Le mardi 08 janvier 2008

The portions of the immovable and who is responsible for the charges?

by: Me Serge Abud,

lawyer, PAPINEAU AVOCATS inc.

The private portions.

Those portions of the buildings and land that are the property of a specific co-owner and that are for his use alone are called the private portions. He is the only one responsible.

The common portions.

The common portions are owned by all co-owners, proportionate to the relative value of their fraction as established in the declaration of co-ownership. Those portions serve for their common use, unless the declaration of co-ownership indicates that they serve for the use of only one or several co-owners. Maintenance, repair and replacement costs of the common portions are assumed by the syndicate of co-ownership and then collected from the co-owners according to the relative value of their fraction. The common portions are so designated in the declaration of co-ownership and shown in the cadastral plan. If the declaration of co-ownership fails to designate those portions as such, the Quebec civil code enumerates what is presumably common.

The common portions for restricted use.

Those portions belong to every co-owner proportionate to the relative value of their fraction, but their use is reserved to only one or several co-owners. Only the co-owner(s) who use common portions for restricted use pay to the syndicate the expenses resulting from those portions since only the syndicate may hire manpower and pay the bills. It is important to clearly identify the common portions for restricted use in the decaration of co-ownership in order to prevent conflicts.

The intermediate common portions.

Partitions or walls that are not part of the foundations and main walls of a building but which separate a private portion from a common portion or from another private portion are presumed common, unless the declaration of co-ownership states otherwise. Responsibility for those portions is shared equally between the intermediate co-owners.