Supercondominium and Condominium: Differences and Management

Supercondominium and condominium are not synonyms. A condominium is a single building, or a set of common assets referring to one building, where exclusive properties and common parts coexist. A supercondominium, by contrast, is a plurality of autonomous condominiums, each with its own common parts, that share certain assets or services. Article 1117-bis of the Italian Civil Code extends the rules on condominiums to these structures insofar as compatible. Distinguishing the two figures is the precondition for understanding who manages and how costs are divided.

The condominium: a single building

In the classic condominium there is a single building with common parts listed, by way of example, in Article 1117: the ground, the foundations, the load-bearing walls, the stairs, the roof, the entrance hall, and the systems up to the branch point towards the units. All the units belong to the same building and share the same common parts. Management is unitary and rests with a single condominium, with a single administrator when there are more than eight owners.

Even a very large building, with several staircases or several connected but structurally unitary sections, remains a single condominium if the common parts are the same for everyone. The multiplicity of staircases does not in itself create a supercondominium.

The supercondominium: several condominiums with shared assets

A supercondominium exists when several buildings, each constituted as an autonomous condominium, share assets or services serving all of them: driveways, common water or sewage systems, a transformer cabin, green areas, a single porter's lodge, an entrance gate. Each condominium keeps its own autonomy for the internal common parts; the supercondominium level concerns only the assets actually shared. These are two overlapping management levels, not a single large condominium.

• Condominium: a single building with unique common parts
• Supercondominium: several autonomous condominiums with shared assets or services
• Complex condominium: several buildings that still form a single condominium if the common parts are unique
• Horizontal condominium: terraced houses with shared parts and services

The complex and horizontal condominium

Between the two main figures lie intermediate situations. A complex condominium is a set of several buildings which, given how the common parts were constituted, remain a single condominium with a single administrator. A horizontal condominium concerns rows of terraced houses or courtyard homes that share internal roads, lighting or systems: even without a vertical building, condominium rules apply to the common assets. The classification always depends on the actual layout of the properties and shared assets.

When a separate administrator is needed

In a supercondominium the individual condominiums each keep their own administrator, where required by the number of owners, while for the shared assets a supercondominium administrator can be appointed to handle ordinary management. When the total participants exceed sixty, Article 67 of the implementing provisions imposes the representative mechanism: each condominium designates a delegate who votes in the supercondominium meeting on the ordinary management of the common assets and on the appointment of the administrator, avoiding unmanageable meetings with hundreds of participants.

Separate accounting for shared assets

The most important practical consequence is the separation of accounts. Expenses for assets common to several condominiums must have their own management and statement, distinct from those of the individual buildings, and must be divided among the condominiums served according to the criteria of Article 1123. Confusing the two levels, charging supercondominium expenses onto a building's internal tables, is one of the most frequent causes of disputes and voidable resolutions.

Managing in parallel the accounts of the individual condominiums and those of the shared assets, with distinct tables and statements, calls for a tool designed for complex structures. AmministraPro treats the supercondominium as a dedicated entity, with separate accounting and allocation down to the individual owner: the features are described on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.