The condominium as employer: the safety obligations

When the condominium becomes an employer

The condominium takes on the role of employer when it engages staff under an employment contract to carry out activities serving the common parts: the classic case is the caretaker, but it also applies to cleaners, gardeners or other workers hired directly by the condominium. In these cases the manager, who represents the condominium, actually exercises the powers and takes on the obligations of the employer.

The distinction matters because many services are instead provided by external companies, that is firms that have their own employees: in that case the condominium is not the employer of those workers, but remains the principal with specific obligations towards the appointed companies. Understanding which of the two situations applies is the first step to identifying the correct obligations.

The obligations towards direct employees

With direct employees, the manager as employer must assess the risks and draft the Risk Assessment Document, organise the prevention and protection service and appoint the related figures, ensure the information, training and instruction of workers, provide personal protective equipment and ensure health surveillance where required.

Many of these tasks require the support of qualified professionals, but the responsibility to activate them and to oversee their performance remains with the employer. Neglecting these obligations exposes the condominium and the manager to significant liability, which is aggravated in the event of a worker's accident.

The obligations towards external companies

When entrusting works, services or supplies to external companies, the manager acts as principal under Article 26 of Legislative Decree 81/2008. They must verify the technical and professional suitability of the appointed companies and self-employed workers, provide them with detailed information on the specific risks present in the environment where they will operate and cooperate in implementing the prevention measures.

In the presence of condominium employees or of several companies operating at the same time, with interference risks, the principal must draw up the Single Document for the Assessment of Interference Risks. If the condominium has no employees and there are no significant interferences, the DUVRI may not be due, but the obligations to verify and to inform remain.

What changes without employees

A condominium without employees is not an employer for the purposes of obligations towards employees, and therefore does not have to draft the DVR. However, obligations arising from other rules remain: the periodic earthing inspection under Presidential Decree 462/2001 applies even without employees, as does the custody of the common parts under Article 2051 of the Italian Civil Code.

Even without staff, therefore, the manager must handle the safety of the systems and common parts and relations with external companies. The difference is that the obligations typical of the employment relationship cease, not the whole set of prevention duties.

Organising the obligations over time

An employer's obligations are not one-off: training to renew, periodic health surveillance, updating the DVR, system inspections. Keeping together such heterogeneous deadlines for one or more condominiums with employees requires a method, because a missed deadline can turn into a violation.

A management tool such as AmministraPro lets you archive safety documents, track the deadlines of training, surveillance and inspections and receive automatic reminders, so the manager can govern the obligations without relying on memory. The features are described on /funzioni and the plans on /prezzi.

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