The developer's regulation: nature, value and limits

The regulation drawn up by the developer is the condominium's first regulation: it is written by the original sole owner of the building before or during the sale of units and referenced or attached in the individual purchase deeds. From this mechanism derives its contractual nature: it is not approved by an owners' meeting but arises from each buyer's acceptance at the moment of signing the deed. Precisely because it is contractual, it can also contain limits on exclusive property and common assets that an assembly regulation could not impose.

Why it is a contractual regulation

The developer's regulation is perfected by the acceptance of the buyers of the individual units at the moment of signing the relevant purchase deed. The developer, sole owner of the building, drafts the text unilaterally, but it becomes binding only when each buyer accepts it by adhering to it through their own deed. It thus differs from the assembly regulation, approved by the meeting by majority and meant to govern use of common assets, allocation of expenses and administration, without being able to affect ownership rights.

The difference is substantial: only a regulation of contractual nature can provide clauses that compress the powers of the individual owner, for example banning certain uses of the units or limiting aesthetic changes to the facades. These clauses operate as genuine obligations undertaken with the purchase.

The clauses it may contain

A contractual regulation can go beyond the mere organisation of common life. The following clauses are typical, admitted precisely because contractually accepted by each owner.

• Use restrictions, for example carrying out certain noisy or disturbing activities in the units
• Limits on architectural decorum and uniformity of facades, awnings, fixtures or window frames
• Grants of exclusive use over portions of common areas in favour of single units
• Departures from the statutory criteria for sharing expenses, if clear and specific
• A ban on keeping animals, if expressly agreed on a contractual basis

When it binds later buyers

The most important issue is enforceability against those who buy later. For the restrictive clauses to apply also to later buyers, that is to parties outside the original agreement, the regulation must be registered in the property registers or expressly referenced and accepted in later purchase deeds. Only a concrete reference in the deed to a specific regulation already drawn up makes it part, per relationem, of the sale contract. A generic and indeterminate reference, by contrast, is not enough to make the most incisive clauses enforceable.

In practice, the buyer must be able to know the referenced regulation at the moment of the deed: the regulation must exist and be identifiable. If the buyer accepts a specific text, they remain bound by it, including the clauses that limit their property. Registration in the property registers strengthens enforceability because it makes the restriction knowable by anyone consulting the property's history.

The mandatory limits of the law

Not even a contractual regulation can do everything. The mandatory provisions of the Civil Code remain outside its reach: it cannot strip the owners' meeting of the powers the law grants it, nor affect the rights the rules reserve to owners, such as those on safety, innovations or appointment and removal of the administrator. Clauses that conflict with mandatory rules are ineffective, even if accepted in the deeds. In short, the regulation may depart from default law, not from mandatory law.

How to amend it

Clauses of contractual nature cannot be amended by an assembly majority alone: being the result of everyone's consent, changing them requires unanimity of the owners or at least the consent of those holding the right. The parts of the regulation with merely organisational content instead follow the ordinary rules and can be amended by majority. Distinguishing the two types of clause within the same text is essential to understand what is needed to intervene.

Keeping and quickly consulting the regulation and its attachments is part of the administrator's daily work. With AmministraPro the contractual regulation, the attached tables and the referenced deeds stay archived in an orderly way and linked to the condominium, always retrievable in case of disputes. The document archiving features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.