The co-owners' association is the body formed automatically by all the co-owners. The syndic is the person responsible for administering the building, carrying out decisions and representing the association. They are not two words for the same thing: one is the collective body, the other its manager.
What is the co-owners' association?
The law provides that all co-owners are automatically and necessarily grouped into an association with legal personality. Its purpose includes preserving the building and administering the common parts. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 11, tel que remplacé par la loi du 22 avril 1985)
This association is not an outside management company. It is the body of co-owners itself.
The law also provides that it is liable for damage caused to co-owners or to third parties by a construction defect or a failure to maintain the common parts. That is a very concrete reason why collective maintenance is not an abstract subject.
Where does this body take its decisions?
Mainly in general meeting.
That is where the co-owners vote the budget, appoint the syndic, decide on certain works or amend certain rules.
But not every decision requires a meeting. Subject to conditions, the law allows certain decisions on the maintenance and repair of the common parts to be taken by written consultation. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 14, tel que modifié par la loi du 22 avril 1985)
What does the syndic do?
The syndic ensures that the rules and the decisions of the meeting are carried out, administers the building, sees to its preservation, safekeeping and maintenance, and may, in an emergency, have the works needed to safeguard it carried out. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 21)
It also represents the association in civil matters and in court, within the limits set by law. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 14, tel que modifié par la loi du 22 avril 1985)
Can the syndic decide alone?
It has powers of its own to manage the building and respond to an emergency. But a delegation of powers granted by the meeting may cover only one expressly specified act or decision. It cannot remove the meeting's power of control, and its exercise must be reported on. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 12)
In other words: "the syndic manages" does not mean "the syndic decides everything".
And the works council?
The works council is something else again.
It assists and supervises the syndic. The grand-ducal regulation gives it access, in particular, to documents relating to administration, accounts, the allocation of expenditure and contracts entered into by the co-ownership. Its members are chosen from among the co-owners, their spouses or their legal representatives; the syndic, its spouse and its employees are excluded. Its duties are unpaid. (RGD du 13 juin 1975, art. 13 à 17)
Who can bring legal proceedings?
The association has standing to act in order to protect the rights attaching to the building. A co-owner may nevertheless act alone in matters concerning the ownership or enjoyment of their own unit, and must inform the syndic where the same facts also give the association a right of action. (loi du 16 mai 1975, art. 12)