Fundo de reserva: is it mandatory? How much?

"Is the fundo de reserva mandatory? How much should we charge?" are the two most common questions on the topic, and the short answer disappoints anyone expecting a number: the law sets no percentage. What it does is send the decision to the condomínio's convenção. Understanding that avoids the two most common traps: quoting a percentage as if it were law, and spending the fund with no written rule.

Is it mandatory?

The Civil Code articles on the condomínio edilício (arts. 1.331 to 1.358-A) do not treat the reserve fund as an obligation. What the Code does say is that the convenção determines "the proportional share and the way owners' contributions are paid to meet the ordinary and extraordinary expenses of the condomínio" (art. 1.334, I), and that each owner must contribute to expenses "in proportion to their fractions, unless the convenção provides otherwise" (art. 1.336, I).

Lei 4.591/1964 goes one step further: it says the convenção must contain "the form of contribution to build a reserve fund" (art. 9, § 3, item j). The Civil Code itself refers to "the reserve fund of the condomínio edilício" (art. 1.358-Q, VII, in the multiownership rules). How the fund is built and in what proportion is for the condomínio's convenção to decide.

Practical answer: open the convenção and the regimento interno. If there is a clause on the fund, it is your starting point. If there is none, the way forward is to bring the subject to the assembly.

How much?

Neither the Civil Code nor Lei 4.591 sets a percentage or a minimum amount. So any figure circulating as "the percentage set by law" does not come from them. The amount comes from two sources:

• The convenção, which determines the share and the way contributions are paid (art. 1.334, I).
• The budget and contributions, which the annual assembly approves (art. 1.350) on the proposal the síndico prepares (art. 1.348, VI).

A better question for the assembly than "which percentage is right" is what the fund is for: which equipment and foreseeable works, on what timeline, at what cost. A defensible figure comes from that list.

How to use the fund

The law gives no list of permitted uses. What it gives are rules on who authorises spending, and these apply whatever the money's source:

• The síndico must "comply with and enforce the convenção, the regimento interno and the assembly's decisions" (art. 1.348, IV).
• Necessary works can be carried out by the síndico without authorisation (art. 1.341, § 1). If they are urgent and involve excessive expense, the síndico informs the assembly, which must be convened immediately (§ 2). If they involve excessive expense and are not urgent, they can only go ahead once authorised by an assembly specially convened (§ 3).
• Useful works need the vote of a majority of owners, and luxury works two thirds (art. 1.341, I and II).

That is what the Civil Code says about works. Whether the fund may pay only for certain kinds of expense, or whether any withdrawal needs an assembly, is set by the convenção or by a decision of the assembly itself.

A clause drafting that tends to prevent arguments, as good practice and not as a legal requirement, answers four questions:

1. What it is for. Replacing equipment, foreseeable works, emergencies.
2. How it is built. A fixed contribution, a percentage of the taxa condominial, or the year's surplus.
3. Who authorises withdrawals. The síndico up to a limit, the assembly above it, the conselho fiscal consulted.
4. How it is replenished. What happens if the balance is used in an emergency.

Show the fund separately

The reserve fund is the part of the accounts where owners are most suspicious, because the money "looks idle". The law does not define the contents of the prestação de contas, but a simple table answers most questions: opening balance, the period's contribution, withdrawals with the reason, and closing balance. If the convenção sets limits on use, note beside each withdrawal which clause or which minutes authorised it.

And the assembly that decides this?

Changing the convenção needs two thirds of the owners' votes (Civil Code art. 1.351). The assembly can be held electronically if the convenção does not forbid it and voice, debate and vote are preserved (art. 1.354-A, from Lei 14.309/2022). A survey in the app helps gauge residents' views beforehand, but does not replace an assembly convened as the convenção requires; the video call runs on a separate platform such as Zoom or Meet.

How Unitify helps with this routine

Unitify does not keep the condomínio's books and does not set the fund's amount. It handles the billing and communication around it:

• In Easybilly, the taxa condominial and the contribution to the fundo de reserva can be separate lines, and each boleto and payment sits in the apartment's record. Residents see what they are paying, and the síndico shows what was billed on each line and who is overdue.
• Whoever pays the contribution by Pix or boleto keeps using the method they already use; payment inside the app depends on the integrated payment method, and where there is none, the resident gets the boleto as a PDF with a QR code to pay outside the app. Payments received outside the app (Pix, boleto bancário) enter the record by spreadsheet import and are reconciled with the units.
• In the resident app, the assembly notice reaches everyone, and surveys let you hear residents on the amount or the use of the fund before the formal vote.
• If the contribution is paid late, the same reminder process that reduces inadimplência applies to it.

See the Brazil page or book a demo.