Answer the questions to see a score.
Hand the building over to a manager the owners will keep
In Poland the developer’s first deed can fix the manager for every later buyer, and the owners can still change it by a notarial resolution. Choose a manager they will want to keep, and make the handover clean.
What the first deed sets, and what owners can change
The manager you name in the first deed is not a permanent choice. These are the rules that matter for the building you hand over.
- 1The first deed. The way of managing the common property can be set in the deed that creates separate ownership of the units, including entrusting it to a natural or legal person (art. 18(1)). When units are separated one after another, that choice applies to every later buyer (art. 18(2)).
- 2The owners can change it. A change of the way of management follows from a resolution of the owners recorded by a notary, which is also the basis for an entry in the land and mortgage register (art. 18(2a)).
- 3Votes count by share. Resolutions pass by a majority of votes counted by share (art. 23(2)). While one owner holds most of the shares, owners with 1/5 of the shares between them can demand one vote per owner (art. 23(2a)).
- 4Documentation. The manager entrusted with management must draw up a protocol of takeover of the property and its technical documentation (art. 29(1b)). Unless the owners decide otherwise, the cost of drawing up or updating that documentation falls on the previous owner of the property until the last unit is separated, and on all owners by share afterwards (art. 29(1d)).
- 5Two years. In a building with more than three units, if the owners have neither elected a board nor entrusted management by notarial deed within two years of the first separation, any owner can ask the court to appoint a manager, and so can the manager who has run the building since then for at least two years (art. 26(2)).
A manager chosen for independence and openness is a contract the owners have less reason to change.
What owners check first: independence
When owners compare the manager you chose with one they could choose, the first question is who the manager works for. Put the answer into the tender.
- A written declaration of any ownership, financial or family link between the manager and the developer.
- No work given to companies that the developer or the manager owns, unless it is disclosed and priced like any other bid.
- A contract and a way of management the owners can change by the procedure the act gives them, without a penalty clause that makes changing it expensive.
- Fees that are itemized and can be shown to buyers before they sign.
- Reports to owners from the first month, not only after the first meeting.
- A handover list that the owners can check line by line.
The scorecard below shows an “owners will likely keep this manager” meter. It is driven by independence and by openness about money and records, never by software.
Score the candidates
Rate each candidate the way the owners will. Independence carries the most weight here, because it is the first thing owners check and the reason they replace a manager they did not choose.
Independence
Credentials and compliance
Money handling
Reporting and governance
Service and response
Handover readiness
Price transparency
Proof
Result
Tender template for the developer
One document for every bidder. It states the principles above as conditions, carries the scorecard’s questions and weights independence highest.
Handover checklist
The first group follows the duties the act places on the manager at takeover (art. 29). The rest covers documents, defects, warranties and a clean financial start. Keep the signed list.
Takeover under the act (art. 29)
- Protocol of takeover of the property and its technical documentation, drawn up for the community (art. 29(1b))
- Building documentation: the design, the as-built documents and the building log book (art. 29(1b))
- List of owners with their units and shares in the common property, kept up to date (art. 29(1b))
- Decision on who pays for drawing up or updating the technical documentation: the previous owner until the last unit is separated, unless the owners decide otherwise (art. 29(1c), (1d))
- Separate records of management costs and advances outside the formal books of account, set up for the property (art. 29(1))
- Financial settlements conducted through a bank account (art. 30(1))
Documents
- Permits and completion certificates
- Deed or contract that creates the separate ownership of the units, with the floor plans and the share of each unit
- Operating instructions for the building’s systems: elevators, heating, electrical, fire safety
- List of the contractors and suppliers who built the building, with contact details
- Insurance policies for the building and the developer’s works
- Maintenance and service contracts already signed, with their terms
Common parts, defects and warranties
- Walk-through of every common part with the manager and, if possible, owners’ representatives
- Signed list of open defects, each with a deadline and who answers for it
- Warranty register: what is covered, by whom and until when, with the claim procedure
- Keys, access cards, remotes and codes counted and signed for
- Meter readings for the common supply on the day of handover, with photos
A clean financial start
- Separate bank account opened in the association’s name
- Opening balance, with what the developer has paid and what is still owed by it
- First budget and the advance payments that cover it
- Reserve or repair fund opened, with the rule for how it grows
- Unpaid bills and open orders at handover, each stating who pays
Owners and communication
