Definition : Director - Term of the mandate

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.

  Section 339 of the Civil Code of Quebec establishes as a basic rule that the term of office of a director is one year. The By-law of the immovable usually describe all the terms and conditions specific to the office of director, including the duration of his mandate. Thus, a syndicate of co-owners may, at the end of the By-law of the immovable, extend the duration of the building to more than one year (for example to two or three years). At the end of the stipulated term, the term of office shall continue if it is not denounced. Consequently, if no co-owner objects to the actions of the directors, they may continue to exercise the powers conferred on them. A director remains in office until the next annual meeting, whether before or after the end of one year. He is a director at the meeting until he has been replaced by the election of a new director in order to prevent the syndicate from being without a director in the event that the election cannot be held at that time as a result of an adjournment or otherwise.

The provisions related to the appointment and replacement of the directors are provided for in the By-laws of the immovable (2nd part of the declaration of co-ownership). In their absence, they are also found in the Civil Code of Quebec (C.C.Q.). The law thus leaves it to the co-owners to establish themselves, in their declaration of co-ownership, the rules that best suit them. However, the appointment of directors generally falls within the competence of the general meeting of co‑owners, although the declaration of co-ownership may provide for other provisions.