COMMON PROPERTY

When buying a condominium, the question always arises as to what belongs to the separate property, what to the partial ownership and which parts of the building belong to the common property.

WHAT IS COMMON PROPERTY?

Everything that does not belong to the separate property or partial ownership is common property. Common property includes entrance areas, stairwells, drying rooms, laundry rooms, bicycle cellars and the plot itself – in other words, parts of the building that serve the entire community of owners. The declaration of division defines what belongs to the common property. Every buyer should therefore read the declaration of division carefully before acquiring a condominium.

Certain components of the building necessarily belong to the common property and must remain common property. They cannot be declared separate property by agreement of the owners. This applies, for example, to load-bearing walls and the structural components of the floors of the separate property (but not the floor coverings, which are separate property).

Rooms that belong to the common property can, under certain circumstances, be declared separate property. For example, the community of owners could transfer the bicycle room to one owner by agreement and thus declare it separate property.

DISTINGUISHING SEPARATE PROPERTY FROM COMMON PROPERTY

In practice there are repeatedly problems in distinguishing separate property from common property. Here are some examples:

Sewage pipes The main sewage pipe is common property, but the feed pipes that carry waste water from the separate property to the main sewage pipe belong to the separate property.

Planters vs. balcony boxes If planters serve to border roof terraces, paths, terraces or green areas on the plot, they belong to the common property. Flower boxes or tubs, on the other hand, count as separate property.

WHY IS THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN SEPARATE PROPERTY AND COMMON PROPERTY SO IMPORTANT?

• Plot: the land
• Outdoor facilities such as green areas, planting, courtyards, paths, driveways, garden paving.
• Foundations of the buildings, including cellar walls and cellar entrances, cellar floors, light wells and the associated gratings, partitions between the cellar compartments.
• For underground car parks: load-bearing and structural parts such as perimeter walls, beams, ceilings including insulation, floor construction, garage door.
• Roof structure including roof covering
• Window frames including panes, window sills (outside) and roller shutter boxes, as they are part of the building's structure. Inner window sashes, the interior paintwork and fittings are separate property.
• House entrances including stairwells with stairs that are not inside the separate property; stair landings, stairwell windows. Also apartment doors (but not their interior paintwork) and cellar doors.
• Caretaker's cellar, meter rooms, utility connection rooms, boiler room, laundry room, refuse rooms etc.
• All installations serving several owners, such as satellite systems and their cables, all risers and down pipes for water, electricity, district heating and the like.
• Structural parts of the ventilation systems for bathrooms and toilets.
• Perimeter walls, load-bearing partition walls, floor slabs, balcony parapets and entrance canopies.

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