Hi,
the national law on communities - Ley de division horizontal - is applicable to buildings, complexes and urbanizations where there is a combination of communal property together with individual private property.
It is true that the law provides for a subsidiary regime for all those cases where there are not Statues or By-laws. Such regime declares which areas are to be considered communal property and gives some indications as to what is private property, and it operates as subsidiary to the Statutes. Consequently, if you want to check this point, I would suggest that you requested the Statutes at the competent land registry where your property is registered, and they will tell you if there are such or not. If the land registry says that there are not Statutes the regime is the one included in the law.
It is interesting to know the highlights of the subsidiary regime which is in the law, as certainly in many cases many communities operate without Statutes as it is impossible to get the unanimity required to pass the Statutes. I will try to make a summary:
- in buildings divided in flats the following elements are communal: the soil, the fundaments, the external walls, the structure, the external configuration of the building, the stairs, the entrance, walls, aisles, the access areas, the lift itsef and the area, deposits, meters, and all the areas for communal services or communal installations, the fire prevention facilities, the ventilation areas and facilities, air conditioning, the heating installation, the smoke straction, sewage, water and electricity, solar energy installation, the collective telecommunication facilities until the entrance into the private property, AND ALSO ALL MATERIAL OR LEGAL ELEMENTS THAT BY NATURE OR DESTINY ARE UTTERLY INDIVISIBLE.
- In complexes and urbanisations, the law provides that communal property shall be all those access areas or roads, installations, services and also buildings that by bature or destiny are utterly indivisible. In other words, that they are not for the exclusive use of this or that house.
Consequently, it is a matter of construction or interpretation of the law. As you have not been specific with the question we cannot go beyond this. If you could give more details of the exact doubts you have and also as to the composition of the premises, we could risk some comments.
As to the duties of the manager, according to article 20 of the abovementioned law these are the following:
- to care of the good management and functioning of the property, its installations and services, and to make to these purposes all warnings and requests to the owners.
- to prepare the plan for the costs and to put the necessary means to face them
- to deal with the conservation and maintenance of the property, by ordering the urgent repairs and measures and reporting to the president and /or the owners.
- to carry out the agreements reached in matter of works and to carryo out the payment and make the charges.
- if applicable, to act as secretary and put at the disposal of the owners the community documents.
- any other faculties which might be granted by the general meeting; typically, to start process to request and collect debts out of court.
Surely there is a contract with the management company as they get paid and their fees are not expressly mentioned in the law, unless the Act of the general meeting contains the fees they charge.
Good luck