Co-ownership service charges: calculating, splitting and checking them
A call for advance payments, an annual statement, a budget to vote on: your building's charges arrive in several forms. Here is who sets the amounts, how they are split and how to check the accounts.
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Updated on 25.09.2026- Co-ownership accounting in Belgium: keeping and checking the standard chart of accounts
You have the building's accounts in front of you ahead of the general meeting, or you have just agreed to keep them. Here is which chart of accounts applies to your co-ownership, when simplified accounts are enough and what to check.
- Co-ownership budget: drawing it up, voting on it, following it
The notice of the general meeting has arrived with a budget for the coming financial year, and it will set your advance payments all year. Here is how to check that it holds up before voting on it, and what exactly you are voting on.
- Reserve fund and working capital in a co-ownership: where your money goes, and what happens to it on a sale
Your call for funds mentions a working capital fund and a reserve fund, or you are selling and wonder what you will get back. Here is what each one is for, who decides to use it and what happens on a sale.
- Annual service charge statement: checking it line by line before the GM
The annual statement has just arrived and the balance you owe takes you by surprise. Here is how to read it line by line, spot an allocation or meter error, and get it corrected before the general meeting.
- Heating cost allocation in your co-ownership: checking your share of heating, energy and water
Your share of heating or water has shot up on the statement, even though you changed nothing at home. Here is how the shared bill is split unit by unit, and where to check the calculation.
- Co-owner unpaid charges: reminders, formal notice and the justice of the peace
A neighbour has stopped paying his advance charges, and the other co-owners are fronting the money. Here is what the syndic can do on his own to recover those charges, and the order in which to act.
- Syndic fees: how to read, compare and renegotiate them
Your syndic's fees seem heavy, but the 'flat fee' line does not tell the whole story. Here is how to add up the real cost, compare quotes on a fair basis and renegotiate the contract.
- Syndic cost in Belgium: judging the offers you receive
You receive three offers from syndics for the same building, and the prices range from one figure to double that. Here is why, and how to tell which one is right for your co-ownership.
You may have in front of you a call for advance payments, a statement whose balance surprises you, or the notice of a general meeting asking you to vote on a budget. Behind these three documents there is a single mechanism: that of co-ownership service charges.
They fund everything that belongs to the building as a whole: the lift, cleaning of the common areas, building insurance, collective heating, the syndic's fee. Each co-owner owes them according to the share of their unit, whether they live in their flat, let it or leave it empty.
The framework is the same in Flanders and Brussels: the Civil Code, Book 3, Articles 3.78 to 3.100, supplemented for accounting purposes by the Royal Decree of 12 July 2012. This page gives the overall logic; each specific question is dealt with on a separate page. Our conviction: a co-owner who understands this cycle, from budget to statement, no longer needs to take the property manager (syndic) at their word.
How is the amount of your charges set?
Everything starts with the budget. The syndic prepares a budget for current expenses (maintenance, running and administration of the common parts) and a second one for foreseeable extraordinary costs. The general meeting votes on these budgets every year. Our page on the co-ownership budget sets out the method, item by item.
The voted budget is then divided between the units. The basic key is the shares (quotes-parts)GlossaryTerm used by the Civil Code for the fraction of the common parts attached to each unit, also called quotités. It is set in the deed of division according to the respective value of the private parts and determines each co-owner's number of votes at the general meeting. See the glossary set in the deed of division (acte de base / basisakte), but some charges follow a usefulness criterion: a ground-floor shop may, for example, not contribute to the lift costs if the articles of association provide for it. The articles of association are read in the deed of division.
You then pay advance payments, usually quarterly or monthly, and an annual service charge statement compares these payments with actual expenditure. Depending on the balance, you receive a refund or an additional call.
Working capital fund and reserve fund: two funds, two accounts
The Civil Code distinguishes two funds (Art. 3.86, § 3).
| Working capital fund | Reserve fund | |
|---|---|---|
| Used for | Recurring expenses: heating, lighting of the common areas, management | Non-recurring expenses: replacing the boiler, lift, roof |
| Obligation | Always | No later than five years after provisional acceptance of the common parts, unless exempted by a 4/5 vote |
| Amount | Set by the general meeting | At least 5% of the ordinary common charges of the previous financial year, per year |
| On a sale | The seller recovers the share for the period in which they no longer enjoy the unit, according to the syndic's statement | Remains the property of the association |
Each fund must be held in a separate account opened in the name of the owners' association (VME/ACP)GlossaryLegal entity that brings the co-owners together and whose sole purpose is the preservation and management of the building. It acquires legal personality as soon as a first unit is transferred, provided the deed of division and the co-ownership regulations have been transcribed. See the glossary. The page working capital and reserve fund explains how to calculate them and what happens to them when a flat changes hands.
Who checks the building's accounts?
There are three levels of control. The syndic keeps the accounts; from twenty units (cellars, garages and parking spaces not counted), they must follow the Belgian standard chart of accounts (MAR/PCMN), in double entry. Below that, simplified accounting is allowed. See our page on co-ownership accounting.
The general meeting appoints an 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 every year, whether a co-owner or not (Art. 3.91), then approves the accounts. And you, as a co-owner, can consult the co-ownership's non-private documents: invoices, contracts, account statements. If a meeting decision seems irregular to you, the justice of the peace can be asked to rule within four months of the meeting (Art. 3.92, § 3); the procedure is described in challenging a GM decision.
The situations that push the bill up
Three items often weigh more than expected. First, heating and water, whose split depends on the meters and heat cost allocators installed: see splitting water and heating costs. Next, arrears: as long as a co-owner does not pay, the others advance their share (page co-owner not paying). Finally, management: the syndic's fees and the costs charged as extras are negotiable, and our page on syndic prices in Belgium helps you place an offer.
First things first: before disputing an amount, gather the voted budget, the latest statement, the minutes of the general meeting and the articles of association. These four documents answer most questions about charges.
Frequently asked questions
Who decides the amount of co-ownership service charges?
Each year the syndic prepares a budget for current expenses and another for foreseeable extraordinary costs. These budgets are put to the vote of the general meeting (Art. 3.89, § 5, Civil Code). Each unit's share then follows from the apportionment criteria set out in the building's articles of association.
Is the reserve fund mandatory in Belgium?
Yes, in principle. The owners' association must set it up no later than five years after the provisional acceptance of the common parts, with an annual contribution of at least 5% of the ordinary common charges of the previous financial year. It may decide by a four-fifths majority of the votes not to set it up (Art. 3.86, § 3, Civil Code).
Are the rules different in Flanders and Brussels?
No. The rules on charges, funds and co-ownership accounting are in the Civil Code, which is federal, and in a Royal Decree of 12 July 2012. They apply in the same way in all the Regions. What varies is mainly the water and energy suppliers and the renovation grants.
Can I see the invoices paid by the co-ownership?
Yes. The syndic must give co-owners access to all documents or information of a non-private nature relating to the co-ownership (Art. 3.89, § 5, Civil Code). The association's invoices, contracts and bank statements are among them.