In Luxembourg the procedure is precise. A co-ownership must hold at least one general meeting a year. The notice is in principle sent at least fifteen days before the meeting. Once it has been received, a co-owner has six days to notify the items they wish to add; the person who called the meeting must then communicate the position on those items at least five days before it is held. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 1 à 4)
Who calls the meeting?
In principle, the syndic.
The regulation provides for at least one general meeting a year. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 1er)
The works council, or co-owners representing at least a quarter of the votes of all co-owners, may also ask for a meeting to be called. Their request must state the items to be put on the agenda. The co-ownership rules may set a lower threshold. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 2)
And if the syndic does not call the meeting?
If the request goes unanswered for more than eight days after formal notice, the chair of the works council may validly call the meeting. Where there is no works council, the court route provided for by the regulation may be used. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 2 et 30)
Here, eight days are not a scheduling suggestion: they are part of the procedure.
What notice period has to be observed?
Save in an emergency, the notice must be given at least fifteen days before the meeting, or earlier if the co-ownership rules require a longer period. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 3)
The regulation also sets the place of the meeting: in principle the municipality where the building is located, unless the co-ownership rules provide otherwise.
I have received the notice: can I still add an item?
Yes, but quickly.
Within the six days following the notice, any co-owner may notify to the person who called the meeting the items they wish to have added. That person must then notify the position on those items at least five days before the meeting. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 4)
That gives a very concrete answer to the question in the title: waiting until the day of the meeting to ask for a vote is generally too late.
Which documents have to go with the agenda?
Depending on the subject, the regulation requires several categories of document, in particular the accounts where they are to be approved, the forecast budget where it is to be voted on, the essential terms of a contract or a quotation where it is to be approved, and a draft resolution for certain important decisions, notably private works affecting the common parts. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 5)
Since 2024 the text has also been amended to include the information note linked to the comptage divisionnaire where that subject is concerned.
Can a vote be taken on a subject that comes up during the meeting?
The rule is clear: the meeting only deliberates validly on the items on the agenda, and provided the required notifications have been properly made. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 6)
A discussion may therefore start in the room without that automatically allowing a vote on a new question.
Can a resolution be amended during the meeting?
The text does not draw a detailed line between an acceptable amendment and a decision that has become a different one.
Prudence means not turning the question put to the meeting into a decision that the absent co-owners could not have anticipated. A decision falling outside the scope of the agenda may then be challenged under the rules applying to decisions of the meeting.