You are paying for the works and they benefit your unit alone, from which it is often wrongly concluded that they are nobody else’s business. As soon as they affect the common parts or the external appearance of the building, the Law requires the approval of the general meeting.
The rule
The following falls under the absolute majority — a majority of the votes of all the co-owners: “authorisation to be given to individual co-owners to carry out, at their own expense, works affecting the common parts or the external appearance of the building, and consistent with its intended use” (article 16 b) of the Law).
Two conditions therefore apply together: an approval that has been voted, and a project consistent with the intended use of the building.
The projects concerned
In practice, approval is required for:
- installing an outdoor air-conditioning unit or a heat pump on the facade, on a visible balcony or on the roof;
- a conservatory, enclosing a loggia, or fitting a balustrade or privacy screen that changes the appearance;
- replacing windows, shutters or French doors where the model, the colour or the material changes the external appearance;
- fitting an awning, an aerial, a satellite dish or a sign;
- any drilling through part of the structure, and any routing through a common part for a service or a waste outlet.
Where, under your regulations, the window and door frames are private parts, replacing them on a strictly like-for-like basis may be entirely your own decision; as soon as the replacement changes the external appearance, approval becomes necessary again. Here too, it is your règlement de copropriété (the condominium regulations) that draws the line.
How to put your request forward
- Tell the syndic (the managing agent) about the project before the notice of meeting goes out, so that it is placed on the agenda from the outset. Failing that, you have six days from the notice of meeting in which to ask for a question to be added (article 4 of the Grand Ducal Regulation).
- Enclose a technical description, a drawing or visual (colour, dimensions, position), the contractor’s quotation and, where relevant, an acoustic note for any noisy equipment.
- Propose wording for the resolution: for questions falling under article 16 b), the draft resolution must be served no later than at the same time as the agenda (article 5, 5°, of the Grand Ducal Regulation).
- Provide in the resolution for future maintenance, for making good if the installation is removed, and for bearing any consequences for the common parts.
If the general meeting refuses
The Law of 30 June 2022 added a right of appeal to article 16 b): where approval is refused, the court may authorise the co-owner or co-owners to carry out those works if they are not liable to harm the soundness or the appearance of the building, or to inconvenience the other co-owners.
For improvement works falling under article 26, a similar mechanism exists: where the general meeting refuses to authorise one or more co-owners to carry them out in the common parts, the district court may authorise them to do so on such terms as it sets. Where it is possible to reserve the use of the installations to those who paid for them, the other co-owners may be allowed to use them only on payment of their share of the cost; where that use cannot be reserved, those who built them bear the cost alone, but the court sets the terms on which the others may use them and the extent of their contribution to maintenance, operating and repair costs (article 27).
Depending on the nature of the project, a communal or planning permit may be required, and technical rules may apply. The meeting’s vote governs the relationship between you and the condominium, not whether the work complies with building regulations.
The risk of unapproved works
An approval covers only what was described and voted. Works carried out without approval, or going beyond what was approved, expose you to proceedings by the syndicat de copropriété (the co-owners’ association) — and the syndic may in fact bring proceedings without prior authorisation from the meeting where the object is to secure compliance with and enforcement of the condominium regulations (article 14) — and to making good at your own expense. Going through the general meeting costs a little time; it saves a great deal.
Submitting a project to us
Send us your description and your visuals: we will tell you which majority applies, what your regulations provide, and how to word the resolution so that it can actually be put to the vote.
General information on Luxembourg condominium law (the amended Law of 16 May 1975 and the Grand Ducal Regulation of 13 June 1975, in their consolidated version applicable as at 1 August 2023). Your own règlement de copropriété may lay down specific rules, which prevail within the limits set by the law. This content is not legal advice.