Your questions, our answers

At least once a year. In every condominium association, a general meeting of the co-owners is held at least once each year, convened by the syndic (article 1 of the Grand Ducal Regulation of 13 June 1975). In Luxembourg, these meetings are largely concentrated in the first half of the year.

An additional meeting may be called during the year: notice must be given as a matter of right when the syndic is asked to do so by the supervisory board (conseil syndical), or by co-owners representing at least a quarter of the votes. Notice of meeting in detail →

Save in an emergency, notice is served at least fifteen days before the date of the meeting, unless the condominium regulations provide for a longer period (article 3 of the Grand Ducal Regulation). Your regulations may therefore give you more time, never less.

A reduced period of eight days is possible in one specific case: the second meeting convened after a first one failed to reach the absolute majority, where the agenda only repeats items already tabled.

No. Luxembourg law does not make the holding of the meeting subject to an attendance quorum: the meeting deliberates validly as soon as all co-owners have been duly convened and the items are properly tabled on the agenda (article 15 of the Law of 16 May 1975).

Your absence therefore does not block the meeting: it deprives you of your votes. And for decisions taken by absolute majority, which is calculated on the votes of all co-owners, an absence without a proxy weighs in practice like a vote against.

Yes. “Any co-owner may delegate his right to vote to a representative” (article 19 of the Law). The proxy must be in writing, clear, dated and signed, and handed to the syndic before or at the start of the meeting.

The Law does not restrict the choice of representative, but your condominium regulations may set limits and they prevail: check them. Once you have received the agenda, a proxy accompanied by voting instructions is preferable. Proxies, votes and quorum →

Three regimes coexist. The simple majority (article 15) is the majority of the votes of the co-owners present or represented: it is the default regime, covering in particular approval of the accounts, the forecast budget and routine maintenance.

The absolute majority (article 16) is the majority of the votes of all co-owners: it applies in particular to the appointment or removal of the syndic, to authorising private works affecting the common areas, to energy renovation works and to renewable energy installations in the common areas.

The double majority (article 17) requires a majority of the members of the association representing at least three quarters of the votes: acts of acquisition and disposal, amendment of the condominium regulations, works of alteration, addition and improvement. The full table →

The syndic is appointed by the general meeting, by absolute majority, that is to say the majority of the votes of all co-owners (article 16 c) of the Law).

The mandate may not exceed three years (article 14 of the Law and article 18 of the Grand Ducal Regulation), and there is no tacit renewal: once the term has expired, the syndic may only continue by virtue of a formal decision of the meeting. Length of the mandate →

The charges for the conservation, maintenance and administration of the common areas are apportioned in proportion to the relative value of your private unit, that is to say your share, generally expressed in thousandths in the descriptive statement of division (articles 6 and 7 of the Law).

For items of common equipment, different criteria may be adopted; failing an agreement, the contribution is based on the usefulness of the equipment to each unit. The keys applicable to your building are set out in your condominium regulations. Apportionment of charges →

Yes. Article 11 bis of the Law of 16 May 1975, introduced by the Law of 30 June 2022, requires co-owners to set up a works fund to meet the cost of works decided by the general meeting. The Ministry of Housing states that it has been compulsory since 1 August 2023, including for new builds.

It is funded by a compulsory annual contribution, the amount of which is voted by the meeting and may not be lower than the amount per square metre set in the schedule to the Law, pro rata to the shares; that minimum varies according to the thermal insulation class in the building’s energy performance certificate. An important point: the contributions are attached to the units and definitively acquired by the association — they are not refunded on sale. The works fund →

Only in an emergency, and to safeguard the building: in an emergency the syndic is responsible for arranging, on his own initiative, the carrying out of all works necessary to safeguard the building (article 21 of the Law).

He must then inform the co-owners and immediately convene a general meeting. He may request, after seeking the opinion of the supervisory board if there is one, an advance that may not exceed one third of the amount of the estimated quotation for the works (article 27 of the Grand Ducal Regulation). Urgent works →

In principle common. Where the title deeds are silent or contradictory, the structural works and the items of common equipment are deemed to be common areas, “including the related sections of pipework running through private premises” (article 3 of the Law). A rising main or a waste stack passing through your home therefore remains, in principle, a common area.

That is only a presumption, however: your condominium regulations and your descriptive statement of division may classify certain items differently. This is particularly true of windows, shutters, balconies and terraces, whose treatment varies from one building to another. Common or private →

An authorisation from the general meeting, voted by absolute majority, is required as soon as the works affect the common areas or the external appearance of the building, even if they are carried out at your expense, and provided they comply with the intended use of the building (article 16 b) of the Law).

Since the Law of 30 June 2022, where the meeting refuses, the court may authorise such works if they are not liable to harm the soundness or the appearance of the building, or to inconvenience the other co-owners. The meeting’s consent does not dispense with any administrative permits that may be required. Preparing your request →

Unless the regulations provide otherwise, the sums due bear interest for the benefit of the association, at the statutory civil rate, from the formal demand sent by the syndic (article 26 of the Grand Ducal Regulation).

The association’s claims are further secured by a statutory mortgage over the unit, registered after a formal demand has gone unanswered, and benefit from the preferential right under article 2102-1° of the Civil Code, transferred to the rent where the unit is let unfurnished (article 24 of the Law). The syndic may take recovery action without prior authorisation from the meeting. A temporary difficulty is dealt with far better if you talk to us before the due date. Unpaid charges and recovery →

Two months, and the period is short. Actions seeking to challenge decisions of general meetings must, on pain of being time-barred, be brought by dissenting or absent co-owners within two months of notification of those decisions, served at the syndic’s initiative (article 34 of the Law).

Two conditions therefore apply: having voted against, or having been absent and unrepresented, and acting within two months. Hence the importance of having your vote against recorded in the minutes, and of reading them as soon as you receive them. Minutes and challenges →

Every transfer of ownership of a unit, as well as the creation of a right of usufruct, bare ownership, use or habitation, must be notified to the syndic without delay, by the parties or by the notary (article 31 of the Grand Ducal Regulation). That is what guarantees you will receive your notices of meeting and your statements.

For the seller: on a transfer for value, a certificate from the syndic less than one month old attesting that the seller is free of any obligation towards the association avoids the notice and objection procedure under article 25. For the buyer: be aware that you are jointly and severally liable with the seller for the charges still owed in respect of the closed financial year and the months of the current year, and ask for the balance of works fund contributions acquired by the unit. Statement and change of owner →