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To install an awning, owners need a resolution from the owners' meeting.
© Sebastian Willnow / dpa
Anyone who has purchased a condominium is not allowed to do everything: there are rules that the owner must adhere to.
We explain what is important – and what owners are allowed to do without agreement.
Munich - Remodeling, expanding, renovating: Anyone who wants to implement such a project in or on their single-family home usually only has to ask the building authority for permission.
In a homeowners' association (WEG), structural changes are much more difficult to implement.
After all, the co-owners also want to have a say if one of the owners wants to redesign something that could affect everyone - even if it's just visually.
Community and separate property
In the case of a WEG, a distinction must be made between community and separate property.
Common property generally includes all parts of the building and property that the owners use together and of which each owner only owns a part - such as the stairwell, the roof, the facade, but also cables and wires.
The special property belongs entirely to the owners - i.e. the living spaces, the sanitary installations, the doors inside the apartment.
Every owner is free to decide about these things in their own four walls and can make changes as they wish, says Michael Nack, legal advisor at the Owners' Association for Home-Owned Living.
The boundaries are fluid
But this freedom ends at the front door of the apartment or when you step onto the balcony.
The apartment entrance door represents, so to speak, the boundary between the apartment and the stairwell, and thus also the transition between shared and separate property. If you want to change the entrance door, for example, you need a resolution from the owners' meeting.
The same applies to the windows.
Owners are allowed to change the floor covering on their balcony and install sun protection that can be removed without leaving any residue.
But a decision is required to attach a permanently installed awning.
Julia Wagner from the owners' association Haus & Grund Germany points this out.
Because such an awning is usually attached to the facade, the common property must be drilled into.
A measure that may conflict with the will of the community of owners and therefore requires approval.
And even if the community agrees and even though the owner pays the bill for the awning himself, he has no right to design the sun protection according to his individual ideas.
According to lawyers, the WEG can also have a say here because the awning can change the appearance of a house.
Legal right to structural changes
“Structural changes to common property are never permitted without a resolution,” says Michael Nack.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) made this clear last year (ref.: V ZR 140/ 22).
This applies even if one owner has a special right of use for the common property and there is no impairment for co-owners.
In two recent judgments (ref.: V ZR 244/22 and V ZR 33/23) the Federal Court of Justice made it clear that owners of a WEG have at least a legal right to certain structural changes in certain cases - namely when it comes to production accessibility, for example through an elevator or a ramp.
In practice, according to Nack, this means that owners must first request a resolution for such a measure.
If the application is rejected, those affected can enforce the decision in court by filing an action for the replacement of the decision.
What owners should definitely not do: “just start building,” says Nack.
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Subsequent approval
Theoretically it would be conceivable that owners would subsequently have the unauthorized structural changes approved.
But that is risky, so it is not only advisable from a legal perspective.
“This approach brings disputes into the community,” as the other owners could rightly feel that they have been ignored, says Nack.
They might then not be able to approve what might have been permitted if a previous resolution had been requested.