Walk into any Italian notary’s office and ask for the tabella millesimale of a building you are considering buying into. That single document, typically a few pages long, determines how much you will pay every year toward the running costs of the shared structure. Understanding it before signing a purchase contract is not a legal formality — it is a financial necessity.
What millesimi actually measure
The word comes from the Latin for one-thousandth. The entire building is assigned a notional value of 1,000 millesimi, distributed among all individual units in proportion to their assessed value. A larger flat on a high floor in a sought-after position will typically carry more millesimi than a small basement storage unit. The table is prepared by a surveyor when the building is first constituted as a condominium, and it remains in force until a court or the assembly itself orders a revision.
Millesimi serve two functions simultaneously: they determine each owner’s financial contribution to shared expenses, and they determine voting weight in assembly. An owner with 80 millesimi out of 1,000 contributes 8% of any shared cost and carries 8% of the voting weight.
Apartment buildings in the Cambellioti area of Rome. Photo: Vikkietawiah, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The general rule: Art. 1123
Article 1123 of the Italian Civil Code sets the baseline: shared costs are divided among owners in proportion to the value of each unit, meaning in proportion to millesimi. This applies to the roof, external walls, the foundations, shared electrical systems, water pipes serving the whole building, and the administrator’s fee.
There is one important qualifier: where a common area or system serves only some of the units — a staircase serving one block of a larger complex, for example, or a lift that only reaches certain floors — only those owners who benefit contribute to its upkeep.
Staircases and lifts: Art. 1124
Article 1124 introduces a specific two-part formula for stairs and lifts, which deviates from the pure millesimi approach. Maintenance costs are split as follows:
- Half is divided proportionally by millesimi of ownership — the same as any other shared element.
- The other half is divided in proportion to the height of each floor above ground level.
The practical effect is that owners on higher floors pay more toward lift and staircase upkeep than those on lower floors. A ground-floor owner contributes to the millesimi-based half but pays nothing on the height-based half — because their floor height above ground is zero. This formula reflects the logic that those who rely more heavily on vertical circulation should bear a proportionally larger share of its costs.
Facades and balconies
Facade maintenance and restoration are shared across all owners by millesimi. This includes the main walls, window frames that form part of the facade, and decorative elements visible from the street. Balcony slabs — the structural floor of a balcony — are generally considered part of the exclusive unit above, not a shared element. The facade-facing side of a balcony, however, is considered part of the building’s exterior and its maintenance is shared.
This distinction frequently causes confusion. If the balcony tiles crack internally, that is the owner’s problem. If the decorative cornice on the front edge deteriorates and affects the building’s appearance, the cost is spread across all owners. The Cassazione (Italy’s highest civil court) has repeatedly confirmed this division in rulings including Cass. civ. 10209/2015.
Ordinary versus extraordinary expenses
Italian law and accounting practice divide condominium costs into two buckets. Ordinary expenses are those that recur predictably: caretaker salary, electricity for common areas, cleaning, routine maintenance of the lift, insurance premiums. These are approved annually in the budget and charged in periodic installments.
Extraordinary expenses arise from unforeseen events or major improvement works: replacing a boiler, repairing earthquake damage, installing a new security system, or carrying out a thermal renovation. These require a specific assembly resolution, passed with a qualified majority (500 millesimi plus a majority of attendees). The administrator collects contributions within thirty days of the resolution.
When an owner refuses to pay
Non-payment of condominium fees is a significant practical problem in Italy. The administrator is required to act within six months of closing the annual accounts to recover outstanding amounts — failing to do so can expose the administrator to personal liability. Legally, the other owners are jointly responsible to third-party creditors for the debts of a non-paying member, up to their own millesimi share. This means prompt recovery action is in every owner’s interest.
Under the current code, the administrator can obtain an enforcement order from a judge based solely on the approved budget or the financial statement, without needing a full trial. The DDL 2692/2025 reform proposal, currently before the Italian parliament, would expand recovery tools further.
Checking and contesting the millesimi table
If an owner believes the millesimi table was incorrectly calculated — because the surveyor made errors, or because a significant structural change was later made to the building — they can request a revision. The assembly can approve a revised table with the same majority required for regulations: two-thirds of millesimi and two-thirds of owners. If no agreement is reached, the owner can petition a judge to order a correction.
For questions about how the assembly votes on these matters, see the guide on how condo assemblies work. For the administrator’s responsibilities in managing the financial side of building life, see the administrator article.
