When talking about types of garages in Spain, many people tend to confuse the characteristics of what is called a community garage and joint garage. What’s more, there are many people who don’t know what they are and that’s why I’m going to try to explain a little about what is the joint garage.
If your building belongs to a community and you did not know it, it is very likely that your garage belongs to a community garage. Many times when people come from living in single-family homes and buy or move into a building that belongs to a community, it is easy to be unclear about how these parking spaces are managed.
What is the joint garage?
The joint garage has its origin when different residential complexes or buildings come together in a community to take advantage of common spaces or areas.. This with the intention of managing and regulating these areas for their use, optimizing their management.
We can then elucidate that the communal garage is an area belonging to a community that can be used by all those who make it up. The communal garage can be built on two or more spaces, regardless of who owns them.. This must meet all the requirements and conditions established by current regulations.
How does the joint garage work in a community of owners?
The communal garage is managed by the association of owners, who oversee its operation and maintenance, in the same way as it does with other shared common areas in the association.
The association of owners is regulated by the Housing Policy Law, so its operation is comparable to that of a community of owners. But, with the difference that for the commonwealth to exist, it must manage areas that are shared with other communities.
Communities that share a garage as a common area
This type of communities can assume two different types of legal figures:
- They are formed as the only community of owners, in which 100% of the owners that make it up contribute a fee.
- They constitute de facto or de jure in a conglomerate of communities, which in turn can coexist as intertwined communities in two different ways:
internally, Each community is responsible for managing its own expenses and for the maintenance of all those elements that are considered exclusive to that building.With respect to joint garage and any other area or services that they share, their expenses are managed in the commonwealth.
This is done according to how the distribution of expenses was regulated, according to the decision criteria in the constitutive document. For any decision of the services that are shared, It is the presidents who are representing each subcommunity who decideunless the articles of incorporation do not say otherwise.
What requirements must be met to establish a joint venture to enjoy a joint garage space?
To be able to enjoy a space in a joint garage, there must first be a joint venture, and to establish it, the following requirements must be met:
- There must be at least 2 communities of owners who wish to share spaces and services.
- It must at least be able to share a common element or space between the two.
- Communities must bind themselves and agree to manage that space or service under certain conditions.
- That they decide to establish themselves legally and that they assume their obligations and responsibilities.
At the time that the association is constituted, it is convenient that the statutes that will govern it be drafted. It is necessary to leave in writing clearly what are the rights and obligations of each of the communities of owners. It is also necessary to establish which are the elements that belong to the association of owners.
In the same way, it must be pointed out which of these elements are going to be managed and maintained by each community of neighbors. The administration and management of a commonwealth are governed by the rules established by the Horizontal Property Lawbut both the obligations and the rights established in the law fall on each of the communities of owners.
Every commonwealth is formed in a kind of government board, where we will find a President, a Vice President and a secretary. These are representatives of the communities that coexist within the commonwealth.
The secretary can be a person from outside the communities, who can take charge of the economic and operational administration of the association.
What does Spanish legislation say about the neighbor who uses our parking space or uses his as a storage room in a joint garage?
The Civil Code and the Horizontal Property Law in Spain are very clear. The Civil Code, in its article 394, indicates that the common areas in a joint garage must be used for what they have been created for and no other use may be made to the detriment of the interests of the joint community.
This also indicates that no neighbor can leave the limits of his garage space, since this action can cause problems for the rest of the community. The Horizontal Property Law in its article 9.1 establishes that The communities that make up the commonwealth of a joint garage must respect the facilities and common elements within the community.
Making use of a garage space belonging to another member of the community is an infraction of the rules and it would be committing a crime against private property.