Definition : Director - Liability of the directors

The juridical personality of the syndicate is distinct from the one of the co-owners and directors. His acts are binding only on himself, besides for the exceptions provided by law. The faults committed by the syndicate have consequences only on its own civil liability and not on the directors. Under these conditions, they are held harmless by the syndicate and assume no responsibility for any costs, expenses, charges or losses they have incurred for the administration of the building and the syndicate. This is the basic principle, but it is important to bring several nuances to it. Indeed, a director must never lose sight of the interest of the community of co-owners.

Être administrateur de copropriété n'est certes pas toujours facile. Cette charge est lourde de responsabilités et comporte des hauts et des bas. Mais l'important, c'est qu'à la fin de son mandat, tout administrateur ait le sentiment du devoir accompli.

The declaration of co-ownership is a contract that orchestrates and regulates the lives of co-owners, lessees and other occupants of the immovable. It represents the guideline for everyone who lives in the immovable.The declaration of co-ownership provides, systematically, that it is up to the board of directors to have its content abided to. However, it happens that people break the rules, in particular by a non-compliant use of a private portion with regard to the destination of the immovable, a noise nuisance and work carried out in violation of the by the laws of the immovable. Other examples illustrate the problems that can occur in the co-ownership, such as an encroachment on a common portion or the improper installation of a floor covering. Anyone who does not abide to the declaration of co-ownership is liable, inter alia, to a legal recourse based on article 1080 of the Civil Code of Quebec . This action may be brought by a co-owner or the syndicate.

6 avril 2020- Dans leurs relations avec les copropriétaires, les membres du conseil d’administration doivent agir avec loyauté et équité. Ils doivent s’abstenir de tout geste qui pourrait s’apparenter à un règlement de comptes.

The presence of a Board of Directors is mandatory in a co-ownership. It is the executive body of the syndicate and its legal representative. Its members act as the mandataries of the syndicate. When a co-ownership is newly constituted, the declaration of co-ownership generally provides for the appointment of a interim director, who exercises the functions of the Board of Directors until the Meeting of co-owners appoints a new board of directors. This transitional period is generally delicate because of the necessarily numerous and complex problems relating to defects in workmanship, latent defects and construction defects. And this is not to mention that the transitional administrator set up by the developer may have a negative role: protect the developer and transfer to the co-ownership of charges incumbent in principle on the developer.  Its appointment Usually, it is the developer who designates him, in accordance with a provision in the declaration of co-ownership (By-laws of the Immovable). Often he appoints one of his  representatives to act as the interim director of the syndicate.

With the coming into force of the Civil Code of Québec in 1994, the Québec legislature introduced the obligation for any syndicate of co-owners to establish a contingency fund " estimated cost of major repairs and the cost of replacement of common portions". This obligation was intended to fill a gap in the previous law. Prior to the enactment of the Civil Code, it was a frequent occurrence for co-ownerships to have a "reserve fund", although the Civil Code of Lower Canada was mute on this issue. Most of the time, this fund was inadequate, due to the low level of contributions paid into it. Moreover, declarations of co-ownership often included a contribution limit (for example$ 50,000), beyond which it was no longer required to contribute the co-owners.