What is a distribution key?
A distribution key is a way of dividing the co-ownership costs to allocate a part to each co-owner.
The most common distribution key divides the costs according to the shares* registered in the basic act. The basic act distribution key is the most commonly used because it includes all the shares of the co-ownership. Dividing the amount of an invoice according to the distribution key of the basic act means that each co-owner will pay an amount proportional to the shares attributed to their unit(s).
If the co-ownership wishes to divide certain costs differently than with the basic act distribution key, it is possible to create new distribution keys:
- Some costs do not concern all the co-owners. A distribution key excluding certain units can then be created.
For example: There is a lift in my co-ownership but the co-owners on the ground floor have no use for it. It was therefore written into the co-ownership regulations that the ground floor co-owners would not contribute to the costs of the lift.To make it easier to distribute the costs, the building manager creates a distribution key that includes the shares of all the co-owners except those on the ground floor. By selecting this distribution key when encoding an invoice, the costs will be charged to the co-owners on the upper floors only. - Some costs are distributed differently than according to the shares of each unit.
For example: In my co-ownership of 4 units, the co-ownership regulations stipulate that certain defined expenses will be divided into 4 equal parts: each co-owner will contribute to the amount of 25%. The building manager then creates a distribution key which will make it possible to divide the amount of these invoices into 4 (rather than according to the shares of each co-owner).
* Shares are generally expressed in thousandths or ten-thousandths. They are calculated according to the size of each private unit and represent the share of the common parts that each co-owner owns indivisibly. The shares of each unit are listed in the basic act of the co-ownership.