Definition : Common portions for restricted use

Question: Our declaration of co-ownership states that exterior windows, incorporated into the walls, are common portions for restricted use. However, the windows of my apartment are heavily foggy, a multitude of water droplets accumulate during the night and hinder the view. A glazier told me that the cause of this problem is a failure in the sealing of the thermos glass itself. The directors claim that the costs of replacing the thermos are borne by the Syndicate and then distributed to the co-owners who have requested them according to the thermos replaced. I disagree with them. Who should pay for the cost of replacing the thermos windows in my apartment?

  The windows of our unit are at the end of their lives, according to a specialist who changed the thermos of a window that don't 2 windows have already cracked. Despite my express request to the syndicate to change our windows, he prefers to wait a few years to change all the windows. We have been losing the enjoyment of one of our main windows for 2 years. Its opening is a danger, because it is too heavy, weighs on the closing mechanism, and I am afraid that it falls from the 4th floor, or that the thermos breaks again. Question:  What do you think are our remedies?

Question: I plan to purchase the exclusive right of enjoyment of a parking space (common portions for restricted use) a few months after purchasing my apartement (parking is sold directly by the developer). Do I have to go to the notary to change my deed of purchase to indicate that parking is associated with my private portion ?

A bathtub or a washing machine that overflows into the apartment below, a hot water tank that conks out and spills down six floors: losses involving the civil liability of a co-owner are many co-ownerships. And they are expensive! This is why the amount of insurance premiums and deductibles have increased significantly in recent years. Worse still, some insurers no longer want to insure co-ownerships, because of a loss ratio that has become out of control. This situation is directly related to the insurer of the syndicate, which is almost always called upon to cover a loss, when damage has been caused to the common and private portions. Thus the question of who is responsible arises. It is also necessary to know the applicable law to the owner at fault. Other considerations affect both the insurer of the syndicate and those of the co-owners concerned, to determine who will pay what?  

All co-ownerships have  common portions that need to be maintained. These may include corridors, stairs, gardens and elevators. The syndicate has an obligation to ensure their maintenance, since the declaration of co-ownership generally provides that it is the main person responsible for them. In addition, article 1039 of the Civil Code of Quebec stipulates that the syndicate has the obligation to ensure the preservation of the immovable and, by the same token, the maintenance of common portions. As for the maintenance of common portions for restricted use, for example balconies, it can be entrusted (in part) to the co-owners who have the enjoyment. This reduces the use of external service providers, thereby reducing the amount allocated to common expenses.

L’obligation du Syndicat d’entretenir les parties communes, plus particulièrement les parties communes à usage restreint, a fait couler beaucoup d’encre depuis la réforme de 1994. Souvent, les administrateurs se font tirer l’oreille lorsque des copropriétaires réclament l’exécution de certains travaux majeurs, soit un balcon sérieusement endommagé ou, comme c’était le cas dans l’affaire MARCHAND, pour une verrière qui est la source constante d’infiltration d’eau(1).  

The co-ownership gives rise to expenses relating to the maintenance of the common portions and the day-to-day administration of the syndicate. Administrative, maintenance, replacement, improvement or alteration expenses of the common portions are divided among the co-owners. General common expenses are to be distinguished from particular common expenses, which are allocated under different rules. In the first case, it is the relative value of each fraction that is used to establish the co-owners contribution. As for particular common expenses arising from common portions for restricted use, the co-owners using them are alone responsible of the expenses resulting therefrom.

Most often than not declarations of co-ownership (Constituting Act of co-ownership) designate the legal status of exterior parking spaces as common portions for restricted use. This is also true for indoor parkings, when the developer (declarant) decides that it is not necessary to create a specific lot number for each space. These are therefore an integral part of the lot constituting the common portions of the immovable.  

A co-owner has carried out by himself work on his terrace (common portion for restricted use). Since then, the roof leaks. Question : Who must pay to repair the damage?

The characteristic of divided co-ownership is to divide the building into various lots that will be the exclusive property of the co-owners (private portions), and for others that will be the property of all the co-owners (common portions). These lots are identified by an individual number, which was assigned during the cadastral operation. Each of the private lots of the co-ownership thus constituted becomes a unique property. The distinction between the common and private portions is essential, particularly from the point of view of maintenance, which is the responsibility of the syndicate of co-owners for the common portions and of the co-owners for the private portions.   

In principle, the work undertaken by the syndicate should not cause harm to a co-owner. If he suffers a prejudice beyond a mere temporary nuisance, he is then be entitled to an indemnity. Article 1067 of the Civil Code of Quebec states that a co-owner may be indemnified by the syndicate, if the work was carried out at the request of the latter. This article lists the grounds for indemnification, namely the permanent diminution in the value of his fraction, a grave disturbance to enjoyment, even if temporary, or through deterioration to the private portion.

As in common portions, work can be carried out in common portions for restricted use, such as building a terrace upon which a co-owner would have exclusive use or transforming a balcony into an additional room attached to an apartment. If such cases, the co-owners must keep in mind that article 1063 of the Civil Code of Québec governs the use they can make of the common portions for restricted use. This article stipulates that: "Each co-owner has the disposal of his fraction; he has free use and enjoyment of his private portion and the common portions, provided he complies with the by-laws of the immovable and does not impair the rights of the other co-owners or the destination of the immovable. "

Co-ownership is a collective property in which the co-owners have a right of ownership over their respective fraction: each co-owner has an undivided right to the common portions while he will have an exclusive right of ownership over his private portion. This is how you purchase an apartment in a building in divided co-ownership, you become the owner of your dwelling (private portion), but also owner of an undivided part of the building called common portion  (for example: the ground, balconies, major components such as foundations and main walls). This, taken as a whole, including the common and private portion, is designated in legalese as: a fraction.  

The contingency fund is set up on the basis of forward planning limited to certain works, namely those aimed at the conservation of the common portions. This collective savings thus makes it possible to finance the execution of works allowing the rehabilitation of the common portions as well as the common portions for restricted use. The contingency fund must be used to pay the cost of very specific work, namely those relating to major repairs or the replacement of the common portions of the building. The board of directors must therefore be able to clearly identify what constitutes the common portions and what the notion of major repairs and replacement of the common portions means.

Un copropriétaire désire que lui soit octroyé un droit de jouissance exclusif sur la terrasse située sur le toit, comme étant une partie commune à usage restreint. Question: Quelles autorisations doit-il obtenir?