Practical guide
Who pays the top-floor expenses in a condominium
The top-floor owner has a mirror-image position to that of the ground floor. They use the stairs and lift more to reach their unit, so they contribute to a greater extent under Article 1124 of the Italian Civil Code. In return, they often enjoy a flat roof or terrace in exclusive use, which entails a specific allocation criterion provided by Article 1126. The common roof, by contrast, splits by thousandths among everyone. This guide explains, item by item, what a top-floor resident pays, with particular attention to the flat roof and to calculation examples.
Stairs and lift: why the top floor pays more
Article 1124 splits the maintenance and replacement costs of stairs and lifts half by ownership thousandths and half in proportion to the height of each floor from the ground. Since the second half grows with height, the top-floor owner bears the highest share for the portion tied to use.
The criterion reflects a principle of correlation with use: those who go higher climb more flights and use the system more. The half calculated on ownership thousandths instead stays unchanged compared with the others and serves to cover the preservation of the common asset, regardless of height.
The roof: a common part charged to everyone
A frequent misconception is to think the roof is charged only to the top floor because it sits above it. This is not so. A pitched roof is a common part under Article 1117 and its maintenance or renovation splits by thousandths among all owners, under Article 1123 paragraph 1, because it protects the preservation of the whole building.
The situation changes when, instead of a roof, there is a flat roof or terrace in the exclusive use of the top floor. In that case a dedicated rule applies, Article 1126, which introduces an allocation criterion different from simple thousandths.
Flat roof in exclusive use: Article 1126
When the flat roof, or part of it, is in the exclusive use of one or more owners, Article 1126 provides that the repair or reconstruction costs split into two parts. One third is charged to the party who has exclusive use of the flat roof. The remaining two thirds are charged to all owners of the building or the portion of building for which the flat roof serves as covering, in proportion to thousandths.
The rationale is clear: the party who uses the surface exclusively gains a particular benefit and pays a share higher than thousandths alone, but the covering function benefits everyone underneath, who therefore contribute for the two thirds. The criterion applies to repair and reconstruction of the flat roof, not to the discretionary expenses of the exclusive user.
A calculation example with Article 1126
Suppose a repair expense for the flat roof in exclusive use amounts to a certain total. The first step is to separate the third charged to the exclusive user from the two thirds charged to the owners below. One third of the amount falls entirely on the top-floor owner who uses the terrace.
The remaining two thirds split by thousandths among all owners served by the covering, including, for their thousandth share, the exclusive user themselves. In this way the party with exclusive use pays their full third plus their thousandth part of the two common thirds. Documenting the calculation avoids disputes, especially when the flat roof covers only a portion of the building.
Managing top-floor shares precisely
Top-floor expenses combine different criteria: the Article 1124 formula for stairs and lift, thousandths for the common roof, the fractional allocation of Article 1126 for the flat roof in exclusive use. Keeping these criteria together by hand is complex and prone to errors.
With software such as AmministraPro you can set up dedicated tables by floor height and fractional allocation rules for the flat roof, generating calculations compliant with Article 1126 automatically and repeatably. The features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the top floor pay more for the lift?
Because Article 1124 allocates half the expense in proportion to floor height. Those living on the top floor use the stairs and lift more and therefore bear the highest share for that half. The other half, calculated on ownership thousandths, stays the same as for the other floors.
Is the roof charged only to the top floor?
No. A pitched roof is a common part under Article 1117 and protects the whole building, so its expense splits by thousandths among all owners under Article 1123 paragraph 1. The rule changes only where there is a flat roof in exclusive use, governed by Article 1126.
How are the expenses of a flat roof in exclusive use split?
Under Article 1126, repair or reconstruction costs split into one third charged to the party with exclusive use and two thirds charged to the owners of the building or the portion for which the flat roof serves as covering, in proportion to thousandths.
Does the terrace user pay only their third?
No. They pay the full third provided by Article 1126 for exclusive use and, in addition, their thousandth share of the two thirds charged to all owners served by the covering. In practice they contribute twice: as exclusive user and as co-owner.
Does software calculate the Article 1126 allocation?
Yes. Software that handles fractional rules lets you automatically apply the third and two thirds of Article 1126, together with the floor-height tables of Article 1124. AmministraPro generates compliant, repeatable calculations: the features are on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.
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