Coeficiente de participación: a flat's share of building costs

The coeficiente de participación (participation coefficient) is the share of a flat or unit in the building's common property, expressed as a percentage of the whole building. It serves as the yardstick for allocating costs, income and votes in the community. In Catalonia it is governed not by the Spanish national law on horizontal property but by the Código civil catalán: the share is set in proportion to floor area with an adjustment for use and purpose, and is changed only by a unanimous decision of the owners or through the courts (art. 553-3 CCCat).

What the participation share determines

The participation share works in three dimensions. Under art. 553-3 CCCat it:

• determines the flat's share in the building's common elements;
• serves as the yardstick for taking part in costs, income, the running of the community and rights when the regime ends;
• sets the allocation of common costs and income, unless agreed otherwise.

A practical conclusion follows: two similar flats in the same building can pay different fees. A terrace, a separate entrance, the floor or a tied parking space changes the share. The Spanish national law 49/1960 speaks of the share in hundredths (Ley 49/1960), but for buildings in Catalonia the rules of book five of the CCCat apply.

How it is set and where to find your flat's share

The share is fixed in the escritura (deed) creating the horizontal property: it must contain a description of each flat with its number, its general participation share and, if any, special shares, usable area, floor and purpose (art. 553-9 CCCat). The regime is entered in the Registro de la Propiedad (land registry) with a general entry for the building and a separate one for each flat.

Where to look:

1. Nota simple (registry extract) of the flat: the share is given in the description of the property. What else to read in the extract is explained in the article on the nota simple.
2. Título constitutivo and estatutos of the building (the founding deed and the statutes): the special shares for particular costs are there too.
3. The building's administrator: calculates the fees by this share.
4. The seller's information: if the buyer pays more than 1% of the price toward the purchase, the seller, through the agent, must notify the buyer in writing of the participation share together with the encumbrances (art. 60.3 Ley 18/2007).

How the share turns into money

Owners pay common costs in proportion to the share or under the special rules of the title, the statutes and the meeting's decisions (art. 553-45 CCCat). Not using, for example, the lift does not release you from paying, unless the statutes expressly say otherwise. For particular costs such as separate staircases, a pool or a garden, the statutes may set special shares.

Worked example, not a forecast. The building's annual budget is 60,000 €; the meeting approved a derrama (special levy) for the facade of 120,000 €.

If the listing states a fee of 125 € a month and by the share it comes to 200 €, that is a question for the seller and the administrator before the arras (deposit). Fees approved but not yet due must appear in the secretary's certificate of debts that the seller attaches to the escritura (art. 553-5 CCCat). How the previous owner's debts pass to the flat is explained in the article on debts to the community.

How the share affects voting

Most decisions in a Catalan community are counted twice: by the number of owners and by the sum of their shares. A simple majority needs the majority of the owners taking part who at the same time represent the majority of their shares (art. 553-25 CCCat). Amending the statutes and the title needs four fifths of the owners and four fifths of the shares, and changing the shares themselves needs unanimity (art. 553-26 CCCat). Which works must be agreed with the community is described in the article on renovation and the comunidad.

There is one exception in the building's favour: if a business is run in a flat or unit with intensive use of common services, the title or the meeting may increase that property's share of costs, but by no more than double (art. 553-45.4 CCCat).

When the share in the documents is no guide

The share in the título does not reflect reality if the building was rebuilt, an attic was added, flats were merged or split and the shares were not recalculated. The sum of the shares in the building may then not come to 100%, and fees are calculated on arrangements that are not in the documents. This happens in old buildings in central Barcelona.

The share is also no measure of a flat's value: it describes weight in the building, not market price. If discrepancies in shares or fees affect the decision to buy, DNPI factors them into a property valuation.