Building house rules in Belgium: drafting them, amending them and enforcing them against tenants

A neighbour moves out on a Saturday evening, a tenant leaves rubbish bags in the entrance hall, and the general meeting would like to set rules once and for all. Or the syndic sends you draft rules to vote on, and you wonder what they can really impose. Either way, the document at stake is the same: the building's house rules (reglement van interne orde / règlement d'ordre intérieur), known for short as the RIO in Dutch and the ROI in French.

They are the co-ownership's operating manual. Where the deed of division (basisakte / acte de base) says who owns what, the house rules say how the owners' association (VME/ACP) works and how people live together: convening the general meeting, appointing the property manager (syndic), moving-in hours, bins, bikes in the entrance hall. Since the reform of 18 June 2018, which came into force on 1 January 2019, every building in co-ownership in Belgium must have them, and they no longer need to go through a notary. Our reading: they are the most useful text in the building day to day, and often the least carefully written. They complement the bylaws described in the page on the deed of division and co-ownership regulations and are part of the legal framework for co-ownership.

Building house rules must contain three sections

Article 3.85, § 3, of the Civil Code sets a minimum content. The house rules "contain at least":

1. the rules on how the general meeting (GM)GlossaryDecision-making body of the owners' association, of which every owner of a unit is a member. Each owner has a number of votes corresponding to their share in the common parts. See the glossary is convened, how it works and what powers it has, and, where applicable, the amount set by the general meeting above which competitive tendering for contracts and orders is mandatory;
2. how the syndic is appointed, the extent of their powers, the length of their mandate and the arrangements for renewing it, the arrangements for any termination of their contract and the obligations that follow the end of their mandate;
3. the annual fifteen-day period during which the ordinary general meeting is held.

“House rules shall be drawn up by private deed.”

Art. 3.85, § 3, Civil Code

The third section has practical consequences. The fifteen-day period set in the house rules determines the deadline by which you must send your proposals to the syndic: the syndic puts on the agenda the written proposals received at least three weeks before the first day of that period (article 3.87, § 3). House rules that say "the meeting is held in May" without specifying the fifteen-day period make that calculation impossible.

To these are added the powers and obligations of the accounts auditorGlossaryPerson, whether or not a co-owner, appointed each year by the general meeting to check the accounts of the owners' association. Their powers and duties are set out in the house rules. See the glossary, which article 3.91 expressly refers to the house rules.

Which rules of living together can be added?

Beyond that minimum, the house rules cover the rules of living together. The examples given by notaries speak for themselves: noise, waste management, pets, moving in and out, locking the building, use of the common rooms.

There is a limit. The house rules cannot quietly change what the bylaws lay down. Banning short-term letting, imposing an exclusively residential use or taking away a unit's use of a garden affects the co-owners' rights over their private parts or the purpose of the building. That kind of rule belongs in the bylaws, with the notarial deed and the qualified majority that this requires. Voted as an ordinary article of the house rules, it is open to challenge in court. If that is the case in your building, we advise removing the article rather than betting on its enforcement: a rule annulled after months of disputes leaves more scars than a rule that was never voted.

Another limit: the clauses that the Civil Code deems unwritten, such as one that would prevent a co-owner from entrusting the management of their unit to the person of their choice (article 3.85, § 4).

What majority is needed to amend the house rules?

The Civil Code does not provide a specific qualified majority for the house rules. The general rule therefore applies: decisions of the general meeting are taken by an absolute majorityGlossaryDefault voting rule at the general meeting: more than half of the votes of the co-owners present or represented at the time of the vote. Abstentions, spoilt and blank votes are not counted as votes cast. See the glossary of the votes of the co-owners present or represented at the time of the vote, unless the law requires a qualified majority (article 3.87, § 8).

This wording matters in practice. If the proposed amendment actually concerns a matter for which the law requires two thirds or four fifths, such as works to the common parts or the enjoyment of the common parts, that majority applies, whatever document the rule is written in. The thresholds are explained in the page on voting rules and majorities.

The syndic keeps the house rules up to date

When the law changes, the conflicting provisions of the house rules are automatically replaced by the legal rule, because the chapter of the Civil Code on co-ownership is mandatory law (article 3.100). The syndic then updates the text without waiting for a vote. A co-owner misled by an outdated version, for example on the notice periods for meetings, could hold the syndic responsible for that failure.

And for older buildings?

Before 2019, many operating rules were in the notarial co-ownership regulations. At the time of the reform, the provisions that were henceforth to appear in the house rules but were in the co-ownership regulations were deemed to form part of the house rules. They can therefore be amended without a notary.

Are tenants bound by the house rules?

Yes, but not automatically. Article 3.93, § 5, distinguishes two situations.

The provisions of the house rules and the decisions of the general meeting directly bind anyone holding a real or personal right over a unit who had or exercised the right to vote at the time they were adopted. A co-owner therefore cannot claim to be unaware of a rule voted while they were a member of the general meeting.

For others, tenants in particular, enforceability depends on the rules being communicated:

In practice, the consequence for a landlord is simple: attach the house rules to the lease, and pass on in time every decision that concerns occupation. Without that communication, the rule cannot be enforced against your tenant, while you remain bound by it as a co-owner.

Where must the house rules be kept?

The house rules are filed at the registered office of the owners' association, which is in the building. Anyone with an interest can consult them there free of charge (article 3.93, § 3). The same applies to the register of decisions of the general meeting.

Posting an extract in the entrance hall is good practice for the rules of living together, but it replaces neither the filing nor the communication to occupants. For a co-ownership in the Brussels-Capital Region, think also of French-speaking occupants: every co-owner can obtain a translation of documents issued by the association into one of the languages of the region, at the association's expense (article 3.96).

If a neighbour does not respect the house rules, start with the syndic, whose task is to have the general meeting's decisions carried out. The next steps, from conciliation to the justice of the peace, are set out in the pages on co-owners' rights and obligations and justice of the peace and co-ownership disputes.