Expenses for a service used only by some owners

When a common service or asset serves only part of the owners, the related expense falls only on the group that benefits, not on the whole condominium. This is provided by Article 1123, third paragraph, of the Italian Civil Code: if a building has several staircases, courtyards, terrace roofs, works or systems intended to serve part of the building, the costs of their maintenance are borne by the group of owners who benefit. The criterion is potential benefit, not the individual's actual use.

The third paragraph of Article 1123

Article 1123 governs the split of common expenses on three levels. The first paragraph sets the general rule of splitting by thousandths. The second paragraph provides for a split in proportion to use for assets serving owners to differing degrees. The third paragraph introduces the split by groups when an asset or service serves only part of the building.

The rationale is simple: someone who can derive no benefit from a system must not contribute to its costs. It would be unfair to make owners who access exclusively through another entrance pay for the maintenance of a secondary staircase.

Typical examples of a partial service

The most common situations where the expense falls only on a group are:

• Staircases or lifts serving only some blocks or only some floors of a building unit.
• Courtyards, passages or gates giving access only to certain units.
• Heating or water systems serving only one wing of the building.
• Terrace roofs covering and protecting only a portion of the units below.
• Works built for the benefit of a group, such as a ramp or a dedicated technical room.

In all these cases the condominium identifies the perimeter of beneficiaries and splits the expense among them, normally by that group's thousandths or a dedicated table.

Potential benefit, not concrete use

A point often misunderstood is the difference between benefit and use. The split by groups is based on the possibility of deriving benefit from the asset, not on actual use. The owner of a unit served by a lift pays his share even if he lives on the ground floor and never uses it, because he has the possibility of using it and the system enhances his property anyway.

Conversely, someone structurally excluded from the benefit, for example because his unit has no connection to that staircase, stays out of the split. The distinction is objective and does not depend on the owner's personal choices.

Group thousandths tables

To manage partial services in an orderly way, many condominiums adopt specific thousandths tables: one table for staircase A, one for the lift of block B, one for the system serving only some units. These tables sit alongside the general one and allow each expense to be charged to the correct group.

Group tables, when they derive from respecting the legal criteria of proportionality, are declaratory in nature and may be approved by ordinary majorities; if instead they introduce contractual departures from the legal criteria, they require the consent of all the owners concerned.

Disputes and the meeting

Expenses for partial services are fertile ground for disputes: someone complains of paying for an asset they do not use, others object to being excluded from a split that concerns them. The manager must be able to show, based on the floor plan and the intended purpose of the assets, who benefits from each system.

The meeting still votes on expenses concerning only a group, but the decision weight and the financial burden concentrate on the owners involved. A resolution charging the partial expense to everyone indiscriminately would be challengeable for breach of Article 1123.

Managing partial splits without errors

Setting up distinct thousandths tables for each partial service and linking every expense item to the correct group is what makes the split unassailable. AmministraPro lets you create several allocation tables and apply to each expense the appropriate criterion and perimeter of beneficiaries, with clear statements for each owner. The feature details are on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.