With the heat waves that we have known, one should especially not forget to consider certain very important points relative to the installation or the maintenance of an air-conditioning unit in a dwelling in divided co-ownership.
The right to the installation
Before proceeding with the purchase and the installation of an air-conditioning unit in an apartment in a condominium, it is first of all necessary to consult the declaration of co-ownership of the building and the building regulations in order to know: 1) if the co-owners have the right to install one to air-condition the dwelling, and if so, 2) under which conditions (size, method of installation, etc).
The air-conditioning units connected to a cooling and compression unit usually require that one drills openings in the structure of the building in order to allow to pass the necessary channels there connecting the interior unit to that of the outside.
Before even proceeding with the purchase of an air-conditioning unit, no matter the type, the informed co-owner will initially have to consult the declaration of co-ownership and the building regulations, as well as inform the Board of Directors of the syndicate of co-ownership of his intention to proceed with it. Whenever the installation is allowed in theory by the declaration of co-ownership, there is often the obligation for the co-owner to inform the Board of Directors and to subject an estimate of installation for ends of evaluation by the council and a building expert if the latter considers it to be necessary.
The Board of Directors often has the capacity to approve this kind of installation when the co-owner respects the installation requirements and that there will be no risk for the structure of the building or the risk to cause a prejudice to another co-owner. In the absence of an express provision, the syndicate will have to decide by a vote of the assembly of co-owners according to article 1097 Q.c.C. However, a verification of the declaration of co-ownership is initially essential in all of the cases.
In other cases, it may be that the dwelling in divided co-ownership will have been built so as to include already an air-conditioning unit which will have been integrated into the original construction. In the majority of cases, the declaration of co-ownership will qualify these appliances of private parties as belonging to the co-owner of the dwelling. The co-owner will thus have the full responsibility for the appliance, as well on the level of its maintenance, repair and replacement, as on the level of the responsibility for damage that the latter could eventually cause to the common or private portions of the building, as well as to the other co-owners.
The co-owner whose air-conditioning unit will cause damage to the common or private portions (for example because of a water discharge) will engage his personal liability. It could be that the damage caused is compensated by the insurer of the syndicate of co-ownership. When there is damage and its amount is lower than the franchise of the syndicate, the protection of personal insurance of the co-owner will thus have to be applied, that is to say covering its civil liability, as well as the noninsurable amount of damage (the amount of the franchise) of the insurance coverage of the syndicate. It should not be forgotten that the interest of the insurance of the co-owner in his good (his fraction) under the terms of article 2481 Q.c.C., coexists with that of the syndicate of co-ownership created by article 1073 Q.c.C. It will thus always be in the interest of the co-owner to subscribe to a protection of insurance covering the improvements made to his private portion, as well as for damage constituting the noninsurable amounts under the insurance cover of the syndicate. In each file the situation can however vary. For any question on this subject, do not hesitate to communicate with the legal team of the APQ - Section Condo.