The minutes of the owners meeting: what they must include (with a ready-to-use structure)

The minutes are the most important document a community produces: they are the proof of what was agreed and how. And you do not need to be a notary to write a correct set.

What they must include (art. 19 of the horizontal property law)

1. Date and place of the meeting.
2. Who called it and whether it is ordinary or extraordinary.
3. Attendees: which owners are there (in person or by proxy) and their quotas.
4. The agenda exactly as it was called.
5. The resolutions adopted, with the result of each vote (votes and quotas for and against).
6. Any other business, if there was any.
7. Signatures of the chair and the secretary (often the same person in small buildings).

A structure you can copy

• Header: community, address, date, time, type of meeting.
• List of attendees with quotas (and the total quota present).
• One block per agenda item: what was discussed → what was voted → the result.
• Closing: finishing time and signatures.

The three mistakes that void resolutions

• Voting on things that were not on the agenda of the notice.
• Not recording the quotas behind the votes (just "majority in favour").
• Not notifying the minutes to absentees (they have the right to know them and, for certain resolutions, to join within 30 days).

And afterwards: do not lose them

Minutes in a drawer protect nobody. Keep them where the whole meeting — and the next chair — can find them: scanned, clearly named, alongside the rest. "That is not what was approved" is cured by pulling up the minutes in two taps.