Installing or disconnecting a shared system in an Israeli condominium does not always require a unanimous vote. The rule depends on the equipment. Under the Land Law, an owner may be able to add a solar water heater, disconnect from central heating or install certain Shabbat mechanisms without the other owners’ approval, but only within statutory planning, notice, technical, and cost conditions. New elevators and other changes to shared property follow different consent rules. For a buyer, the practical question is not just whether an apartment has an appliance, but who has the right to install, operate, maintain and pay for it.
This guide deals with a registered condominium (בית משותף, bayit meshutaf), its common property (רכוש משותף, rechush meshutaf) and the building committee (vaad bayit). For ownership shares, roof attachments, general bylaws and repairs, read our condominium rules guide first. A written building decision cannot simply override a right established by legislation; the law itself sometimes gives an individual owner a limited route.
Which shared system needs whose consent?
| System or proposed change | Consent starting point | Decisive restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Solar water heater on common roof | Individual right if sufficient roof capacity and other legal conditions; otherwise normally all owners’ agreement | Available space for one per apartment, other assigned roof uses, planning compliance and least possible damage to appearance |
| Disconnect own flat from central heating or hot-water system | Individual right subject to technical conditions and notice | May not harm others’ service or insulation; a series-connected system cannot be disconnected; the disconnected owner continues paying specified costs |
| Automatic common-area Shabbat lighting | Individual right without other owners’ consent | Prior written notice, restoration undertaking, no harm or nuisance, installer pays |
| Shabbat mechanism for shared water pump | Individual installation route under special conditions | Engineering and electrical requirements, written notice and restoration undertaking; not for a firefighting-only pump |
| Operating an existing Shabbat-equipped elevator | Special statutory operation rights, depending on elevator configuration | Section 59G and operating-hour regulations; allocating incremental costs depends on the statute and requests |
| Installing a new elevator or changing gas supplier | Separate voting and statutory procedures | Do not substitute an ordinary majority for the specific elevator or gas rules |
Sources: Land Law 1969 and the central-system disconnection regulations. The detailed vote, installation and payment terms always depend on the equipment and building.
Solar heaters (dud shemesh): the roof-space test
Section 59A sets a defined route for a solar water heater (דוד שמש, dud shemesh) on the common roof. An owner need not ask every other owner when the roof has suitable capacity for as many heaters as apartments, the proposed position is not committed to another agreed purpose, and the installation complies with applicable planning and building rules. Piping and equipment must minimise harm to the appearance of the building.
When there is not enough roof capacity for one heater per apartment, the starting position changes: the installing owner needs the other owners’ agreement. If an owner withholds consent on unreasonable grounds, the Supervisor of Land Registration may permit the installation. A certificate signed by the local planning committee’s engineer is evidence of the roof’s capacity; do not misdescribe every installation as requiring that exact certificate as a universal mandatory permit.
Before buying an apartment without a solar heater, inspect the roof. Ask for the condominium plan and bylaws, the number and allocation of existing heaters, any exclusive roof attachment and the planning status of the proposed work. A seller’s assertion that there is “room on the roof” is not proof you can legally install equipment later.
Leaving central heating does not end all the costs
Section 59B allows a flat owner to disconnect from the central heating or hot-water system at personal expense, but a combined heating and hot-water system may not be split so that one function alone is abandoned. The 1991 regulations prohibit disconnection from a series-connected system, where apartments share main supply or return lines on the same floor. The work must not impair hot-water or heating supply to other flats, the system’s thermal insulation, functioning or the building’s appearance.
The owner must send the prescribed written notification to the building committee at least 15 days before disconnecting. A contractor should document the technical method and ensure that other residents are not left paying for the physical alteration or loss of supply. The 2025 amendments to the disconnection regulations altered certain procedural provisions, so older guides requiring other inspections as universal preconditions should not be used without checking the current text.
Disconnecting does not erase the owner’s share of the shared system. The owner continues to pay the full normal contribution for maintenance, repairs and replacement as set by the legally applicable shares or bylaws. For the operating costs, regulation 3 of the separate expense rules sets only part of the hypothetical pre-disconnection share:
| System | Operating contribution after disconnecting | Maintenance contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Heating only | 40% | Full regular maintenance share |
| Hot water only | 25% | Full regular maintenance share |
| Combined heating and hot water | 35% | Full regular maintenance share |
Source: Land Regulations (Expenses Borne by an Owner Disconnecting from the Central System), regulation 3; subject to any legally permitted different agreement or historic arrangement.
