Condominium ownership

What the others decide, you help pay for.

It is not the individual owner who decides about the roof, the façade and the stairwell, but the owners as a whole. As a rule you will contribute to a roof refurbishment even if you live on the ground floor and voted against it. For some maintenance work no resolution is needed at all. It is worth knowing what you are getting into.

Most of it is in the documents.

The condominium agreement, the valuation report on the unit ratios, the service-charge statements and the minutes of the last owners' meetings show what belongs to you, which measures have already been resolved and what may be coming.

One thing at a time

What belongs to you and what does not

Your unit is the apartment, usually together with a cellar compartment or a parking space. The roof, the façade, the stairwell and the shared pipework are part of the common property of the building — and there the individual owner does not decide.

In practiceWindows are the most common misconception: they are part of the common property, not of your apartment. Anyone wanting them replaced cannot go around the owners' association. The condominium agreement may provide otherwise, so it is worth a look.

Resolutions of the owners

Refurbishments, the management and the reserve fund are decided by the owners together. Resolutions also bind those who voted against them or did not take part at all.

In practiceA resolution can only be challenged within a time limit. That period as a rule runs from the notice posted in the building, not from the day you learn of it. Whoever lets it pass is as a rule bound, even if the resolution could have been challenged.

Your share of the building

The size of your share follows from the unit ratio of your apartment. That determines the weight of your vote — and as a rule the share you bear of a refurbishment resolved upon.

If you want to change something yourself

Alterations that go beyond your own apartment — a balcony, an air conditioning unit, an opening through a wall — affect the common property. As a rule they require the consent of the other owners.

In practiceIf consent is refused, that is not necessarily the end of the matter. Under certain conditions it can be replaced by a court decision.

Reserve fund and property management

The reserve fund pays for future maintenance. The property manager carries out the resolutions, keeps the accounts and renders them — and is answerable to the owners.

In practiceThe manager's forward statement shows which works are coming and whether the reserve fund covers them. It is worth a look before you buy, not only once the first major refurbishment is due.

Is a refurbishment coming up, or is there a dispute?

Tell us briefly what it is about and send along what you have: the condominium agreement, the accounts, the minutes of the last meeting.

Send an enquiry

Last updated: September 2026

A general overview, not advice on an individual case. What counts as common property and which majorities a resolution requires depend on the condominium agreement and on the measure in question. Challenges are subject to time limits. In case of doubt the German version prevails.