Several legislative provisions governing divided co-ownership[1] have been recently introduced by the government. These changes are aimed at improving the management of condominiums and clarifying the responsibilities of the co-ownership syndicate and co-owners.
IBC explain the main legislative changes.
Description of the Private Portions
The law now requires any co-ownership syndicate to make available a description of the private portions, the items included in a standard condo unit.
A private portion is the condo unit belonging to a co-owner and includes, for example, the walls, floors, plumbing, etc.
The description serves as a comparison with everything added by a co-owner, described as improvements.
And what about insurance? The standard unit must be insured by the syndicate, while improvements must be insured under the co-owner’s home insurance. The description also indicates to the syndicate what would be the most appropriate amount of insurance for the building. This makes it easier to determine who pays what in the event of a loss.
IBC created a tool to help syndicates draw up this description.
Improvements
Improvements are additions made by the co-owner into his condo unit. Everything that is not included in the description of the standard unit is considered as an improvement. For example, replacing the original materials with a higher-value finish.
Therefore, the co-owner must ensure to cover the improvements he made to his unit according to the description of the private portions, in addition to his personal property and his civil liability.
Common expenses and apportionment
Here are some elements that clarify who pays what in case of loss. First, it is the co-ownership syndicate that must take care of the repair of the damage following a loss.
In doing so, the law now requires the syndicate to apportion the amount needed to repair the damage among all the co-owners, even if their unit was not damaged.
The law also determined that the syndicate’s deductible, which along with the syndicate’s insufficient or absence of insurance are now considered common expenses to be apportioned among all co-owners.
It should be noted that the co-owner’s insurance contract covers the apportionment and the common expenses provided it has coverage for the damages claimed by the syndicate, up to the limit indicated under the policy and certain conditions.
Obligatory Civil Liability Coverage
As of October 15, 2020, every co-owner must hold civil liability insurance, a minimum amount of $1 million for co-ownerships of 12 units or less (including commercial units) and $2 million for co-ownerships of 13 units and more.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
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18 septembre 2020
[1] Bill 141 (December 13, 2018) and Bill 41 (March 17, 2020), as well as the Regulation establishing various measures for the insurance of divided co-ownerships (May 1, 2020).
