Condominium without a manager in Italy: when it is legal

An Italian building only has to appoint an administrator when it has more than eight owners (article 1129 of the Civil Code). With eight owners or fewer, running the condominium yourselves is legal. The obligations stay the same, though: costs are split by millesimi, the owners' assembly decides, and someone has to render the accounts.

If you have bought into a small Italian building, a neighbour has probably told you that a building without an administrator is against the law. It is one of the most stubborn beliefs among Italian owners, and it is wrong. What self-management changes is only who does the work.

When is an administrator actually mandatory?

The threshold counts people, not flats: nine units held by five owners make five condòmini, and the appointment remains optional. Above eight, if the assembly fails to appoint one, a court does it instead, on the petition of even a single owner or of the resigning administrator (first paragraph of article 1129).

There is no fine for staying uncovered: the real sanction is losing control of the choice, because a judge will appoint an outside professional, at that professional's fee, in place of the one the assembly could have picked itself. Below the threshold, nothing prevents a voluntary appointment: it takes a majority of those attending the assembly representing at least 500 millesimi, the same majority required for removal (article 1136, paragraphs 2 and 4). Every other threshold is in our guide to assembly majorities in Italy.

Who decides when there is no administrator?

The owners' assembly remains sovereign, with the exact same majorities of article 1136 of the Civil Code. When there is no administrator, article 66 of the implementing provisions allows any single owner to call the meeting: a notice with the agenda, place and time, delivered to everyone entitled at least five days in advance by registered post, certified email (PEC) or by hand. If someone is left out, the resolutions can be annulled at their request.

In practice a de facto manager (the facente funzioni) almost always emerges: the owner who carries out resolutions, pays suppliers, keeps the paperwork and the accounts. The Civil Code asks one formality of them: their name and phone number posted at the entrance or wherever residents pass most (article 1129, sixth paragraph). If the assembly formally appoints them administrator, an owner of the building is exempt from the diploma and training course required of professionals (article 71-bis of the implementing provisions). A piece of advice from someone who has watched more than one self-managed building fall apart: put the role in writing in a resolution, with tasks and duration, and rotate it. The eternal volunteer first feels indispensable, then feels owed, and that is where disputes are born.

How are expenses split in a two-owner building?

The condominio minimo is a building with just two owners, and condominium rules apply even to two, assembly included. Expenses are therefore split under article 1123 of the Civil Code, in proportion to the value of each property: not fifty-fifty, unless the shares really are equal or a written agreement says otherwise. How the split works for stairs, lifts and roofs is covered in who pays condominium expenses in Italy.

The weak point is decision-making: with two heads and two shares, there is either agreement or no possible majority. In a deadlock either owner can go to court, and the judge decides or appoints an administrator (article 1105, written for co-ownership in general). And an owner who pays a common expense out of pocket without the other's consent is only entitled to reimbursement if the expense was urgent, as article 1134 of the Civil Code requires: the invoice for the leaking roof qualifies, repainting the landing does not.

Do you still need accounts and assemblies?

Yes, and this is the misunderstanding that costs the most. Self-management removes the administrator's fee, not the duties:

• the statement of income and expenses must still be drawn up and approved, because every owner is entitled to know where their money goes
• the split by millesimi remains the rule for every common expense
• the condominium needs its own tax code (codice fiscale) as soon as invoices and payments to firms or professionals are made out in its name
• the data of the condominium registry (owners, titles, safety conditions) is worth keeping up to date even though the formal register is an administrator's duty (article 1130, point 6)

Keeping all this in loose spreadsheets and group chats is the fastest way to lose track: Vecinly lets a self-managed building keep expense splits, minutes and accounts in one place every owner can see, without appointing anyone. The page for board presidents shows how volunteers use it.

What if nobody wants to do it?

This is the most common scenario and the most underrated.

With no one in charge, nobody calls meetings, maintenance slips until the small job becomes a budget-killer, suppliers do not know whom to invoice, and if a common part injures a third party, all the owners answer for it. The absence of an administrator is not a shield: it spreads the liability across everyone.

Appointing one starts to pay off when there are arrears to recover, when major extraordinary works are on the horizon, when conflict makes every resolution impossible, or, of course, when the building crosses the eight-owner threshold. At that point it is no longer a matter of convenience: any owner tired of waiting can ask a judge for the appointment directly. What an administrator would cost is in how much a condominium administrator costs in Italy.

A small building that manages itself well spends less and decides faster than a badly administered one. The condition is treating self-management as real management: meetings properly called, accounts in writing, expenses split by millesimi. The day those three things start slipping, an administrator's fee stops being a cost and becomes a saving.

Information current as of September 2026 and specific to Italy under the Italian Civil Code. This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.