Cosmetic changes in owners’ associations

Hello, and thank you for reading this article, which explains how aesthetic changes should be carried out in owners’ associations when we wish to carry out renovation work on our property, and why we must adhere to a specific, pre-determined aesthetic.

Advantages of living in a homeowners’ association

Living in a housing community brings a number of benefits for residents. Firstly, it makes it much more manageable and easier to carry out any kind of renovation work or to cover the maintenance costs required to ensure the buildings in the housing community are properly looked after. As a result, each owner only has to pay their proportionate share of the costs required to cover all these communal expenses.

In addition to the above, being part of a residents’ association enables residents to have access to and enjoy a range of services and amenities, the cost of which would be much higher if we were living in a private property outside such an association.
This applies to residential estates that have a communal swimming pool, tennis or padel courts, and even private gyms, where residents have continuous and unrestricted access to use and enjoy these facilities.

In the latter case, the investment required for this package of services would be much higher for individual or detached houses, as one must take into account not only the cost of contracting the service, but also the costs associated with maintaining the relevant infrastructure.

Plenty of advantages and one drawback

Having the opportunity to enjoy all these facilities and services within a community means that any family can gain access to services which, under other circumstances, would be considered a luxury.
Now that we have looked at the main advantages of living in a residents’ association, we should also point out that there are a number of associated drawbacks.

One of the most common is the need to comply with basic rules to maintain the overall appearance of the buildings in the community. This means that, before embarking on a renovation that alters the appearance of the community, we must check whether the law allows us to do so. We will discuss this matter in greater depth below.

Rules to be followed when altering the appearance of communal buildings

It is common practice within a owners’ association for regulations concerning alterations to the aesthetic appearance of communal areas – the aim of which is to ensure visual uniformity across all the neighbouring buildings – to be set out in the association’s own articles of association.

Normally, all these regulations will have been agreed upon in advance at a meeting of the owners’ association. It will therefore have been stipulated that the façade and associated features, such as windows and awnings, must comply with a specific style and aesthetic layout.

If that is the case, the introduction of such internal regulations will make it much easier for owners to carry out this type of work, so that they can proceed with the peace of mind that comes from knowing it will be approved by the other residents.

What if there are no community guidelines on appearance?

However, we know that this is not always the case. Such written regulations may not always exist, or they may not have been sufficiently defined or detailed. It is then that disputes may arise when deciding to carry out any kind of reform of this nature.

To address this demand for alterations not covered by EU legislation, the law sets out a series of steps to be taken before carrying out any alterations to the appearance of a common element.

What does the law say on this matter?

To avoid this sort of situation – which can range from being merely unpleasant to being unlawful and costly – and before deciding to carry out any alterations or refurbishments that affect the building’s appearance, we should first consult the Civil Code, in which Article 396 It states the following, clearly defining what we mean by the common elements of a building:

“…the common elements of the building, which are all those necessary for its proper use and enjoyment, such as the ground, overhangs, foundations and roofs; structural elements, including columns, beams, floor slabs and load-bearing walls; the façades, together with the external cladding of terraces, balconies and windows, including their appearance or layout, the enclosing elements that form them and their external cladding; the entrance hall, staircases, concierges” offices, corridors, passageways, walls, pits, courtyards, wells and the areas set aside for lifts, storage rooms, meters, telephone connections or other communal services or installations, including those intended for private use; lifts and the installations, pipes and ducts for drainage and for the supply of water, gas or electricity, including those utilising solar energy; those for domestic hot water, heating, air conditioning, ventilation or smoke extraction; those for fire detection and prevention; intercom systems and other building security installations, as well as communal aerials and other installations for audiovisual or telecommunications services, all of which extend up to the entrance to the private area; easements and any other physical or legal elements which, by their nature or intended use, are indivisible…”

Civil Code, Article 369

Now that we have clarified this issue and established which areas of the community should be regarded as communal areas, let us consider what we need to do to obtain the community’s approval to carry out the desired alterations.
Under the Condominium Act, Article 10.3 specifies that the approval of at least ⅗ of the owners is required for a proposal to renovate or alter a common element to be deemed valid.

In summary

In short, what this article is saying is that, in order to carry out any alteration to the appearance of a building, to any of its elements considered to be communal property, the proposal must be put forward in advance at a owners’ meeting, so that it may be approved or rejected depending on whether or not the quorum required by law is reached.

Consequently, once the necessary majority has been secured, we will be authorised to proceed with the proposed reform. Of course, this action must always be carried out within the framework of current legislation; it is therefore advisable to consult the relevant regulations – at municipal, regional and national levels – beforehand, in order to avoid legal problems and to ensure that everything is done in accordance with the law.