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Published on the website on May 2024

Real Estate Regulatory Authority

Decision No. (2) of 2022 amending Some Provisions of Decision No. (1) of 2020 regulating the Provisions of Owners' Unions of Joint Properties

President of the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority: 

Having reviewed the Real Estate Sector Regulation Law promulgated by Law No. (27) of 2017; 

And Decision No. (1) of 2020 regulating the Provisions of Owners' Unions of Joint Properties; 

Upon the submission of the Chief Executive Officer of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority; 

And after the approval of the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, 

Hereby Decides: 

Article One 

The texts of Articles (36) and (50) paragraph two, (55) and (63) of Decision No. (1) of 2020 regulating the Provisions of Owners' Unions of Joint Properties shall be replaced with the following texts: 

Article (36): 

Election of the Board of Directors of the Owners' Union 

In the event that the number of units in the joint property exceeds nine units, the Owners' Union shall elect a Board of Directors for the Union in the annual general assembly meeting. Each member shall have one vote in the elections for each unit owned by them, unless the statute specifies a maximum number of votes for each member. The number of members of the Board of Directors of the Union shall be not less than three and not more than nine. 

The general assembly shall have the right to choose three reserve members to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors when they occur for any reason. 

In the case where the number of units in the joint property is nine or fewer, the owners shall automatically become members of the Union's Board of Directors without the need for elections. 

As for the main or central owners' union, the number of the Union's Board of Directors members shall not be less than five members in the main owners' union and seven members in the central owners' union, and shall not exceed nine members in either case, unless the statute states otherwise. 

Article (50) Second Paragraph: 

No member may be elected as treasurer for two consecutive terms. A single board member may hold multiple positions with the approval of the majority of the Board of Directors. 

Article (55): 

Attendees 

The attendance of the general assembly of the main or central owners union shall consist of the presidents of the boards of subsidiary owners' unions or the representatives approved by the members in case of the non-election of the boards of directors for those unions, in addition to the owners of the main or central units as the case may be. 

The owners' union may appoint an Independent Observer to participate in the meetings of the general assembly. 

Article (63): 

Ordinary Decision 

Voting on ordinary Decisions shall be by the majority of the present members and in accordance with Article (59) of this Decision and shall be by Ordinary Decision except as otherwise required by this Decision or the statute of association or principle joint ownership system. 

Voting may be conducted by a show of hands, where each unit owner has one vote. Voting shall be in accordance with the proportion of the vote or its electoral weight, which shall be calculated as follows: 

1- For undeveloped land plots and for apartments and floors, the electoral weight shall be calculated based on the area of the land, apartment, or floor evidenced as per the ownership document, relative to the total area of the real estate units in the joint property relevant to the voting process. 

2- For developed land plots with electricity and water services, the electoral weight shall be calculated based on the area of the land evidenced as per the ownership document, with the addition of the building area according to the maximum allowable building area legally, relative to the total area of the real estate units in the joint property relevant to the voting process. 

The statute may determine equal voting ratios in any of the following cases: 

1- Owners want to have equal voting rights. 

2- To achieve the optimal governance of the joint property if owners' equal voting will be positive. 

The statute may also include another mechanism for calculating the voting ratio or the electoral weight other than what is mentioned in the second paragraph of this Article. 

Article Two 

The election of the board of directors of the owners unions following the entry into force of this Decision shall be in accordance with the mechanism mentioned in the second paragraph of Article (63) referred to above. The general assembly of the union may provide for another mechanism in the statute to be applied in subsequent elections. 

Article Three 

The Chief Executive Officer shall implement the provisions of this Decision, and it shall come into force from the day following the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. 

President of the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority 

Salman bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa 

Issued on: 26 Ramadan 1443 A.H. 

Corresponding to: 27 April 2022