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3 Who is on the council, and for how long<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe law is strict on this point: only co-owners can become members<\/strong> of the council. You must have voting rights in the general meeting. Therefore, your tenant, your partner without an ownership share, or your accountant cannot take a seat. One absolute exception:<\/strong> the Property Manager themselves. Even if they happen to be a co-owner in the building, they cannot possibly supervise themselves. This prohibition is explicitly stated in the Civil Code. <\/em>Number of members<\/strong>The Apartment Act does not impose a minimum or maximum. In practice, a council works best with three to five members. A minimum of two is vulnerable: in case of illness or vacation, operations come to a standstill. More than seven becomes unwieldy, planning meetings becomes difficult, and responsibility is diluted. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTerm of office<\/strong>The mandate standardly runs until the next ordinary general meeting, so usually one year. After that, members can stand for election again. There is no legal limit on the number of consecutive mandates. <\/p>\n\n\n\nChairman<\/strong>While not legally required, in practice, the council appoints a chairman from among its members to lead the meetings and coordinate communication with the Property Manager. Note: the chairman of the council is not the same person as the chairman of the general meeting. The latter is elected at the start of each GM and does not need to be a member of the council. <\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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4 The four bodies of the Owners Association<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMany co-owners think that the auditor is a member of the council of co-ownership. That is incorrect. The Belgian Apartment Act assigns four separate bodies to the Owners Association: The general meeting<\/strong>: Always mandatoryThe auditor:<\/strong> Always mandatoryThe Property Manager: <\/strong>Always mandatoryThe council of co-ownership<\/strong>: Mandatory from 20 unitsThe first three are mandatory in every Owners Association, regardless of the size of the building. The auditor checks the accounting and the financial actions of the Property Manager: invoices, the current and reserve fund accounts, and the distribution keys. Once a year, they report to the general meeting. Division of supervision:<\/strong> the auditor performs the financial and accounting supervision. The council of co-ownership performs the administrative and technical supervision. <\/em>Is the same person allowed to take on both roles? Yes, legally there is no prohibition on combining them. In practice, we rarely recommend this, as you then lose the added value of two independent supervisory bodies. Only the Property Manager may be neither a member of the council nor the auditor. <\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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5 What does the council of co-ownership do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe core task: supervising the Property Manager<\/strong>. The council checks whether the Property Manager correctly carries out the preservation and management of the common areas. Specifically, it concerns matters such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Does the Property Manager follow up on the decisions of the general meeting?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Are quotes correctly requested and compared?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Are repairs and maintenance works proceeding smoothly?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How does the Property Manager handle complaints from co-owners?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Is the communication to the residents correct?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
To be able to carry out this supervision, the council has the right to inspect all documents<\/strong> related to the management of the co-ownership. No document may be withheld from the council. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe annual report<\/strong>The council prepares a detailed annual report. This report is sent to all co-owners and provides an overview of the findings regarding the management of the Property Manager, including between two general meetings. <\/p>\n\n\n\nExtra tasks<\/strong>The general meeting can assign extra tasks to the council with a 2\/3 majority, for example, requesting quotes for the renovation of the entrance hall. These assignments are valid for a maximum of one year. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is the council NOT allowed to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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