Fines of Five Thousand Euros for Co-owners and Contractors Who Install Air Conditioners on the External Walls of Buildings or Enclose Balconies and Loggias

Property ownership in the Republic of Croatia is inviolable, but judging by the new proposal for the Law on the Management and Maintenance of Buildings, which could soon be adopted through an urgent procedure, it brings certain obligations for co-owners in multi-apartment buildings. Ownership of a building does not grant amnesty for neglect; multi-apartment buildings must not pose a public threat and must simply be maintained. Buildings must be maintained; this is a public interest, and such investments can no longer be sabotaged by individual co-owners.

One of the first changes in the new law is that buildings or communities of co-owners will soon gain legal capacity and their OIB. Each entrance can have its own community, or the community can be registered on one land registry parcel, depending on how the co-owners of one property agree. For example, buildings like Mamutica or buildings that rely on each other, which are defined as one property through spatial plans, can have multiple communities of co-owners or just one, depending on the owners’ agreement.

– Currently, there are already too many lawsuits between buildings and co-owners and individual co-owners in the courts; one must be both the defendant and the plaintiff. When a building sues someone, it must state the OIB of each co-owner every time, so there are situations where one co-owner dies or cannot be reached, and the procedures simply stall. The goal is to state only one OIB in such situations, that of the community of co-owners. The same applies to taking out loans for building renovations. The OIB that will be stated is that of the community of co-owners, as well as in the case of installing an electric meter for, for example, a photovoltaic plant on the roof of the building – we learn from the Ministry of Construction.

Mandatory Maintenance Plans

The goal of the new law is to ensure that multi-apartment buildings are primarily maintained and that decisions in buildings are made more efficiently. Currently, decisions about building renovations are made with difficulty; often, there is no agreement among co-owners, and it happens that several co-owners sabotage all changes and investments, especially those urgently needed, and now this is changing, they explain at the Ministry. Therefore, the new law will primarily lower the “thresholds” for decision-making. Issues of building renovation can be decided by a simple majority of votes; a simple majority of co-owners’ votes or a qualified majority of 80 percent will not be required.

Another novelty is clearer stipulation of obligations for both building managers and co-owners. Managers will know exactly how they must work on annual and multi-year maintenance plans for buildings; each year, the building must be inspected and assessed to determine what is missing and what must be changed or replaced. There will be legal regulations on how these plans must look, both on paper and in reality.

The obligations of managers are clearly defined, as are those of co-owners. There will still be co-owners who want to be passive, but the law establishes mechanisms that surpass passive co-owners. Work and regular maintenance cannot be neglected just because some co-owner does not want to sign consent. An instrument of forced managers will also be introduced, as well as a forced representative for buildings where co-owners cannot agree on anything.

Minimum Reserve Changes

The law prescribes a minimum reserve, and this amount will remain at the same level in the new proposal for the law, but only for special and vulnerable groups of citizens. The reserve will depend on the condition of the building in the future. It will be determined by the annual and multi-year maintenance plan. Managers will be obliged to propose these plans, and communities of co-owners will have to approve them, and the amount of the reserve will arise from these plans. It is currently the case, but maintenance plans are not clear, so maintenance is not carried out. If co-owners do not support the plan, it can only be partially corrected, and if that is not possible, they can change the manager who will create a new plan, but within the prescribed framework.

– The goal is to initiate maintenance, which will undoubtedly give a boost to the entire construction sector – emphasizes our source in the Ministry.

And the law will, it seems, prescribe fines and what will not be allowed in multi-apartment buildings. One of the first items is that there can be no interventions on load-bearing walls, not only by co-owners but also during work carried out by various infrastructure companies when installing gas, electricity, or telecommunications networks. It will no longer be allowed to place air conditioners on windows and external walls, especially on new buildings that will receive occupancy permits after the law is passed.

– We will completely prohibit alterations to the facades of buildings facing the outside; there will be no enclosing of loggias, balconies, and similar. We prohibit openings in the walls of buildings older than 1965, and we propose fines of five thousand euros not only for co-owners but also for contractors and companies that carry out such work for co-owners – said a source from Lider, who believes that the purpose of these fines is not the fines themselves but to deter such actions and prevent them.

Let us recall that the new Law on Building Management represents a complete novelty in our legal system, and until now, the issue of building management was covered by the Law on Ownership.