Along with an apartment, you acquire a share in the building’s common parts and facilities, appurtenances and land. Balconies and loggias are excluded from floor area; a terrace is included if it is not a common part of the building. A garage parking space is not a separate non-residential unit. Under Section 20a, the exclusive right to use it is linked to a share in the garage and cannot be transferred separately; leasing a parking space is a different contractual basis.
The advertisement promises an apartment with a cellar, balcony and parking space. The purchase agreement refers to a share in common parts, an exclusive right of use and the number of a non-residential unit. These refer to the same physical features, but mean different things legally. The distinction matters on sale, during renovation and when owners vote.
An apartment is what the occupancy certificate designates
An apartment is a room or set of rooms designated by the building authority’s occupancy certificate for residential use as an independent dwelling. A non-residential unit is a room or set of rooms designated for purposes other than housing; an apartment’s appurtenances and the building’s common parts and facilities are not non-residential units (Section 2(1)(d) and (e) of Act No. 182/1993 Z. z.).
The approved occupancy status is therefore decisive, rather than how the space is used. A cellar may be an appurtenance of the apartment, a separate non-residential unit or a common part of the building. That determines whether you are buying it at all.
Balcony, loggia and terrace
Floor area means the area of all rooms in an apartment or non-residential unit, excluding the balcony, loggia and terrace, except for a terrace that is not a common part of the building. Conversely, rooms forming the apartment’s appurtenances are included (Section 2(1)(f)).
A terrace may be a common part of the building; the Act includes it in this list together with foundations, the roof, corridors, external walls, the facade, entrances, stairways, attic spaces, lofts and load-bearing structures (Section 2(1)(g)).
This has two practical consequences. The price per square metre calculated using an advertised area that includes the balcony does not correspond to the floor area used to determine your share in the common parts. Alterations to a terrace that is a common part of the building, or to the facade, such as glazing a loggia, are not a matter for the apartment owner alone.
A garage parking space is not a separate asset
This often comes as the greatest surprise to buyers:
Unofficial English translation:
A garage parking space is not a separate non-residential unit.
A garage in a building is a non-residential unit designated by the occupancy certificate for keeping and parking vehicles. A garage parking space is merely a spatially defined part of that garage (Section 2(1)(p) and (q)). The space therefore has no separate non-residential unit number and cannot be transferred by a separate purchase agreement.
A purchase transfers a co-ownership share in the garage to which the exclusive right to use a particular parking space is linked under Section 20a. That right cannot be transferred separately from the share. A different option is to lease a parking space, in which case the tenant acquires no share in the garage. The Act provides for a similar link between a share and exclusive use in relation to storage space (Section 20b).
Before signing, verify whether you are acquiring a share with the corresponding exclusive right of use or entering into a lease. The documents must identify the parking space with sufficient certainty.
What else belongs to the building?
- Common facilities are technological installations intended for shared use and serving only that building, even if located outside it: a lift, heating and hot-water equipment, ventilation, shared distribution systems, lightning protection, chimneys and utility connections (Section 2(1)(h)).
- Appurtenances of the building are structures on adjoining land intended for shared use that are not structurally part of the building, particularly shelters, sheds and gazebos (paragraph (i)).
- Adjoining land is fenced land beside the building that serves only that building (paragraph (j)). Shares in it are determined differently from shares in the common parts; we discuss this in land beneath an apartment building and adjoining land.
When does the Apartment Ownership Act not apply at all?
It does not apply to buildings with only one apartment or only one non-residential unit (Section 1(2)(c)), nor to special-purpose apartments and apartments in special-purpose buildings. For small buildings, the division into common parts and units therefore does not apply either.
What to check in the agreement
An apartment transfer agreement must describe the apartment and its appurtenances, identify its location by apartment and entrance number, state its floor area and fittings, and specify the co-ownership share in the common parts, facilities, appurtenances and land (Section 5(1)). If the advertisement promised a cellar but the agreement says nothing about it, you are not buying it.
How we check it
When you buy an apartment, we compare the advertisement, title sheet and agreement, including whether the cellar is an appurtenance or a common part and the legal arrangement for parking. This forms part of our property legal due diligence. We prepare or examine the agreement through our apartment purchase agreement service, or purchase agreement review if the other party supplied it.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 10 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
