Practical guide
Splitting electricity costs of common areas
A single electricity meter for the common areas often bundles together consumption that, under Italian condominium law, should be allocated with different criteria: stairway lighting follows the general ownership table, the elevator has its own dedicated table based on potential use, and the booster pump for water supply is closer to the water consumption table. Applying one single criterion to the whole bill for convenience creates incorrect charges and disputes at the assembly meeting. This guide explains how to break down the combined bill correctly, which table applies to each use, and how to record it in the financial statement so every owner can see clearly where their share comes from.
One meter, different allocation criteria
Most buildings have a single meter for common areas that powers stairway lighting, the elevator motor, the booster pump and sometimes automatic gates or outdoor lighting together. The fact that consumption arrives on one single bill does not mean it should be split with one single criterion: article 1123 of the Italian civil code requires expenses to be divided in proportion to the actual or potential use each unit can make of the service, and using an elevator is not the same as merely benefiting from stairway lighting.
An administrator who always applies the general ownership table for simplicity exposes the building to well founded disputes, because an owner living on the ground floor with direct access from the courtyard does not use the elevator the way someone on the top floor does, while common area lighting benefits everyone in a more uniform way.
Stairway and common area lighting: the general table
Electricity for lighting stairways, entrance halls, landings and courtyards is normally split according to the general ownership table, the one expressing each unit's value relative to the whole building. This criterion is justified because the benefit of common area lighting is substantially uniform for all owners regardless of the floor they live on.
Exceptions apply when a contractual condominium bylaw expressly sets a different criterion, or in particular cases such as units that do not face any lit common area: these situations should be reflected in the table itself when it is drafted, not decided case by case at each assembly meeting.
The elevator: its own dedicated table
Elevator electricity follows its own millesimal table, separate from the general one, calculated on potential use of the service: relevant factors include the floor where the unit is located, higher floors use the elevator more, the presence of multiple access points and, under the most common approach, also a fixed share split equally among all served units regardless of floor, to cover the shared benefit of increased property value.
In practice, elevator expenses, including electricity, are often broken down as follows: a fixed share, equal for every served owner, recognizing the indirect benefit even for those on lower floors; a per floor share, increasing with height, reflecting actual heavier use of the equipment; exclusion of owners who have no access to the elevator, when this is materially true and not merely claimed.
If the meter is shared, the administrator must estimate or measure the share of consumption attributable to the elevator motor separately from lighting, otherwise the whole expense improperly ends up on the general table.
- Fixed share equal for every served owner
- Per floor share increasing with height
- Exclusion of owners with no material access to the elevator
Booster pump and water systems: closer to the water table
When the building has a booster pump to lift water pressure, the electricity consumed by its motor is conceptually closer to the water consumption table or a dedicated table based on individual water usage, because the energy is used to pump water that each unit then consumes in different amounts. The same actual use principle applies: owners with individual water meters already measure their own consumption, and the booster pump table can rely on that same data or on a specific millesimal table if the bylaw provides one.
When electricity consumption from several systems is combined on one general meter, good accounting practice calls for submeters or periodic technical estimates, an elevator maintenance technician or an electrician can provide an average absorption figure, to break the combined bill into its components before applying the correct tables.
How to record it in the financial statement
In the condominium financial statement, the common area electricity line item should be broken into separate sub items, each linked to the relevant millesimal table: stairway lighting under the general table, elevator electricity under the elevator table, booster pump electricity under the water table or a dedicated one. Presenting a single aggregated line makes the statement less transparent and more exposed to challenges for lack of clarity under article 1130 bis of the civil code.
Property management software such as AmministraPro lets the administrator link every supplier bill or expense sub item to the correct millesimal table and automatically generate the allocation for each unit, keeping the logic used to break down the combined bill traceable year after year, so at the assembly meeting it is immediate to show where each charged amount comes from.
Frequently asked questions
If the building has a single meter for stairway lights and the elevator, how is the expense separated?
Without dedicated submeters, the administrator must rely on a documented technical estimate, for example based on the average absorption figure declared by the elevator maintenance company or an electrician, to split the combined bill into a share attributable to the elevator motor and a residual share for lighting. The estimate should be documented and kept consistent over time, unless the systems change, so it can be verified by owners and does not shift arbitrarily from one financial statement to the next.
Do ground floor shop owners have to pay for elevator electricity?
It depends on potential use, not only on declared actual use: if the shop has its own independent access from the street and does not face the stairway served by the elevator in any way, it can be excluded from that millesimal table. If the commercial unit shares the entrance hall or stairway with residential units, even without using the elevator daily it typically still owes at least the fixed share, because it still benefits from the increased property value the service provides.
Is booster pump electricity always billed according to the water consumption table?
It is the most common criterion when the condominium bylaw does not state otherwise, because the booster pump motor lifts water that each unit then consumes in different amounts. If the building has individual water meters for each unit, that data can also be used as the allocation base for booster pump electricity; without individual meters, the building relies on the original water millesimal table or a new table approved by the assembly.
Who decides which criterion to apply if nothing is written anywhere?
When neither the condominium bylaw nor the existing millesimal tables provide guidance, the assembly can resolve the allocation criterion with the ordinary majorities set out in article 1136 of the civil code, provided the chosen criterion respects the general principle of actual or potential use established by article 1123. It is preferable for the criterion to be formalized in writing in a meeting minute, so it can be applied consistently to future financial statements without being reopened every year.
Can management software automatically calculate these different allocations for the same building?
Yes: platforms such as AmministraPro allow each millesimal table, general, elevator, water, to be linked to its respective expense item and automatically generate the allocation for every unit, avoiding separate manual calculations for each criterion. This reduces the risk of error when the same electricity bill must be broken down into several components charged against different tables, and keeps the financial statement readable and verifiable by owners.
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