Definition : Administration fund (general)

The basis of the management of divided co-ownerships, the financing and accounting of syndicates of co-owners must be mastered both by those who must establish the accounts and by those who have to report to the co-owners. A syndicate of co-owners has the obligation to account for its operations by funds. The Civil Code of Québec requires the creation of a general fund, a contingency fund and and since April 2022 a self-insurance fund. The general fund for current operations is also sometimes referred to as an administration fund or an administration fund.    

At our last annual co-owner's meeting, the board of directors informed us that it was going to take $10,000 from our contingency fund to set up a self-insurance fund. To justify their decision, the directors said that this will allow to avoid putting up a special assessment. Several co-owners seemed to agree. Question: Can the board unilaterally decide to use part of the sums accumulated in the contingency fund to set up a self-insurance fund without consulting or obtaining the approval of the co-owners? And if so is this a good way to manage the funds of our co-ownership?

Co-ownership work is of the utmost importance. Yet, they are more often than not overlooked by the syndicates of co-owners. Work that needs to be done in common portions can be minor or major in scope. Yet one needs money to pay for them. Good financial planning is therefore advisable in the medium and long term, so that the community of co-owners can adequately protect its real estate investment. Replacing windows, the roof or rehabilitating the underground parking slabs, to name just a few examples, is usually very expensive. Three options are available to the syndicate to pay for this work:

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.