Doorman and Concierge Costs: How They Are Split in a Condominium

In larger condominiums, especially those with several staircases or a single main entrance, splitting doorman and concierge costs in the condominium is one of the more complex items in the budget, because it combines several distinct components: the employee's wages, social security and insurance contributions, and, in many cases, the value of housing provided as part of the compensation package. Understanding how these costs are distributed among owners is essential for the manager, both to prepare an accurate financial statement and to correctly handle resolutions concerning whether to keep or discontinue the service.

The components of concierge expenses

Concierge expenses are not limited to the net wages paid to the doorman, but include a broader set of items the manager must keep separate in the accounts. These include the gross salary set by the relevant collective labor agreement, employer-side social security and welfare contributions, accrued severance pay, any accessory allowances such as one for mixed personal and work use of housing, and the running costs of the housing itself, when the doorman lives there as part of the employment relationship.

Together, these items make up the overall cost of the concierge service, which is then split among owners according to criteria that can differ from those applied to ordinary maintenance expenses for shared areas.

Allocation criteria for concierge costs

The allocation criterion for doorman and concierge costs generally follows ownership shares, but with certain particulars linked to the benefit the service provides to different owners. When the concierge service also includes functions tied to the use of specific shared areas, such as monitoring access or handling mail for individual staircases, the condominium bylaws can set differentiated criteria, for example applying staircase-specific ownership share tables when the building has multiple entrances with a dedicated concierge for each.

• General ownership shares, the ordinary criterion absent other provisions
• Staircase-specific ownership share tables, when the service concerns a specific building entrance
• Possible partial exemptions for units that do not benefit from the service in any way, if provided for in the contractual bylaws

It is important for the manager to always check the condominium bylaws before applying a criterion different from the ordinary general ownership share rule, because a departure that is not provided for or not validly approved can become grounds for a dispute from owners who feel penalized by the split.

Commercial units and the cost split

A recurring issue concerns owners of units used for commercial purposes, such as shops with independent access from the street, who often believe they should not contribute to concierge costs, since they do not use the shared entrance or the services the doorman provides. The correct solution depends on the condominium bylaws and the actual circumstances: if the unit has independent access and does not benefit from the service in any way, a full or partial exemption can be provided for, but that exemption needs a basis in the bylaws or in a resolution approved with the required majorities, it cannot simply be assumed by an individual owner.

Discontinuing the concierge service

With rising labor costs and the spread of video intercom systems and automated access control, many condominiums are considering discontinuing the concierge service as a cost-cutting measure. The resolution to discontinue the service requires the majorities set out in article 1136 of the Civil Code and carries significant consequences on the employment relationship, because ending the service normally means terminating the doorman's employment, with the related financial obligations falling on the condominium, including the severance pay accrued up to that point.

A manager handling this kind of resolution must therefore weigh not only the prospective savings for the owners, but also the immediate cost of ending the employment relationship, so the assembly does not make a decision without a full understanding of the operation's overall economic impact.

Discontinuing the concierge service is never a zero-cost operation: future savings on running costs must always be weighed against the immediate cost of ending the employment relationship.

The doorman's housing: use, costs, and future purpose

When the doorman lives in housing provided by the condominium, managing that space involves further expense items, from utilities to ordinary maintenance of the premises, which must also be split according to the criteria applicable to the concierge service as a whole. If the service is discontinued, the assembly must also resolve on the future use of the housing, which can be rented out to third parties, sold, or repurposed for other condominium uses, with the related implications for the required majorities and for splitting any proceeds among the owners.

Managing concierge accounting correctly

The complexity of the items that make up concierge expenses, combined with the possible need to apply differentiated allocation criteria by staircase or by unit type, makes it valuable to have an accounting tool capable of managing multiple ownership share tables and tracking the different cost components separately. AmministraPro offers features dedicated to this kind of management, described in detail on the features page, while anyone wanting to evaluate the plan best suited to their firm can check the pricing page of the site.