A device that provides thermal comfort to building occupants by distributing heat to common portions or private portions, using multiple apparatus powered by a single energy source (electricity, gas, etc.). In addition, this device sometimes produces domestic hot water. In divided co-ownership, the central heating system is presumed to be a common portion when it is part of the common equipment and apparatus, even if it passes by the means of ducts, through a private portion. It is therefore the responsibility of the syndicate of co-owners to ensure its maintenance and preservation.
I am co-owner of an apartment that is located on the ground floor in a fairly old building. The service crawl space below my apartment is not heated. This common portion of the building is currently 9 degrees in the middle of it and our floor is frozen (10.6°C on the floor in our daughter's room and in the bathroom). We are therefore forced to heat really hard and constantly because the temperature ensuring a comfort zone is never reached. Questions: At what temperature is a heater considered insufficient? What is the minimum temperature for common portions such as crawl space and passageways? What are my recourses in case of insufficient heating?
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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.
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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.
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The Civil Code of Québec confers juridical personality on the community of co-owners. Article 1039 of the Civil Code of Quebec provides that as soon as the declaration of co-ownership is published, the community of co-owners constitutes a legal person called a syndicate of co-owners.
Those duties and obligations are mainly aimed to ensure the preservation of the immovable, the administration of the common portions and the protection of the rights affecting the immovable or co-ownership, as well as all operations in the common interest. However, it is essential to understand them well because failure to comply with these duties and obligations towards a co-owner or a third party could lead to the civil liability of a syndicate.
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