Can I replace my windows without the owners' association's permission?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Yes, if the new ones look the same from outside as the old ones, with the same colour and the same divisions, opening the same way and fitting the same opening in the wall. In that case it is work on your own flat and you only need to notify the president or the managing agent of the owners' association (the “comunidad de propietarios”) beforehand. The association does not vote on it. If the new ones change the external appearance, you need a resolution of the owners' general meeting, which in Catalonia requires four-fifths of the owners and of the participation shares. Enlarging the opening or making a new one also affects the façade wall, which is common. Separately, you must complete whatever procedure the town council requires. The same or different The Catalan Civil Code allows each owner to carry out renovation work in their flat, provided it does not change the configuration or the external appearance of the building. Windows usually belong to each flat, but the façade they are set in is common. That is why: Notice is enough if the new ones look the same from outside as the old ones, even if they insulate better or are double-glazed. You need a resolution of the general meeting if they change the colour, the material visible from outside, the divisions, the way they open or the size of the opening. Four-fifths of the owners are needed, that is, 80 %, who must also hold four-fifths of the participation shares, the percentage each flat holds in the building. Enlarging the opening or making a new one affects the façade wall, which may form part of the structure. It needs a resolution and a technical project. Notifying is not the same as asking for permission. The owners' association does not vote on such works, but the notice allows it to check that they do not affect anything common. Do it in writing before you start and say which windows you are going to install. In the rest of Spain the rule is similar, although the Horizontal Property Act (“Ley de Propiedad Horizontal”) requires three-fifths to authorise changes to the façade. Before ordering them Ask the managing agent whether the owners' association has approved a window design or conditions for everyone. If it has, follow them. If the owners' association has allowed other neighbours windows identical to the ones you want to install, in principle it cannot refuse yours. If you replace them without the resolution that was needed, the owners' association can require you to restore the façade to how it was, at your own expense. The town council's procedure The owners' association's permission and the town council's are different things. One does not replace the other. In Barcelona, replacing the windows on the façade of a building that is not heritage-protected is normally processed through a prior notification, in which the documentation for the works is submitted to the City Council. For heritage-protected or listed buildings the procedure is more demanding and a building permit may be needed.