How to run an online condominium meeting

Owner consent and the meeting notice

Italian law does not make the online meeting mandatory, but it allows the manager to propose it if the condominium regulation already provides for it, or if the assembly itself resolves to adopt it for future meetings. Where no rule is already in place, the manager should collect explicit consent, even through an informal poll or a dedicated resolution, to avoid later disputes over the legitimacy of the chosen format.

The meeting notice, governed by Article 66 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code, must precisely state the date, time and agenda, and when the meeting is held remotely it must also include the connection link or credentials, plus a phone number or email for technical support for owners who are less comfortable with digital tools. Owners unfamiliar with videoconferencing should never be effectively excluded from participation: always provide a support channel or, if requested by a meaningful number of owners, allow a hybrid format with in-person attendance.

Choosing the right platform

The platform used for an online meeting must guarantee certain minimum functions for the meeting to be manageable and defensible if challenged: clear identification of each participant with full name visible throughout the call, a traceable voting function that records how each owner voted on every agenda item, and real time calculation of the ownership shares present, essential for verifying that the quorum required to open and to resolve is met.

Also useful is audio or video recording of the session as support when drafting the minutes, along with an orderly way of managing speaking turns so the discussion does not become an unintelligible overlap. Property management software built for condominiums, such as AmministraPro, integrates these functions into the ordinary notice and minutes workflow, sparing the manager from stitching together disconnected tools.

Identifying participants and checking the quorum

Before formally opening the session, the manager must verify the identity of each connected participant against the list of owners entitled to vote, and record any proxies presented within the limits set by Article 67 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code. Only after this check can the meeting be declared validly constituted according to the quorum requirements of Article 1136 of the Civil Code, calculated both by number of participants and by ownership shares represented.

During the meeting, the manager or an appointed secretary should keep track of any disconnections and reconnections, since an owner who loses the connection during a vote can affect the quorum for that specific item. The chosen platform should clearly display the connection status of each participant.

Voting, resolutions and drafting the minutes

For each agenda item the vote must be collected explicitly and traceably, whether in favor, against or abstaining, and referred to the ownership share of each owner. At the end of the vote the manager should have a clear record of how the majority was formed, an essential element for drafting minutes consistent with what was actually resolved.

The minutes of an online meeting follow the same rules as an in person one: they must record the date and time, the participants with their respective ownership shares, the text of the resolutions adopted and the outcome of the vote item by item, as required by Article 1136 of the Civil Code. It is good practice to reference or attach the session recording as supporting material, while keeping the minutes as an independent document, drafted by the manager or the secretary appointed at the meeting and signed according to the procedures set out in the condominium regulation. An integrated digital workflow, from the notice through to signing the minutes, reduces transcription errors and speeds up communicating the resolutions to absent owners.

Frequently asked questions