Definition : Preservation of the immovable

Action of maintaining the immovable in a good state of repair by its physical maintenance and by keeping its common components and equipment to standards. It is one of the tasks of the syndicate of co-owners. But this mission goes far beyond mere maintenance. It also consists of adequately insuring the common and private portions and establishing a sufficient contingency fund so that the syndicate can, eventually, carry out major repairs to the immovable as well as replace common portions that have reached their life expectancy.

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20/09/2024

Types of work involved

The syndicate has the legal obligation to safeguard the immovable, concerning work in common and private portions. Such work includes minor or major repairs, and urgent interventions, when the conservation of the built-up patrimony is affected by a fortuitous event. In such occurrences, article 1066 of the Civil Code of…...

Work
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23/07/2024

Powers of the syndicate of co-owners

The powers of the syndicate are designed according to the collective interest of the co-owners and find their limits in respect of the individual rights of the co-owners guaranteed by the declaration of co-ownership and by the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (e.g.: the inviolability of the home). These…...

Syndicate

23/07/2024

Duties and obligations of the 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…...

Syndicate
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23/07/2024

What is a syndicate of co-owners?

The syndicate acts as a legal person bringing together all the co-owners of the building and not each of them individually. The Civil Code of Quebec (C.c.Q.) provides that the syndicate of co-owners arises, by operation of law, at the time of publication of the declaration of co-ownership in the Land register. With the powers devolved to it by…...

Syndicate

23/07/2024

Duties and obligations of the board of directors

The law does not establish an exhaustive list of the duties and obligations that the members of the board of directors must assume. It is the declaration of co-ownership (constituting act of the co-ownership) and certain articles of the Civil Code of Québec which, for the most part, determine them.…...

Syndicate
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23/07/2024

Mission and powers of the board of directors

It is to the board of directors as a whole, as a decision-making body, that the Civil code of Quebec confers the power to administer the affairs of the syndicate. Individual directors do not have any powers unless they have been specially authorized to do so. All decisions concerning the syndicate, the co-ownership…...

Syndicate

16/06/2024

Work of the syndicate of co-owners in the common portions

Every syndicate of co-owners has obligations regarding common portions maintenance. Article 1039 of the Civil Code of Québec provides that "Upon the publication of the declaration of co-ownership, the co-owners as a body constitute a legal person, the objects of which are the preservation of the immovable, the maintenance and…...

Work
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28/06/2024

Work of the syndicate of co-owners in the private portions

Over time, various maintenance or improvement works will become necessary, sometimes requiring the syndicate to access private portions, or even to carry out the work within them. To prevent any obstruction of essential work for the syndicate of co-owners, Article 1066 of the Civil Code of Québec states that no co-owner…...

Work
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16/06/2024

Alteration, enlargement and improvement work of the common portions

Works for the alteration, enlargement or improvement of the common portions are subject to a special regime. On the one hand, such work must be the subject of a formal authorization from the meeting of co-owners, by  the enhanced majority of article 1097 of the Civil Code of Quebec. On the other hand, this kind…...

Work

16/06/2024

Liability of the syndicate of co-owners regarding the work

Like any other natural or legal person, a syndicate of co-owners is susceptible to incur civil liability. This may be called into question during the execution of work in the common portions, as soon as a resident of the building or any other person in its environment experiences damage, direct…...

Work

16/06/2024

Limited right of access

The directors of a co-ownershipmay, eventually, be required to enter a co-owner’s private portion. Article 1066 of the Civil Code of Québec obliges the co-owner, as well as their tenant or any other occupant, to accept work within their private portion. This applies particularly to urgent or conservation work aimed at ensuring…...

Work

16/06/2024

Decisions regarding the work

The work to be done in the common portions is subject to rules that it is useful to know in detail. The syndicate of co-ownership acts in this matter through its two bodies, the board of directors and the meeting of the co-owners. It is the responsibility of the board of directors to analyze the…...

Work

27/04/2024

Building insurance

The law obliges syndicates of co-owners to insure their immovable; the majority of declarations of co-ownerships also have such requirement. This can be explained by the syndicate's main objective which consists to ensure the preservation of the immovable and its longevity; this is why the legislator has given to the syndicate an insurable interest and has made it…...

Insurance