Extraordinary compensation: must be indicated in the budget
The principle to keep in mind is that of ensure that condominiums are adequately informedfrom the moment of the appointment of the administrator, about the foreseeable entity of the fees due. This serves to prevent a practice, a rather common time, in which some administrators inserted in the final report items of additional compensation not previously agreed or formally approved.
There is no doubt that an extraordinary compensation for the works approved during the assembly can be paid to the administrator: however said compensation must be expressly and specifically indicated when approval of the budget relating to extraordinary works.
A recent pronunciation of Court of Taranto (sentence of 06-06-2025 n. 1330) he offered relevant ideas on the subject of compensation required by the administrator of condominium for Activities related to extraordinary maintenance maintenance works. The story took the start from an injunction obtained by the condominium against a defaulting condominium, which proposed opposition, contesting, among other things, the legitimacy of the compensation requested by the administrator.
Affair and decision: no extra compensation without resolution
A condominium challenged an injunction obtained by the condominium that imposed the payment of € 2,785.04 in favor of the administrator, a sum linked to extraordinary activities carried out in the condominium. At first instance, the justice of the peace partially accepted the opposition, reducing the credit amount to € 2,648.00. However, the condominium has decided to appeal, raising several critical points on the sentence.
According to the same condominium, in fact, the first instance judge would not have properly reconstructed the facts, nor adequately motivated in law. According to him, fundamental checks were missing, such as the content of the 2016, 2019 and 2022 assembly reports, documents that would have demonstrated theabsence of a resolution that authorized the payment of an extraordinary compensation to the administrator. A central question concerned the modalities with which the administrator had calculated his compensation: would have applied one independently percentage of 3% on the amount of extraordinary worksnot yet determined. In essence, the appeal was based on lack of a resolution Chiara and valid that authorized the extraordinary compensation.
The Court considered the complaints of the condominium founded and revoked the injunction, stating that Without an express assembly resolution, the administrator cannot claim extra compensation for activities related to extraordinary works. As the Court noticed, the administrator founded his economic request on one proposal for the assignment subject to the condominium assemblyin which the payment of an additional compensation was expected if extraordinary interventions of value higher than a specific threshold had been carried out. However, the same appeal judge found that The Assembly has never approved the estimate drawn up by the administrator for ordinary and extraordinary compensation.
Final considerations: obligation of transparency and duty of vigilance
The compensation of the administrator, both for ordinary and extraordinary activities, must be preceded by the preparation of a quote and from the relative approval by the condominium assemblyas required by art. 1135 cc follows that Only the condominium assembly has the power to decide whether to recognize an extraordinary compensation to the administratorfor example for extra activities related to exceptional works or situations. This decision cannot be taken by the administrator alone, nor does it set unilaterally.
Based on art. 1129 cc, the administrator, when he accepts the assignment, must indicate in detail its compensation. If he doesn’t do it, the appointment is nothing. This obligation serves to guarantee transparency towards condominiums. The rule suggests that, already in that initial phase, the administrator could also include compensation for any extraordinary activities, provided they are clearly specified. In any case, according to the Supreme Court, when the Shareholders’ Meeting gives the administrator the task of signing a contract For extraordinary maintenance interventions, also providing for an additional compensation for this assignment, assigns a function that exceeds routine management duties.
The administrator in charge of the extraordinary activity inherent in the transfer of a contract for the maintenance of the building must therefore not carry out his task by trusting the contractor and the manager of the works to the point of being considered exempted from the obligation to exercise any surveillance. In this perspective, the administrator – who must act according to the Standard standards of professionalism and diligence from article 1176 cc, second paragraph – assumes theobligation to follow the progress of the worksverify that they are performed according to the contractual clauses and with adequate technical standards, check times and methods of execution, authorize payments only if duly justified, and above all promptly inform the condominiums about any critical issues that can affect the correct execution of the contract (Cass. Civ., Section II, 17/06/2025, n. 16290).
