The general meeting of a Danish ejerforening, step by step

In thousands of Danish stairwells the notice still hangs in the lift, taped at the corners: a date, a time, a borrowed basement room. In a growing number of buildings, though, the same notice lands by email and the minutes are signed with MitID before the folding chairs are stacked.

Either way, the rules are identical. In Denmark, if your owners association (the ejerforening) has not registered bylaws of its own in the land register, the standard bylaws apply: the normalvedtægt, executive order no. 1738 of 29 November 2020, issued under the Danish Condominium Act. They require the annual general meeting (generalforsamling) to be convened in writing with at least 4 and at most 8 weeks notice. From there, the whole process runs on fixed deadlines: proposals, majorities, proxies and minutes.

How far in advance must the general meeting be convened?

The ordinary general meeting must be held every year no later than 6 months after the end of the association's financial year. Since most associations follow the calendar year, that puts the meeting before the end of June. The date is not a suggestion: if the board lets it slip, any owner is entitled to demand the meeting be held. The board convenes in writing, and the notice must land inside the 4-to-8-week window. The minimum exists so owners have time to read the accounts and table proposals; the maximum exists because a notice sent six months ahead is forgotten by the time the evening arrives. The notice must state time, place and agenda, and the annual accounts and budget must be made available with it, or no later than 1 week before the meeting.

If something urgent comes up, there is the extraordinary general meeting: it can be convened with just 2 weeks notice, and at least a quarter of the owners (counted by ownership share (fordelingstal) or by number) can demand one on a specific topic.

Note: the standard bylaws only apply if the association has not registered its own bylaws with different rules. Check the land register before relying on the deadlines here, registered bylaws take precedence.

Agenda, proposals and proxies

The agenda is not a free-for-all.

The standard bylaws prescribe at least eleven fixed items, including election of a chairperson and minute-taker, the board's annual report, approval of the accounts, presentation of the maintenance plan, owner proposals, the budget and board elections.

If you want an item of your own discussed, your proposal must reach the board chair no later than 3 weeks before the meeting, and proposals with any necessary attachments must be made available to owners no later than 1 week before. The deadline has a purpose: your neighbours should be able to make up their minds at home (and send a proxy if needed) instead of being ambushed in the basement.

No binding decision can be made on anything outside the agenda unless every single owner is present and consents. The classic rookie mistake is believing something can be passed under any other business. It cannot: that item is for talking, not deciding.

If you cannot attend, your vote can still count. Voting rights can be exercised by your spouse or partner, or by any adult (or the board) holding a written proxy (fuldmagt). But nobody can turn up with a stack of them: an owner may cast only one vote per ballot under proxy from another owner.

What majority does it take to change the bylaws?

The starting point is simple: the general meeting decides by simple majority of ownership shares. Budgets, elections and ordinary management are settled by those who show up, one more reason the proxy matters more than it looks.

Substantial matters play in another league. Bylaw amendments, balcony and lift projects, sale of common property and restrictions on short-term letting require the approval of at least 2/3 of all owners in the association, counted both by ownership share and by number. The double test is a safeguard: neither one large owner with many square metres nor a crowd of small owners can alone push through a decision that shifts everyone's legal position.

The threshold covers all owners (not just those present) and in practice it sinks many proposals, because attendance rarely gets that high. So the standard bylaws include a safety valve: if a proposal wins 2/3 of the owners represented at the meeting, by share and by number, an extraordinary general meeting can be held within 8 weeks, where it passes with 2/3 of the votes cast, regardless of turnout.

Selling larger plots of land requires 9/10, and decisions that worsen the legal position of specific owners additionally require their consent.

What must the minutes contain, and who signs them?

The minutes (referat) must record the decisions and the substantial discussions. They are signed by the meeting chairperson and the chair of the board, and must be made available to owners no later than 4 weeks after the meeting.

Take that deadline seriously. The minutes are the association's memory and its legal backbone: they are the evidence when an owner contests a decision, when a bank assesses a buyer, and when the estate agent asks for the last two years of minutes. Minutes that never got finished are a dispute waiting to happen.

A tip from people who have been there: write the voting results in as numbers, how many voted in favour, by share and by number. Minutes that merely state the proposal was adopted are worthless the day someone asks whether the 2/3 requirement was actually met.

Can you convene and sign digitally?

Yes. The standard bylaws state explicitly that all communication between the association and the owners (notices, proxies, proposals, minutes and formal demands) may take place digitally by email or another generally recognised electronic medium. The paper sheet in the lift is charming, but no longer required.

Responsibility travels with it: owners must inform the board or administrator of their electronic address and keep it updated. A notice sent to the most recently provided address counts as received, even if the email was never opened. Owners exempt from public digital post can be exempted on documentation, and paper copies can be requested for a reasonable fee.

In practice the minutes can be signed digitally with MitID, with the same validity as ink. One thing still demands an active decision, though: the standard bylaws contain no rules on virtual or hybrid attendance at the meeting itself. If the association wants owners joining by screen, that option must first be written into its own bylaws. A tool like Vecinly can gather notices, proxies and minutes digitally in one place, but the legal framework has to come from the bylaws themselves.

A general meeting stands or falls on its deadlines: 4-8 weeks notice, proposals 3 weeks ahead, attachments 1 week ahead, minutes within 4 weeks. Respect them, collect the proxies before the evening, and put the numbers in the minutes, and the night in the basement room, or on screen, becomes a formality instead of the opening scene of a conflict.

Updated July 2026. This article covers owners associations (ejerforeninger) in Denmark, is general information and does not constitute legal advice.