Volunteer or cooperative syndic: conditions and duties

Who can be a non-professional syndic?

“Only a co-owner of one or more lots in the co-ownership they are to manage may be a non-professional syndic” (art. 17-2) (our translation). If they lose that status, for example by selling their lot, their mandate lapses three months later; within that period, they call a general meeting tasked with appointing a successor (art. 17-2).

They do not act for profit or in a professional capacity and so do not need to hold a professional licence (F2608). The ANIL (the national housing information agency) indicates that the role may be unpaid or paid, as the general meeting decides, and that their expenses (photocopies, registered letters) are reimbursed by the co-ownership.

The contract. A syndic who is unpaid, or only reimbursed for expenses, is not required to use the regulated contrat type (standard contract); a paid syndic must comply with it (F2608). Service-public.gouv.fr recommends that they take out civil liability insurance: they may incur civil or criminal liability for a fault causing damage.

The volunteer syndic

The candidacy. The co-owner standing for the role has their candidacy put on the agenda of the general meeting (F2608). The ANIL advises sending it to the syndic in office by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, before the notice of meeting, with their draft contract.

The vote. They are appointed by the absolute majority of article 25, i.e. of the votes of all co-owners (F2608). Replacing a professional syndic follows the same conditions as a renewal, at the end of the current mandate (ANIL).

Competitive tendering. The obligation on the owners’ committee to compare several contracts applies to the appointment of a professional syndic (Act, art. 21).

The cooperative syndicat

Adoption. Adopting or abandoning the cooperative form is decided by the article 25 majority and, where applicable, the article 25-1 majority (art. 17-1). The règlement de copropriété (building regulations) must not prohibit it, but it does not need to provide for it expressly (F38886).

The compulsory owners’ committee. In a cooperative syndicat, setting up an owners’ committee is compulsory. The syndic is elected by the members of the committee and chosen from among them; it is automatically president of the owners’ committee. The committee may elect a vice-president who stands in if the president is unable to act; both can be removed under the same conditions (art. 17-1). The cooperative syndic cannot remain in office after the end of its term as a committee member (F2608).

No remuneration. The roles of president and member of the owners’ committee cannot be paid (F38886).

Auditing the accounts. The general meeting appoints one or more persons, co-owners or qualified outside persons, to audit the syndicat’s accounts (art. 17-1). Service-public.gouv.fr mentions a co-owner, an expert-comptable (chartered accountant) or a commissaire aux comptes (statutory auditor), appointed by simple majority; a co-owner auditor is appointed for three years at most, unpaid, and cannot be the spouse, a relative or an employee of the syndic or of a committee member (F38886). The syndicat’s documents state its cooperative form.

Small co-ownerships. A co-ownership with no more than five lots of homes, offices or shops, or with a small budget, may adopt the cooperative form without an owners’ committee: the general meeting then appoints the syndic from among its members, by the majority of the votes of all co-owners, and may appoint a deputy (art. 41-11).

The duties: essentially those of a professional

The non-professional syndic is the legal representative of the syndicat (F2608). Article 18 of the Act gives it in particular:

• enforcing the building regulations and the general meeting’s decisions;
• administering, preserving and maintaining the building, and urgent works;
• the budget prévisionnel (annual budget), the accounts and separate accounting showing each co-owner’s position;
• opening a separate account in the syndicat’s name and an interest-bearing account for the works fund, failing which its mandate is void three months after its appointment;
• keeping the carnet d’entretien (maintenance log), registering the syndicat and keeping the archives.

Service-public.gouv.fr adds the fiche synthétique (summary data sheet), the list of co-owners, insurance of the building and organising the annual general meeting (F2608). Two differences stem from the status: secure online access to documents is required only of a professional syndic (art. 18, I), and the ban on the syndic’s relatives sitting on the owners’ committee does not apply to syndicats managed by non-professional syndics (art. 21).

End of the mandate

To not renew a volunteer or cooperative syndic, the general meeting held within the three months before the end of the contract appoints a successor and sets the end and start dates, at the earliest one clear day after the meeting. Early termination requires sufficiently serious failings (F2608).

Which professional to consult

To sell a lot in a co-ownership managed by a volunteer syndic, the agent immobilier (estate agent) helps gather from it the documents to be given to the buyer. Before the deed, the syndic, professional or not, draws up the état daté (statement of account for a sale) and sends it to the notaire (notary) (F2604). The role of a professional syndic is set out in our guide on the syndic de copropriété (building manager), and that of the owners’ committee in our guide conseil syndical (owners’ committee).