The Super-Condominium Rulebook: Content and Limits

The super-condominium rulebook is the set of rules that governs the use of parts and services common to several buildings, how the related expenses are shared, and how the unified management works. Since Article 1117 bis of the Italian Civil Code extends condominium rules to complexes with several buildings, the super-condominium rulebook is subject, where compatible, to the same rules as an ordinary condominium rulebook, starting with Article 1138.

When a super-condominium rulebook is needed

Article 1138 provides that a rulebook is mandatory when there are more than ten owners. In a super-condominium the overall number of participants is almost always high, because it adds up the owners of several buildings, so a dedicated rulebook is the norm rather than the exception. Even where it is not strictly mandatory, a clear rulebook is the tool that prevents conflicts over the use of assets common to all.

The super-condominium rulebook does not replace those of the individual buildings: it coexists with them. Each building keeps its own rulebook for internal parts, while the super-condominium rulebook governs only what is common to the whole complex.

What it can contain

The typical content concerns the orderly use of assets common to several buildings and the management of related expenses. The rulebook covers rules on the use of internal roads, car parks, green areas and shared systems, as well as rules on decorum and the protection of the common assets' purpose.

• Rules on the use of driveways, courtyards, car parks and green areas common to the complex.
• Criteria for sharing the expenses of assets and services common to several buildings.
• How the super-condominium meeting works and how the chain of representatives operates.
• Rules on decorum, safety and the use of shared systems.
• Rules on access, timetables and conduct in the common areas.

Assembly rulebook and contractual rulebook

As in a condominium, the super-condominium too distinguishes between an assembly rulebook, approved by the meeting with the majority under Article 1136, second paragraph, and a contractual rulebook, accepted by all participants and capable of affecting individual rights. Clauses that limit individual owners' rights over their exclusive property, or that depart from the statutory sharing criteria, are contractual in nature and require everyone's consent.

This distinction is crucial: a clause touching property rights or altering the criteria of Article 1123 cannot be imposed by majority. If it were, it would be easily challenged by anyone who did not give consent.

Expense sharing in the rulebook

The rulebook can recall or detail the criteria for sharing expenses common to several buildings, always in line with Article 1123: proportion to value for general expenses, sharing by use when assets serve the buildings unequally, and specific criteria for assets serving only some buildings. The super-condominium's thousandths (millesimi) tables are the technical tool that turns these criteria into shares.

Good practice keeps the rulebook and the tables consistent with each other and distinct from those of the individual buildings, so as to avoid overlaps and double charges.

Limits on clauses

The rulebook cannot depart from the mandatory rules of the Civil Code, such as those protecting rights over common parts, the validity of resolutions and the removal of the manager. Nor can it absolutely forbid lawful uses of exclusive property except through a contractual clause accepted by all. Clauses contrary to mandatory rules are void and can be disregarded even long afterwards.

Amendment and enforceability

The assembly rulebook is amended with the same majority needed to approve it; the contractual rulebook, in the parts affecting individual rights, requires everyone's consent. For contractual clauses to be enforceable against later buyers, registration or at least a reference in the purchase deeds is advisable. A rulebook that is not enforceable risks being a dead letter towards new owners.

Drafting and managing the rulebook with software

Management software helps keep the rulebook, thousandths tables and super-condominium accounts together, checking that the sharing criteria written in the rulebook match the shares actually applied. AmministraPro manages structures with several buildings and multiple tables and produces separate statements for condominium and super-condominium, so the written rules are reflected in the accounts. You can see how it works on the features page or compare the plans in the pricing section.