When the owners' community (comunidad de propietarios) must approve your works

Key rules

• Inside your flat: You can renovate without a vote, but you must tell the administrator in writing before starting.
• External look: Anything that changes the facade or the building's outward look usually needs all owners to agree.
• Load-bearing walls: You can never alter a load-bearing wall alone.
• Statutes: Your building's statutes can ban or tighten any of these rules, so read them first.
• Without consent: You can be ordered to undo the work and pay costs.

The short answer

Inside your own flat, you can usually do works without a vote. Anything that touches the facade, structure or other shared parts needs the community's approval at an owners' meeting. If it changes how the building looks from outside, you often need every owner to agree.

What you can do inside your flat

You can redo your own interior without approval. You must still tell the administrator in writing before you start. If there is no administrator, tell the president. Describe the works in the notice.

You must not weaken the structure, safety or general state of the building, change its outside look, or harm other owners' rights. This notice is separate from the permit you may need from your town hall.

Changes that need the community

These are shared parts, even if they sit next to your home:

• Facade: painting it, closing a terrace, or swapping windows for a different style or colour usually needs approval. If it alters the building's external look, expect to need all owners.
• Windows and terraces: the outer shell of both is shared. Changes that alter its look need approval.
• Load-bearing and party walls: you cannot touch these alone. You need the community's consent and technical sign-off.
• Roof and structure: the same applies.

Air-conditioning units and awnings

Putting a unit or an awning on the facade or a terrace usually needs approval if it changes how the facade looks or uses shared parts. Many buildings' statutes already ban or regulate them, and some set a uniform style.

If the statutes ban it, it is banned. If they say nothing and the unit does not change the look or harm anyone, courts have sometimes allowed it. If it clearly changes the facade's look, courts often ask for all owners' agreement. The safe route is to get a written board agreement first.

Which majority you need

• All owners, including absent ones: changes to the structure or external look, and changes to the statutes.
• Three-fifths of owners and of ownership shares: new shared services, renting out shared parts, and shared renewable energy or charging systems.
• Simple majority: accessibility works such as ramps and lifts.
• One-third of owners and shares: telecoms access, or an individual electric-vehicle charging point.
• No vote: works the community must carry out anyway, such as repairs for safety or habitability, and required accessibility works.

The decision tool below helps you pick the level. Check your statutes first, because they can add stricter rules.

If you go ahead without approval

The president, after a board agreement, can send you a formal written requirement to stop. If you carry on, the community can go to court. A judge can order you to stop, put things back as they were, pay damages and cover court costs. In serious cases, you can be barred from using the home for up to three years.

Reply in writing and stop work if you get a formal requirement. A lawyer can help with the procedure.

Choosing between options

Which level of owner approval does your change need?

• All owners agree: Your work changes the building's structure or its external look, such as closing a terrace, changing the window style or colour, or an awning or AC unit that clearly changes the facade.

• Three-fifths of owners and shares: You want to add a new shared service or rent out a common element, or install shared renewable energy.

• One-third of owners and shares: You want to install an individual electric vehicle charging point or telecommunications access.

• No vote needed, board agreement is still safest: The statutes are silent and your AC unit or awning barely changes the facade.

Start from what the work changes: structure or external look needs every owner, shared services need three-fifths, and accessibility needs a simple majority. Statutes that ban the work override all of these.

Checklist

• Read your building's statutes to see whether they ban or regulate the change you want.

• Decide whether the work touches the facade, a load-bearing wall, the roof, the structure or the outer part of a window or terrace, because those are common elements and need the community's approval.

• Send the administrator a written notice describing any works inside your flat before you start, or the president if there is no administrator.

• Ask the administrator to put your request on the next owners' meeting agenda if the work needs approval.

• Get the board agreement in writing and keep a copy before the work begins.

• Reply in writing, and stop the work, if the president sends you a formal requirement to stop.

What to watch out for

• Works without consent can be ordered undone: If you change common elements without the required approval, the community can take you to court after a board agreement. A judge can order you to stop, restore the original state, pay damages and cover court costs. Get the approval in writing before you start, and ask the administrator which majority your work needs.

• Serious breaches can cost you the use of your home: In serious cases a court can bar you from using the property for up to three years, and this can end the rights of a tenant living there. Answer any formal requirement from the president straight away, stop the work and ask a lawyer for help.

• Load-bearing walls and the facade are off limits alone: Touching a load-bearing wall or changing the facade's look without consent can weaken the building and break the rules. Ask the community for approval and get a technical report before any work on these elements.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to tell the community before redoing the inside of my flat?

Yes, you must tell the community's administrator about the works before you start, or the president if there is no administrator. Send a written notice that describes the works. This is separate from the town hall permit or declaration.

Can I put an air-conditioning unit or an awning on my terrace without asking?

No, it is safest to get a board agreement first, because the facade is common property. Many communities' statutes already ban or regulate these units and set a uniform style. If the statutes are silent and the look of the facade barely changes, courts have sometimes allowed them.

What majority is needed if an awning changes how the facade looks?

Courts often require all owners to agree when the change significantly alters the facade's appearance. Some rulings accept a lower majority for minor changes. Ask the administrator to put the item on the board agenda before you buy anything.

Can the community make me undo works I did without approval?

Yes, the community can take you to court after a board agreement and a formal warning.