Duty to Pay Condominium Expenses: What the Law Says

Contributing to the expenses for the preservation and enjoyment of the common parts is a fundamental and non-waivable duty of the owner. It arises automatically from holding the property of a unit in the building and does not depend on the actual use the individual makes of the common assets. Articles 1118 and 1123 of the Italian Civil Code set the principle: each owner contributes to the expenses in proportion to the value of their property, expressed in thousandths (millesimi), and cannot escape the duty by waiving the right over the common parts.

The basis of the duty

Article 1118 states that each owner's right over the common parts is proportional to the value of the unit they own. From this right stems, as the other side of the coin, the duty to contribute to expenses. An owner cannot waive their right over the common parts to avoid payment, nor disconnect from common services if the disconnection causes extra costs for the others or harm to the use of the asset. The duty is therefore structurally tied to ownership and cannot be disposed of at the individual's pleasure.

How expenses are split

Article 1123 identifies three allocation criteria, applicable depending on the nature of the expense:

• expenses for the preservation and enjoyment of the common parts and for services of common interest: split in proportion to each owner's property value, that is according to general thousandths;
• expenses for things intended to serve owners to a different extent: split in proportion to the use each can make of them;
• expenses relating to common parts intended to serve only part of the building, such as a staircase or a courtyard: charged to the group of owners who benefit from them.

Alongside these are specific criteria, such as Article 1124 for stairs and lifts and Article 1126 for exclusive-use roof terraces, which split the expense by combining ownership and benefit.

The duty is triggered by the resolution

The concrete duty to pay a given expense arises from the meeting resolution that approves the statement of accounts or orders the works and splits the costs. It is the resolution that makes the debt due and gives the administrator a title. For extraordinary administration expenses, the relevant moment to identify who must pay is the date of the resolution ordering the works: whoever is the owner at that time is required to pay, regardless of any later transfers of ownership.

The successor and joint liability

Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code governs succession in ownership. Whoever buys a unit is jointly liable with the seller for the contributions relating to the current year and the previous one. This means the condominium can demand from the buyer the overdue shares of these two periods, subject to the right of recourse against the previous owner. That is why, when buying, it is prudent to check the payment situation through the administrator.

Collecting contributions

Article 63 also allows the administrator to obtain an immediately enforceable payment order to collect contributions on the basis of the allocation statement approved by the meeting. An owner in arrears remains liable and may face recovery action, in addition to possible suspension from common services capable of separate enjoyment in case of prolonged default beyond the set term. Prompt payment is therefore not only a legal duty but also the condition for the proper functioning of common management.

Transparency and share management

Such a strict duty requires clear and verifiable management of the shares. An owner has the right to know how their expenses were calculated and on which thousandths. With AmministraPro the administrator splits expenses according to the correct criteria, generates each owner's instalments in a tracked way and provides an up-to-date accounting position. In this way the duty to contribute becomes transparent and owners can check their positions: the accounting and allocation features are described at /funzioni, while the plans for the practice are at /prezzi.