Managing appurtenances, garages and cellars in the software

What appurtenances are in a condominium

Article 817 of the Italian Civil Code defines appurtenances as things durably intended for the service or ornament of another thing. In a condominium the typical appurtenances are the garage, the parking space, the cellar, the attic: assets that serve the apartment but that, at the cadastral and thousandths level, may have their own identity. The appurtenant status generally follows the main unit, but does not cancel the fact that the asset has its own use and its own weight in the expenses.

In the software it pays to represent this reality precisely. A cellar that does not use the lift must not weigh on the related table; a garage with an independent entrance does not use the internal stairs. Recording appurtenances as entities linked to the main unit, but with their own intended use and their own links to the tables, allows correct allocations.

Own thousandths or the main unit's thousandths

The practical question is: does the appurtenance have its own thousandths or does it follow the apartment's? It depends on how the building's thousandths tables were formed. In many cases garages and cellars have their own thousandths value in the general table, which is added to the apartment's to determine the owner's overall weight. In other cases the appurtenance's value is already included in the main unit's.

The software must allow both setups. If the appurtenance has its own thousandths, you record it as a distinct unit or appurtenance with its value and link it to the relevant tables. If instead the value is embedded in the apartment, you avoid giving it an additional weight, so as not to count the same thousandths twice. Checking the existing tables before setting up appurtenances avoids this error.

• Check whether the appurtenance already has its own thousandths in the table
• If so, record it as a distinct entity with its value
• If the value is included in the apartment, do not duplicate it
• Link the appurtenance only to the tables that concern it

Which expenses fall on garages and cellars

Appurtenances take part in common expenses for their thousandths weight, but not in all items. A garage or cellar that does not use the lift may be excluded from the related table, consistent with the principle of Article 1123 whereby expenses for parts intended to serve only some fall on those who benefit. Likewise, some service expenses of the inhabited floors may not concern the basement premises.

Conversely, there are expenses the appurtenances share: maintenance of the structure, the roof, the common parts that serve them. The correct association with the tables is what distinguishes the items the appurtenance takes part in from those it is excluded from. Setting this aspect well avoids the typical disputes of a garage owner charged for cleaning stairs they do not walk on.

Link to the main unit and the holders

Even when it has its own record, the appurtenance stays linked to the main unit and, as a rule, to the same owner. In the software this link is useful for communications and for consistency of allocations: payment notices can group the apartment and the appurtenances of the same holder, and ownership transfers can move the main unit and the appurtenances together when the sale includes both.

Watch out, however, for cases in which the appurtenance is sold separately: a garage may be transferred to another member or to a third party. In these situations the link with the main unit is dissolved and the appurtenance follows its own owner. Flexible software allows both grouping under the same holder and independent management when property events require it.

How to record garages and cellars in the software

The flow starts from checking the building's thousandths tables, to understand whether the appurtenances already have their own value. Then you record each appurtenance with its intended use, link it to the main unit and associate it only with the relevant tables, excluding it from those of the services it does not use. Finally you verify the allocation on a known expense, to check that the shares balance.

As always in the register, the rule is not to duplicate and not to force the data. An appurtenance is a real entity with its own use: recording it faithfully, neither merged into the apartment when it has its own life, nor isolated when it should be grouped, is the premise for correct allocations and orderly communications.

• Check the existing tables before setting up appurtenances
• Record the appurtenance with its intended use
• Link it to the main unit and the holder
• Associate it only with the tables that concern it
• Verify the allocation on a known expense

Orderly appurtenances, dispute-free allocations

Handling garages and cellars well in the software eliminates two frequent sources of friction: charges for unused services and double counting of thousandths. With appurtenances recorded faithfully, linked to the main unit and associated with the right tables, allocations come out correct and communications reach the holder in an orderly way.

AmministraPro lets you record garages, cellars and appurtenances with their own intended use and thousandths, link them to the main unit and associate them only with the relevant tables. The features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans for your practice on the /prezzi page.

Frequently asked questions