Painting in condominiums and co-ownership in Geneva

Collective decision: from the general meeting to the renovation fund

In co-ownership, the common areas belong to all the co-owners together. Repainting a hall or a stairwell is therefore a matter for a general-meeting decision, taken according to the majorities set out in the condominium regulations and the Civil Code provisions on co-ownership. The painting company never steps in to replace this decision: it informs it.

In practice, Renovhome SA provides, ahead of time, the elements the administrator needs to put the item on the agenda:

• a detailed quote, broken down by area (hall, landings, stairwell, corridors), easy to read for non-specialist co-owners;
• a clear description of the works and the finishes envisaged;
• the certificates (professional liability insurance, Geneva commercial register entry) on request, useful to reassure the meeting.

Funding most often comes through the condominium’s renovation fund. The quote is designed to fit this budgetary logic, with no surprises after the vote.

Common areas: hall, stairwell, corridors, landings

The common areas carry the daily traffic: they are the first surfaces residents and their visitors see. They accumulate hand marks, knocks from moving furniture, fine cracks in the plaster and worn patches at points of friction.

Renovhome SA treats these surfaces according to a protocol that is the same from one project to the next:

Area	Common points of attention
Entrance hall	Lower walls, frames, letter boxes, first impression
Stairwell	Heights, handrails, skirting boards, joins under raking light
Corridors and landings	Flat doors, door frames, traffic marks
Common ceilings	Shrinkage cracks, water stains, touch-ups

Surface preparation (filling, sanding, treating cracks) always comes before application. Touch-ups are checked under raking light, where surface flaws show up most clearly in a stairwell.

Coordination with the property manager and keeping the building in use

A stairwell cannot be closed off: residents must still be able to come and go, collect their post and reach the lift. The project is therefore organised around the use of the building, not the other way round.

Renovhome SA keeps the property manager or administrator informed from measurement to handover, and coordinates with them on:

• the phasing (one half-landing or one flight at a time, with access maintained);
• notices to residents about the areas and times concerned;
• protection of floors, lifts, letter boxes and joinery;
• a clean site, tidied at the end of each day, so as not to obstruct passage.

This way of coordinating spares the property management company from relaying the operational details itself: it deals directly with the company on the co-owners’ questions.

A clear quote, designed to be presented at the meeting

Presenting works at a general meeting calls for a document that non-specialist co-owners can understand and compare. A quote that is too technical or too brief slows the decision down.

The Renovhome SA quote is drawn up after a site visit and structured for the meeting:

• breakdown by area (hall, stairwell, corridors, landings) rather than one opaque overall figure;
• a description of the works and the finishes, in accessible language;
• any options listed separately, so the meeting can decide item by item;
• schedules and invoicing consistent with the practices of Geneva property managers.

This format helps the administrator make the case: every co-owner can see what is planned, where, and why. To prepare an agenda item, the administrator can request a free quote with no commitment, drawn up on the basis of a visit to the common areas.

Confidentiality and compliance: what a property manager expects of a partner

For a property management company, entrusting a building to a contractor puts its own relationship of trust with the co-owners on the line. Two requirements come first: discretion and compliance.

Confidentiality. Renovhome SA publishes no property manager’s name, no building address and no client logo. Mandates remain private. This page, like the whole site, refers to property managers, management companies and condominiums in generic terms: discretion about the buildings entrusted to us is part of the service.

Compliance. Renovhome SA is a public limited company (SA) entered in the Geneva commercial register (company ID CHE-356.898.007), covered by professional liability insurance, with certificates provided on request. Completed works benefit from the Swiss 2-year legal warranty (Art. 371 CO, Swiss Code of Obligations) for defects in the work. This framework lets an administrator award the contract with complete peace of mind.