Common area maintenance: what the law asks of a syndicate

What the Civil Code says

The question comes up at every meeting: can the maintenance contract be trimmed or paused to balance the budget? The answer starts with article 1039 of the Civil Code of Québec, which defines why a syndicate exists at all.

Maintaining the common portions is not listed as one option among several. Alongside preserving the building, it is the object the syndicate was created to carry out. A syndicate that stops maintaining common areas is not making a saving — it has stopped doing its job.

What that covers in practice

Common portions are defined in your declaration of co-ownership, and the boundary differs between buildings. In most Montreal buildings they include:

• The lobby, corridors and stairwells
• Elevators, including the door tracks
• The indoor garage and shared parking areas
• Waste rooms and chutes
• The laundry room, gym and other shared amenities
• Exterior entrances and the immediate surroundings

Some elements are common portions for restricted use — a balcony, a terrace — and the declaration then states who maintains them. It is the first document to read before scoping a contract.

Why deferring costs more than maintaining

Two examples visible every spring in Montreal. Calcium spread all winter and tracked into the garage by vehicles attacks the concrete slab and the rebar beneath it; an annual wash costs a fraction of a slab repair. And a lobby floor whose finish has not been redone in years eventually wears through to bare substrate, which then has to be replaced rather than restored.

There is also the effect on value. A stained lobby and a neglected stairwell are the first things a prospective buyer notices on a visit, well before they open the door of a unit. Common area maintenance is one of the few budget lines whose return shows up directly in resale price.

How to show the obligation is being met

A syndicate director benefits from being able to show, with documents, that maintenance actually happened. Three pieces cover almost every case:

• A written scope stating the tasks, their frequency, and what is not included
• A visit calendar, posted and known to residents
• A report after each visit, with a monthly summary filed in the register

The visit report has a second use that is often more valuable than the first: it flags what belongs to another trade. A developing leak, a burnt-out bulb in a stairwell, a fire door that no longer closes properly. The cleaning crew passes through every common area weekly — it is the best early-warning system a syndicate has, provided what they see gets written down.

What to check before signing

• The contractor’s liability insurance, and the amount
• CNESST registration — without it the syndicate is exposed if someone is hurt on site
• How stable the crew assigned to the building is, which predicts quality better than any pitch
• Key and fob handling: numbered, issued to one accountable person, returned at contract end
• What is excluded, written down rather than assumed

This article is general information about maintenance obligations and is not legal advice. For a specific question about your declaration of co-ownership, consult a lawyer or notary practising in co-ownership law.