Changing your condominium administrator: how it works

This text is the basis for the conversation we typically have with owners in the Algarve who are thinking of changing administrator. It does not replace individual legal advice — for your specific case, it is worth consulting a lawyer.

When it makes sense to consider this

The law lets the owners' assembly decide to change administrator at any time, as a rule without needing to justify the decision. There are usually three reasons: unclear accounts (gaps, an untraceable reserve fund, difficulty obtaining documents); failure to deliver (works approved at assembly that never start, missing maintenance, defaulting suppliers tolerated); and communication failures (unanswered emails, little information about the state of the building).

We are not recommending a change as the solution to every problem. In many cases, a well-prepared assembly is enough to resolve the conflict. What follows is the step-by-step for those who have already decided that changing is genuinely the best course.

The process, in four steps

Notice of meeting. The assembly that will decide the change must be convened with at least 10 days' notice (Article 1432(1) of the Civil Code). The notice may be sent by registered letter — acknowledgement of receipt is not required at this stage — or delivered by hand against a receipt signed by the owner. If the condominium has already agreed to use email for owners who confirmed this in writing, that channel also serves, with confirmation of receipt. The agenda must include, in clear words, the items "removal of the current administrator" and "election of a new administrator". Vague items such as "any other business" are not enough — any decision taken outside the agenda can be annulled.

Quorum, majority and second call. On the first call, the decision is taken by a majority of the votes representing the building's total value, counted by the permillage set in the deed of horizontal property (Article 1432(3) read with Article 1418). Each unit weighs according to its permillage, not as one vote per unit — this is the rule most often misapplied at assemblies. If insufficient capital attends on the first call, the law provides two routes for the second call: a new meeting one week later, at the same place and time, with at least 25% of the building's total value (paragraph 4); or a new meeting 30 minutes after the first, at the same place, also with 25% (paragraph 7, introduced by Law 8/2022). The chosen route is set out in the notice.

Election of the new administrator in the same act. The agenda should move to the election of the new administrator immediately after the removal item, at the same assembly. This avoids being left without an administrator between the two decisions — a situation that can complicate the handover of documents and accounts. The resolution expressly sets the date on which the new administrator takes office and the deadline for the previous one to hand over the documentation.

Minutes, the book and notice to absentees. The minutes of the assembly must be entered in the condominium's minutes book, as required by Article 1 of Decree-Law 268/94. At the end of the meeting they are read by the chair and approved by the assembly — the decisions take effect only on that approval. The minutes are signed by the chair and subscribed by the owners present or represented; Law 8/2022 allows a handwritten signature, a qualified electronic signature, or a statement of agreement sent by email to the administrator. The decisions must be communicated to the owners who missed the meeting within 30 days, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (Article 1432). From that communication, an absentee has 90 days to reply in writing, agreeing or disagreeing — if they stay silent, they are deemed to have accepted. The outgoing administrator is formally notified of the decision and has a duty to hand over to the new administrator the accounts, books, current contracts, common fund, reserve fund and the building's technical documentation.

The mistakes that can void everything

Five defects appear repeatedly in decisions annulled in court. A notice of meeting sent with less than 10 days' notice, or by a means that cannot prove it was sent. An agenda that does not clearly state the removal and the election of the new administrator — vague wording is not enough. Minutes that do not exist, were not read and approved at the meeting itself, or were not entered in a proper book. Failure to notify absentees within 30 days by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. Any one of these defects, on its own, is enough for the decision to be annulled in court.

The deadline to challenge the decision in court is 60 days, counted from the date of the assembly for those present, and from the date of communication for those who were absent (Article 1433(4) of the Civil Code). Having a lawyer follow the preparation of the notice and the assembly greatly reduces this risk.

What Condoarade does

Condoarade is a Digital Condominium Administration headquartered in Portimão. We do not provide legal advice — that is a lawyer's work. Our place is in all the operational phases around the change, before and after the decision. Before the assembly we read the rules and the deed of horizontal property, identify the permillage table, help structure the agenda with the correct sequence of items, and provide notice-of-meeting templates already tested in the field. When the condominium does not yet have a lawyer, we point to professionals experienced in horizontal property in the Algarve.

After the decision, we receive and check the financial documentation of the outgoing administrator, transfer or open the condominium's bank accounts, activate the Gecond Cloud online platform for all owners, carry out the technical survey of the building's condition to set the priorities for the first 90 days, and draw up the budget plan for the current year. In Portimão, Lagos and Lagoa we deliver the regular operational coverage directly — Annual Verification Plan, technical assistance and an emergency line with on-site response within four hours. For buildings outside these three areas, the operational component is assessed case by case. The difference is in arriving before the decision and staying after it.

Legal note: Informative, factual content. It does not replace individual legal advice. The legal references reflect the framework in force at the date of publication; later changes may apply. For your specific case, consult a lawyer.