The chair and the money: what you can pay for without asking, and what you cannot

"Can I just pay this, or do I have to call a meeting?" is the constant doubt of the new chair. The short answer: it depends what, and how much.

What you can pay without further ado

• Budgeted expenses: cleaning, electricity, insurance, contracted maintenance. That is what the budget was approved for.
• Urgent and necessary repairs: the leak that is flooding, the door that will not shut. The law backs acting first and reporting afterwards.

What is worth agreeing first

• Significant unbudgeted expenses (replacing the door entry system, repainting the entrance hall): even though the legal margin exists, a message to residents beforehand or a short meeting protects you.
• Changing a contracted supplier: better with a resolution.

What never happens without a meeting

Non-urgent works, special levies, multi-year contracts, anything that creates new obligations for the owners.

The golden rule

Immediate transparency: every expense, whatever the amount, recorded and visible straight away. The chair who shows the accounts every month is forgiven their margin of discretion; the one who shows them once a year gets even the taxi fare questioned.