the features at /funzioni and the available plans at /prezzi.