Article 24 of the Saudi Real Estate Unit Ownership, Division and Management Law
المادة 24 من نظام ملكية الوحدات العقارية وفرزها وإدارتها · الفصل الرابع: جمعية الملاك
The article sets the owners association's resources and how its money is spent, requires every owner to pay his contribution to management and maintenance costs, and bars him from giving up his share to avoid them.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
1- تتكون موارد جمعية الملاك مما يأتي:أ- اشتراكات الملاك.ب- التبرعات والهبات والوصايا والأوقاف.ج- عوائد استثمار أموال جمعية الملاك والأجزاء المشتركة القابلة للاستثمار.
وتحدد اللائحة الأحكام المنظمة للفقرتين (1 / ب) و(1 / ج) من هذه المادة.
2- تصرف أموال جمعية الملاك لأغراض إدارة العقار المشترك وصيانة الأجزاء المشتركة.
3- على كل مالك دفع مبلغ اشتراكه في تكاليف إدارة العقار المشترك وصيانة الأجزاء المشتركة، وليس لأي مالك التخلي عن حصته في الأجزاء المشتركة بغية التخلص من الاشتراك في تكاليف حفظها أو صيانتها.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 24 explained in plain English
This article governs the funds of the owners association: their sources, how they are spent, and the owners' obligation toward them:
- The association's resources:
- Owners' contributions.
- Donations, gifts, bequests and endowments (waqfs).
- Returns on investing the association's funds and the common parts that can be invested.
- How funds are spent: The association's funds are spent for the purposes of managing the shared property and maintaining the common parts.
- Mandatory contribution: Every owner must pay his contribution to the costs of managing the shared property and maintaining the common parts. No owner may give up his share in the common parts in order to avoid contributing to the costs of preserving or maintaining them.
The last paragraph closes a door some owners might try, for example an owner who says he does not use the pool or the elevator and gives up his right to it so as not to pay. The text is explicit that this renunciation does not relieve him of the contribution.
This article connects to Article 23, which keeps the owner of a leased unit bound toward the association by rights and duties unless he agrees otherwise with the tenant, and to Article 26, which distributes the costs of maintaining and managing the common parts among the owners, each in proportion to the area of the separate part he owns, while allowing contributions to differ by type of use in a mixed-use property.
If there is a dispute over the amount of a contribution, you can consult a lawyer who specializes in real estate disputes.
Practical example
Sami lives on the ground floor of a building in Dammam and refused to pay the maintenance contribution, saying he does not use the elevator and gives up his share in it. This renunciation does not relieve him of the contribution, because the article prevents an owner from giving up his share in the common parts in order to avoid the costs of preserving or maintaining them.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Frequently asked questions about Article 24 of the Saudi Real Estate Unit Ownership, Division and Management Law
Can I skip maintenance fees because I don't use the facilities?
No. No owner may give up his share in the common parts in order to avoid contributing to the costs of preserving or maintaining them.
What are the sources of an owners association's funds?
Owners' contributions; donations, gifts, bequests and endowments; and returns on investing the association's funds and the common parts that can be invested.
What are an owners association's funds spent on?
They are spent for the purposes of managing the shared property and maintaining the common parts.
More articles on Owners' Association
- Article 1
The article defines the Law's basic terms, such as division, the divided real estate unit, common parts, the shared property, the real estate complex, the owners' association, the manager and maintenance.
يقصد بالكلمات والعبارات الآتية - أينما وردت في هذا النظام - المعاني المبينة أمام كل منها، ما لم يقتض السياق غير ذلك: النظام: نظام ملكية الوحدات العقارية وفرزها
- Article 3
The article allows re-dividing the shared property or changing its use with the approval of the general assembly and any mortgagee, with the plan amended, and sets owners' shares in what results from the change.
1- يجوز إعادة فرز العقار المشترك أو جزء منه أو تغيير استعمالاته؛ بعد موافقة الجمعية العامة، وموافقة المرتهن إن وجد. ولا يخل ذلك بحق المتضرر في اللجوء إلى المحكم
- Article 12
The article requires owners of shared property, when there are 3 or more, to form an owners' association and register it with the Authority, gives it legal personality and a separate financial liability, and requires articles of association.
1- إذا بلغ عدد ملاك الوحدات العقارية المفرزة في عقار مشترك ثلاثة فأكثر؛ فعليهم أن يؤسسوا جمعية بينهم لإدارة شؤون ذلك العقار، وتسجيل تلك الجمعية لدى الهيئة، وإذا
- Article 13
The article allows owners of shared properties within a real estate complex to form a "complex association" with independent legal personality, made up of representatives of the owners' associations, to which the owners' association provisions apply as consistent with its nature.
1- للملاك في العقارات المشتركة التي تقع ضمن مجمع عقاري إنشاء جمعية ذات شخصية معنوية مستقلة تسمى (جمعية المجمع)، تضم ممثلاً أو أكثر عن جمعية الملاك في كل عقار مش
- Article 14
The article provides that the owners' association represents the owners in dispositions arising on the common parts.
تعد جمعية الملاك ممثلةً للملاك فيما يتعلق بالتصرفات التي تنشأ على الأجزاء المشتركة.
- Article 15
The article provides that owning a divided unit in a shared property that has an owners' association is acceptance of its articles of association and a commitment to the general assembly's decisions, without prejudice to Article 6.
دون إخلال بحكم المادة (السادسة) من النظام، يعد امتلاك وحدة عقارية مفرزة في عقار مشترك - مؤسس له جمعية ملاك - قبولاً من المالك بالنظام الأساسي، والتزاماً منه بال
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.