Definition : Parking

Location of the building or lot where the co-owners, lessees or occupants of the immovable have the right to park their vehicles. Parking is also composed of access roads. In divided co-ownership, the parking lot is presumed to be a common portion. It is therefore the responsibility of the syndicate of co-owners to ensure its maintenance and preservation. In addition, the parking spaces may be qualified by the declaration of co-ownership as common portions, common portions for restricted use, or private portions, as the case may be.

WARNING! Under the Building Chapter of the Safety Code, a co-ownership parking lot, for which the driving surface does not rest directly on the ground, is subject to maintenance requirements and various verifications to ensure that this component remains safe. In particular, the syndicate must keep a register, carry out inspections and obtain an audit report from an engineer, according to certain terms and periodicities.

What are the parking rules for people with disabilities?

Our building has 34 indoor parking spaces, two of which are designated spaces for the disabled. These two sites were purchased from the developer by two co-owners owning an apartment. None of these co-owners are disabled. However, there is a co-owner who has recently become a person with reduced mobility and who is the owner of an indoor parking space not adapted to his needs. Question: Is there a law that would allow this co-owner with reduced mobility to request a change of parking space?

A notary sentenced to pay for non-existent parking

January 8, 2023 - The transactions in co-ownership are not simple. They require unfailing rigour, because the devil is in the details. A notary who executed the sale of a condo learned this at his own expense in the Court of Québec - Small Claims Division, because of a professional misconduct he committed by not referring to the declaration of co-ownership.

Storage in a parking space

In our current declaration of co-ownership, nothing, other than a vehicle as permitted herein, may be stored in an indoor parking space without obtaining prior written permission from the Board of Directors. More specifically, it is prohibited at all times to store goods in an indoor parking space, except and except a bicycle when the indoor parking space concerned is equipped at its end with a bicycle rack. The statement was written by the promoter of the project. I also see on this site that it would be a normal settlement. Some co-owners dispute this regulation. Question : Are there any municipal, provincial or fire service restrictions that could explain this bylaw?

Disposal of a common-use parking area for restricted use: how to do it?

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 ?

Webradio du 20 janvier 2021: Les stationnements en copropriété

Qu’ils soient intérieurs ou extérieurs, les stationnements d’une copropriété peuvent être un irritant, advenant que certaines personnes s'y garent au mauvais endroit. Comment gérer ces espaces très fréquentés, et pas toujours par les bonnes personnes? Si la surveillance de ces lieux n’est pas adéquate, ils peuvent devenir une porte d’entrée de choix pour les intrus.

Insurance of horizontal co-ownership

Whether semi-detached or row, the townhouse is a good compromise between the typical co-ownership apartment and the single-family home. This type of project is established in "horizontal co-ownership". Each of the fractions is composed of a private portion (usually a house) and a share of common portions (the land). Each co-owner is the owner of his private portion "from nadir to zenith", while the common portions are usually limited to traffic lanes, parking lots and certain strips of land. From a legal point of view, horizontal co-ownership has no special status. Horizontal co-ownerships are governed by the same rules set out in the Civil Code of Quebec that apply vertically (e.g. residential towers).

Condominium Parking

The parking spaces legal status may differ within a co-ownership, depending on what the declaration of co-ownership (constituting act of the co-ownership) provides thereabout. These locations are either underground or outside of the immovable. The spaces designated as private portions must be distinguished from the others, which may be called common portions or common portions for restricted use. They each have their own characteristics. Every director must be made aware of same, so that the allocation of common expenses related to the maintenance or the work to be carried out is done properly. An outlook on the distinct legal status of co-ownership parking spaces.

Parking : common portions for restricted use

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.

Condominium parking : Private portion

Parking spaces qualified as private portions are commonplace in divided co-ownership. This special legal status is attributed to them by the declaration of co-ownership, which designates them as fractions in the section devoted to the description of the fractions. Like an apartment held in co-ownership, all these spaces have a unique lot number, along with a relative value, and a share. Their owners may, at a general meeting of co-owners, prevail themselves of the votes attached thereto. These votes are added, as the case may be, to those they have for their apartment

Private portions and common portions

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.

Essential provisions

The offer to purchase is an important step in any real estate purchase. The Civil Code of Québec does not exhaustively specify the mandatory content ofan offer topurchase. However, the unequivocal will for the buyer to acquirethe property must be registered. Tobe valid, it must include a certain number of mandatory information, under penalty of nullity. The main mentions are the names and contact details of the parties involved, the identity of the targeted building and the purchase price that the purchaser proposes and the period of validity of the offer. It is also possible to insert various optional clauses in the offer to purchase to deepen the conditions of this one.

Duties and obligations of a syndicate of co-owners

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.

Definition : Parking

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