- List of owners with their units, shares and contact details, as far as the law allows it to be passed on
- Date and agenda of the first owners’ meeting agreed
- Way for owners to report a problem and to see its status explained in writing
- Contact for emergencies at any hour given to every owner
Legal sources
Every legal statement on this page comes from the text of the law itself. The quotes are in the original language.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 18(1)
Właściciele lokali mogą w umowie o ustanowieniu odrębnej własności lokali albo w umowie zawartej później w formie aktu notarialnego określić sposób zarządu nieruchomością wspólną, a w szczególności mogą powierzyć zarząd osobie fizycznej albo prawnej.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 18(2)
W razie sukcesywnego wyodrębniania lokali przyjęty przez dotychczasowych współwłaścicieli sposób zarządu nieruchomością wspólną odnosi skutek także do każdego kolejnego nabywcy lokalu.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 18(2a)
Zmiana ustalonego w trybie ust. 1 sposobu zarządu nieruchomością wspólną może nastąpić na podstawie uchwały właścicieli lokali zaprotokołowanej przez notariusza. Uchwała ta stanowi podstawę wpisu do księgi wieczystej.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 23(2)
Uchwały zapadają większością głosów właścicieli lokali, liczoną według wielkości udziałów, chyba że w umowie lub w uchwale podjętej w tym trybie postanowiono, że w określonej sprawie na każdego właściciela przypada jeden głos.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 23(2a)
Jeżeli suma udziałów w nieruchomości wspólnej nie jest równa 1 albo większość udziałów należy do jednego właściciela bądź gdy obydwa te warunki spełnione są łącznie, głosowanie według zasady, że na każdego właściciela przypada jeden głos, wprowadza się na każde żądanie właścicieli lokali posiadających łącznie co najmniej 1/5 udziałów w nieruchomości wspólnej.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 26(2)
ustanowienia zarządcy przymusowego przez sąd może żądać także dotychczasowy zarządca nieruchomości, który sprawował zarząd nieruchomością w dniu, w którym wyodrębniono własność pierwszego lokalu, i kontynuował zarząd tą nieruchomością przez okres co najmniej dwóch lat.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 29(1)
jest obowiązany prowadzić dla każdej nieruchomości wspólnej, określoną przez wspólnotę mieszkaniową, ewidencję pozaksięgową kosztów zarządu nieruchomością wspólną oraz zaliczek uiszczanych na pokrycie tych kosztów
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 29(1b)
jest obowiązany sporządzić protokół przejęcia nieruchomości i jej dokumentacji technicznej (budowlanej, powykonawczej i książki obiektu budowlanego) w imieniu wspólnoty mieszkaniowej
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 29(1c)
jest obowiązany do podjęcia czynności zmierzających do opracowania lub aktualizacji dokumentacji technicznej budynku i rozliczenia kosztów związanych z opracowaniem lub aktualizacją tej dokumentacji.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 29(1d)
Jeżeli uchwała właścicieli lokali nie stanowi inaczej, koszty opracowania lub aktualizacji dokumentacji technicznej budynku obciążają: 1) do czasu wyodrębnienia własności ostatniego lokalu – dotychczasowego właściciela nieruchomości; 2) po wyodrębnieniu własności ostatniego lokalu – wszystkich właścicieli lokali w częściach odpowiadających ich udziałom w nieruchomości wspólnej.
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 30(1)(1)
dokonywać rozliczeń przez rachunek bankowy;
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 30(1)(2)
składać właścicielom lokali roczne sprawozdanie ze swojej działalności;
- Act on apartment ownership, art. 30(1)(3)
zwoływać zebranie ogółu właścicieli lokali co najmniej raz w roku, niepóźniej niż w pierwszym kwartale każdego roku.
Developer handover in Poland: questions
Can a developer name the first manager of a wspólnota?
The act lets the owners set the way of managing the common property in the deed that creates separate ownership of the units, including entrusting it to a person or company (art. 18(1)), and in a new building the first owner is the developer. Later buyers inherit the choice (art. 18(2)), and the owners can change it by a resolution recorded by a notary (art. 18(2a)).
What does the manager have to do at takeover?
Draw up a protocol of takeover of the property and its technical documentation (the building documents, the as-built documents and the building log book) on behalf of the community, keep the documentation and keep the list of owners with their shares up to date (art. 29(1b)).
Who pays for the technical documentation?
Unless the owners decide otherwise, the previous owner of the property pays until the last unit is separated, and all owners pay by share afterwards (art. 29(1d)).
What if the owners do not choose a board or a manager?
In a building with more than three units, two years after the first separation any owner can ask the court to appoint a manager, and so can the manager who has run the building since then for at least two years (art. 26(2)).
How many offers should we collect?
We recommend at least three. It shows the owners how the choice was made and gives you a price range.
Does the tender favor a particular software?
No. The digital questions describe what owners can see, never a product, and they start switched off in the scorecard.
Keep reading
Give the building you hand over a portal the owners will keep
Owners judge a manager by what they can see from the first month. Start free on one building and see the owner side yourself, or book a demo.