The Condominium Act, RA 4726: what a unit owner owns and may change
Republic Act 4726 of 1966, the Condominium Act, as amended by Republic Act 7899 of 1995, decides what a condominium unit is: where it ends, what belongs to everyone, and which documents bind every owner. For anyone planning to renovate a unit, that is the first question, because the wall you want to move may not be yours. Each row below carries the section it comes from.
The Condominium Act, section by section, for a unit owner
Section 6, which sets most of what a unit is, applies "unless otherwise expressly provided in the enabling or master deed or the declaration of restrictions". Your building's own documents can change the Section 6 rows, so read them with this table.
What your unit is
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Where the unit ends | the inner surfaces | Section 6(a): the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, ceilings, windows and doors |
| What is not part of the unit, wherever it is | the structure and the services | Section 6(a): bearing walls, columns, floors, roofs, foundations and other common structural elements; lobbies, stairs and hallways; central air-conditioning, tanks, pumps and other central services; pipes, ducts, flues, chutes, conduits and wires, except the outlets inside the unit |
| The air space inside it | yours, as an easement | Section 6(b): an exclusive easement over the air space within the unit's boundaries, as the unit may lawfully be altered or reconstructed; it ends if the unit is destroyed and made untenantable |
| Your share of the common areas | equal shares, one per unit | Section 6(c), unless provided otherwise; Section 2: title to the common areas may be held by a condominium corporation whose members are the unit owners |
| Support and access through the common areas | an easement every unit has | Section 6(d): a non-exclusive easement for ingress, egress and support through the common areas |
What you may change
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Painting, tiling and refinishing the inside | your exclusive right | Section 6(e): to paint, repaint, tile, wax, paper or otherwise refinish and decorate the inner surfaces of the walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors bounding your unit |
| Work that reaches the structure or the services | not yours alone to decide | Section 6(a) puts them outside the unit; they are common areas (Section 3(d)), held by all the owners or by the condominium corporation (Sections 2 and 6(c)). Section 9 lets the declaration of restrictions give the management body power to enforce it and to enter units for maintenance or construction it is responsible for |
| A contractor you hire | no lien on your neighbours | Section 21: labour or materials furnished at your request cannot become a lien on another owner's unit unless that owner consented, except for emergency repairs to their own unit. Work on the common areas that the management body authorises is treated as done with every owner's consent |
The documents that bind you
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| The master deed | registered, with the floor plan | Section 4: describes the land, the building, the units, the common areas and the uses each unit is intended or restricted to, with a diagrammatic floor plan of the building identifying each unit, its location and approximate dimensions; amended by a simple majority of registered owners, counted per unit in a purely residential or commercial project and by floor area in a mixed-use one, after notice to all, with approval by the HLURB (now DHSUD) and the city or municipal engineer before registration (RA 7899, Section 1) |
| The declaration of restrictions | binds every owner | Section 9: registered by the project owner before the first sale, a lien on every unit, naming the management body and its voting rules; unless it provides otherwise, its liens may be enforced by any owner or the management body; amended with the vote of at least a majority in interest of the owners, and the declaration may require more |
| Assessments (association dues) | a lien once registered | Section 20: an assessment under the declaration becomes a lien on the unit when the management body registers a notice of it, ranking ahead of later-registered liens except real property tax unless the declaration subordinates it, and enforceable like a mortgage, with the owner keeping the right of redemption |
| Selling or leasing common areas a corporation holds | a simple majority of owners | Section 16 as amended by RA 7899, Section 2, where a condominium corporation holds the common areas: after notice to all registered owners; expanding or joining the project to another also needs the approval of the HLURB (now DHSUD) |
Buying and selling
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| What a sale carries | the unit and its share | Section 5: the undivided interest in the common areas, or the membership in the condominium corporation, passes with the unit |
| Selling your unit | your absolute right | Section 6(g): unless the master deed requires the unit to be offered first to the other owners for a reasonable period |
| Mortgaging your unit | your exclusive right | Section 6(f): appraised independently of the other units; any obligation you take on is yours alone |
| A buyer who is not Filipino | limited | Section 5: where owners co-own the common areas, units go only to Filipino citizens or corporations at least three fifths Filipino-owned, except by inheritance; where a corporation holds them, the foreign interest may not exceed the legal limit |
| Registering a resale | needs the management body's certificate | Section 18: a conveyance after the first sale is registered only with a certificate that it follows the declaration of restrictions |
What it means when you renovate a unit
- Finishes are yours. Paint, tiles, wallpaper and the like on the inner surfaces are your exclusive right under Section 6(e), subject to your master deed and declaration, which can regulate how it is done.
- The structure and the pipes are not. A bearing wall, a column, the slab, a plumbing stack or a duct is outside your unit under Section 6(a), even where it runs through it. Because they are common areas, held by all the owners or the condominium corporation (Sections 2, 3(d) and 6(c)), the Act gives you no right to move or cut into one on your own. Whether it can be done at all is for the management body under your declaration and house rules, and structural work also needs a building permit.
- The building's rules come before the permit. Most condominiums have their own renovation application, working hours and limits; the renovation permit guide covers those and when the work also needs a building permit.
- Plan the layout inside the lines. Our interior space planning service works on condo units, arranging the rooms within what the unit is; a new layout that keeps the structure and the services where they are is the simplest to have approved.
- Where a dispute goes. The HLURB named in RA 7899 has been reorganised: regulation is now DHSUD's (RA 11201, Section 25(b)), and complaints against the developer over a unit go to HSAC (RA 11201, Section 16(a)), as the RA 11201 guide sets out. A dispute with your own condominium corporation may belong elsewhere, so ask before filing.
What this page does not cover
- Your building's own documents. The master deed, the declaration of restrictions and the house rules of a particular condominium can change what Section 6 provides; read yours.
- Partition and dissolution. Sections 8 and 13 set when a damaged, obsolete or expropriated project can be sold or its corporation dissolved; they are left out here.
- Buying from a developer. The rights of a buyer of a unit from a developer, pre-selling included, are in PD 957, covered in the PD 957 guide.
Sources: Republic Act No. 4726, the Condominium Act, and Republic Act No. 7899, which amended Sections 4 and 16, as published by the Lawphil Project.