Legal guide for administrators
The common reserve fund is not good management practice — it is a legal obligation, with a minimum percentage and a purpose of its own. The rules sit in article 4 of Decree-Law 268/94, as amended by Law 8/2022. The commonest question is what the percentage is calculated on, and that is where this guide starts.
Statutory text verified on 30 August 2026.
Article 4, no. 1
No. 1 leaves no room: the constitution of a common reserve fund in each condominium, to meet the costs of conserving the building or set of buildings, is mandatory.
It does not depend on the building being new, on works being planned, or on the assembly wanting one. A condominium without a reserve fund is in breach, and the breach is the condominium's — not merely the administrator's.
The purpose is fixed too: conservation expenses for the building. That earmarking is what explains the rules in the following paragraphs.
Verifying that the common reserve fund exists is one of the administrator's duties, listed in paragraph e) of article 1436, no. 1, of the Civil Code.
Article 4, no. 2
No. 2 sets the floor: each owner contributes to the fund an amount corresponding to at least 10% of their share in the condominium's remaining expenses.
Two words change everything. The first is «remaining»: the base is the other condominium expenses, not a total that already includes the fund. The second is «at least»: 10% is a floor, and the assembly may decide on more.
From which follows the answer to the commonest confusion: the contribution to the fund is added to the share of the remaining expenses rather than carved out of it. An owner who paid 100 € of common expenses now pays 110 €, not 100 € of which 10 € go to the fund.
Article 1424 of the Civil Code
The share the 10% applies to comes from article 1424 of the Civil Code: unless otherwise provided, expenses necessary for the conservation and enjoyment of common parts, and those relating to services of common interest, are paid by the owners in proportion to the value of their fractions (no. 1).
There are exceptions that change the base before the 10% is reached. Expenses for services of common interest may, under a provision of the condominium regulation approved without opposition by a majority of owners representing the majority of the building's total value, fall on the owners in equal parts or in proportion to their enjoyment, provided the criteria are specified and justified (no. 2).
And expenses relating to common parts that serve only some owners fall on those who use them (no. 3). A lift serving one block alone does not enter the share of an owner who never uses it.
Article 4, no. 4
No. 4 is explicit: the common reserve fund must be deposited with a banking institution, and its administration falls to the assembly of owners.
Two distinct obligations. The money sits in a bank — not in petty cash, not mixed with the personal current account of whoever administers it. And the assembly administers it, not the administrator on their own initiative.
In practice this means a withdrawal from the fund rests on a decision, and that the balance should be checkable against a bank statement at any time.
Article 4, no. 3
Law 8/2022 added no. 3 precisely for the case where the fund is spent outside its purpose. If, by decision of the assembly, the fund is used for a purpose other than the one in no. 1, the owners must ensure payment, within a maximum of 12 months from the decision, of the extraordinary levy needed to replace the amount used.
The period runs from the decision, not from the date the money left.
And the rule has teeth: the same no. 3 applies article 6 — the regime for recovering condominium debts — if that replacement obligation is not met.
Article 10-A
Decree-Law 268/94 anticipated the deadlock. Under article 10-A, whenever by act or omission of the owners the assembly does not meet, or the decisions needed to comply with the legal obligations to draw up the regulation, take out mandatory insurance or constitute the reserve fund are not taken, and there is no administrator, any owner may see those obligations met as provisional administrator.
Once those obligations are met, the provisional administrator must call the assembly to elect an administrator and to report and account for their administration.
If the assembly, duly called, still does not meet or elect an administrator, that owner may tell the others they are continuing provisionally, under article 1435-A of the Civil Code, or ask the court to appoint an administrator.
Constituting the reserve fund is expressly listed, alongside the regulation and mandatory insurance, among the obligations that justify provisional administration. That is the measure of how seriously the law takes it.
Frequently asked
On top. Article 4, no. 2, requires a contribution corresponding to at least 10% of the share in the condominium's «remaining» expenses. The base is the other expenses, so the fund is an additional amount rather than a slice taken out of the existing quota.
Yes. The law says «at least 10%», which sets a floor rather than an exact figure. A condominium with conservation works ahead usually decides on more.
No. Article 4, no. 1, makes constituting the fund mandatory in each condominium, and the law provides for no decision that sets that aside. The assembly decides the amount above the minimum and administers the fund — it does not decide whether it exists.
The fund is meant to meet the building's conservation expenses (article 4, no. 1). If the assembly decides to use it for another purpose, no. 3 applies: an extraordinary levy must replace the amount used within a maximum of 12 months from the decision.
The law requires it to be deposited with a banking institution and administered by the assembly (article 4, no. 4). An identifiable account or sub-account is the usual way to make the balance demonstrable and keep it distinct from day-to-day cash.
Contributions belong to the condominium rather than to the owner who paid them, and the fund follows the building. What changes on a sale is liability for charges: those falling due after the transfer are the new owner's (article 1424-A, no. 4, of the Civil Code).
Sources
Every rule above is in the official text. The links below open the legislation, not a commentary on it.
This page is general information about the law in force, not legal advice on a particular case. The constitutive title and the condominium regulation may change how expenses are apportioned, and with it the calculation base — read them before fixing amounts.
Other guides
In CondOnline
CondOnline works out each fraction's contribution from its permillage and the approved budget, keeps the reserve fund separate from the other headings, and holds the history of money in and out ready to present at the meeting.