Supercondominium: How to Divide Shared Expenses

A supercondominium exists when several buildings, each organised as an autonomous condominium, share common assets or services: an access driveway, a water pumping system, exterior lighting, the vehicle gate, a single porter's lodge. Article 1117-bis of the Italian Civil Code extends the rules on condominiums to these complex structures. The expenses of those shared assets do not follow the thousandths tables (millesimi) of the individual building, but an allocation criterion specific to the supercondominium, based on Article 1123.

When a supercondominium arises

A supercondominium is created automatically, with no need for a formal deed, when two or more buildings in condominium share, by structure or purpose, assets or services. It is not the parties' will that creates it, but the objective relationship of service between the shared assets and the units of the different buildings. Each condominium remains autonomous as regards its own internal common parts; the supercondominium dimension concerns only the assets and services actually shared.

Distinguishing the two levels clearly is essential for accounting: the expenses of building A's lift stay internal to condominium A, while the maintenance of the driveway serving A, B and C is a supercondominium expense, to be divided among all the buildings served.

The criterion of Article 1123

Article 1123 lays down the three general allocation criteria, applicable to the supercondominium as well. The first paragraph provides for division in proportion to the value of each owner's property, namely the thousandths. The second paragraph introduces the criterion of differentiated use: if something serves owners to a different extent, the expense is divided in proportion to use. The third paragraph governs assets intended to serve only part of the building, with the expense borne only by the users.

• Expenses in proportion to the thousandths (Article 1123, first paragraph)
• Expenses in proportion to differentiated use (Article 1123, second paragraph)
• Expenses of assets serving only some buildings, borne only by the users (Article 1123, third paragraph)
• Each building keeps its own internal tables for the non-shared common parts

Supercondominium thousandths

To divide the shared expenses among several buildings you need a supercondominium table expressing the value of each building relative to the whole. In practice a two-level table is built: first each condominium is given its share relative to the supercondominium, then each building's share is split internally among the individual units according to the building's thousandths. This two-step approach avoids double counting and keeps the allocation consistent down to the individual owner.

When an asset serves only some of the buildings, the thousandths of those buildings alone come into play: the buildings not served do not contribute to the expense, applying the principle of the third paragraph of Article 1123. Correctly identifying the buildings served is therefore the precondition of any allocation.

Who decides and who manages

Expenses for the ordinary management of assets common to several condominiums and the appointment of the supercondominium administrator are resolved in a meeting. When the total participants exceed sixty, Article 67 of the implementing provisions imposes a representation mechanism: each condominium designates its own representative who votes in the meeting on ordinary management and the appointment of the administrator. For the most important decisions, such as improvements to the shared assets, the direct participation of all interested owners remains necessary.

Common allocation mistakes

The two most common mistakes are these. The first is charging a supercondominium expense to all buildings when the asset actually serves only some of them: buildings that draw no benefit end up paying. The second is confusing the tables, applying an individual condominium's internal thousandths to an expense that should instead be divided over the whole value of the supercondominium. Both mistakes lead to disputes and risk making the allocation resolution voidable.

Managing two levels of tables, distinguishing internal expenses from shared ones and producing clear statements for each building is much easier with software that treats the supercondominium as an entity in its own right. AmministraPro lets you configure supercondominium thousandths and divide shared expenses down to the individual owner: the features are described on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.