The minutes are not just a summary of the meeting. The regulation requires them to set out the text of each deliberation, the result of each vote, and the names of the co-owners who voted against, abstained or took no part in the vote. That precision matters especially because challenging a decision is open only to co-owners who voted against or who defaulted, and must be brought within two months of notification. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 10 ; loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 34)
What must the minutes contain?
They are signed by the chair of the meeting, the secretary and the members of the bureau where one has been formed.
They set out the text of each deliberation and the result of each vote. They must also give the names of the co-owners who opposed the decision, of those who took no part in the vote and of those who abstained. Reservations about the regularity of a deliberation may also be recorded at the request of a co-owner who voted against. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 10)
So they are not a meeting note written freely after the event.
Why do the names of those who voted against matter so much?
Because the law reserves the challenge to co-owners who voted against or who defaulted.
The period is two months from notification of the decisions, on pain of forfeiture. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 34)
The link between the two rules is direct: the minutes are what keep the record of the position taken in the vote.
Does the attendance sheet count too?
Yes.
It gives the name and address of each co-owner or proxy and the number of votes they hold. It is initialled by the participants and certified as accurate by the chair. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 7)
It is what makes it possible to reconstruct who was present, represented or absent.
How do you check the result of a vote?
Each co-owner in principle holds a number of votes corresponding to their share.
Where one of them owns more than half of the common parts, their number of votes is reduced to the sum of the votes of the other co-owners. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 19)
In some small co-ownerships, that rule completely changes the apparent result of a vote.
What happens if the votes are tied?
The law provides a specific mechanism: the decision retained is first the one supported by the greater number of co-owners; if the tie persists, an immediate second vote is taken, and the court may then be seised if the tie remains. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 19-1)
How must the decision be notified?
Neither the 1975 law nor its implementing regulation lays down a single form of notification here.
Since the challenge period runs from notification, the method chosen has to make it possible to prove that notification and its date. No single method is imposed; what counts is traceability.
Should old minutes be kept?
Yes.
The regulation requires them to be entered in a register opened specially for the purpose, and the syndic keeps it. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 10 et 23)
The law also provides a ten-year limitation period for many personal actions arising from its application. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 34, al. 1)