Worked example: three flats and a shared heater
Assume a heating-only system costs NIS 2,400 per year to operate, divided equally among three connected apartments before any change. Each would pay NIS 800. One apartment is lawfully disconnected. Its statutory operating-cost contribution is 40% of that original NIS 800, or NIS 320; the remaining NIS 2,080 is NIS 1,040 for each of the other two owners. These are illustrative assumptions, not a promise about your building’s bills. Maintenance costs and any agreed lawful sharing arrangement are separate.
The regulations also allow a committee to seek a coordinated inspection of a claimed disconnection under defined conditions. Keep the notification, drawings, invoices and evidence of actual disconnection; merely switching off a radiator may not meet the legal definition. For a disagreement about the calculation, request the building’s operating-cost accounting and the relevant bylaws before accepting a new demand.
Shabbat lighting: what one owner may install
Under section 59H, an owner may install at their own expense a mechanism operating common-area lights automatically for Shabbat or a festival without requiring all owners to approve it. The owner must notify the committee in writing in advance or, if the building has no committee, give notice to every flat. The installer undertakes to restore the previous condition at personal cost when the mechanism is no longer needed. The operation must not injure or cause a nuisance to another owner.
That right does not mean anybody may change the common electrical board informally. Use a competent installer, record the wiring plan and restore obligations, and separate the requested Shabbat mode from the building’s ordinary safety and lighting functions. Installation, maintenance and additional operation costs belong to the installer as the law provides. In a multi-building complex the relevant notice may be specific to the entrance or wing.
Water pumps: similar purpose, separate safeguards
A modern apartment building may use an electric water pump that starts when taps open. Section 59H1 addresses a Shabbat mode for a shared pump. It creates an individual route to installation under conditions, including appropriate prior written notice, proof that the equipment will not impair water supply or the building systems, electrical safety, and a commitment to restore the previous condition at personal cost. The law contemplates professional engineering confirmation for the proposed system.
A pump used only for firefighting is not eligible under this installation route. Avoid a scheme that interferes with firefighting pressure, exposes neighbors to reduced supply or assumes a generic smart switch is compliant. The exact minimum notice wording has been reported inconsistently by secondary summaries; verify the current primary section and the proposed mechanism with the committee before fixing a date in a formal notice. The installing owner normally bears the installation, maintenance and additional operation costs for that mechanism.
The official law book (Sefer HaChukim 3047, published 7 June 2023) enacted section 59H1 with a minimum notice period. The owner must give written notice no later than 30 days before the installation date. The notice goes to the building committee and to all owners in the building. If the pump serves only some of the owners, the owners’ notice goes to those owners. The owners’ notice is delivered the way a general meeting is called under the building bylaws, and it states the type of mechanism and how it will be installed. This describes the section as enacted; the current consolidated text should be checked for any later amendment.
Shabbat elevators and installing a new elevator
Section 59G treats operating a Shabbat elevator differently from installing a lift in the first place. Where a building with multiple lifts already has an eligible Shabbat-control mechanism, one owner may be entitled to require its operation under the statutory conditions. In other configurations, a decision and service schedule follow distinct majority and operating-hour rules. The requester or requesting owners may carry the additional operating costs prescribed by law.
Do not assume a timetable from a neighboring building governs your own elevator. Obtain the lift’s technical configuration, the relevant building vote, the currently applicable operation-hours rules and the cost allocation. Installing an entirely new elevator is a different building project requiring its own vote, permit and expense arrangement. Our condominium owner rules and the building’s vaad can help identify which decision you need.
For an existing lift, a prudent buyer or committee should ask for current inspection status, the service provider’s contract, the repair log, spare-parts history and any unexpired installer warranty. Specific manufacturer-service periods in older secondary guides require verification against the operative order before being quoted as universal rights. Maintenance costs and safety obligations are not cancelled because an elevator is switched to a Shabbat schedule.
Gas supply follows another procedure
Changing the supplier of a central gas system is not the same as switching an ordinary service provider or editing a building bylaw. The Law on Arrangements in the Economy (Amendments to Achieve Budget Targets), the Gas (Safety and Licensing) framework and the relevant supplier-switching rules create their own decision, notification and technical requirements. See our vaad bayit management and costs guide for the building’s governance responsibilities, and ask the proposed new gas supplier for the required licensed installation and transfer documentation.
Buyer checklist: eight things to check before signing
- Read the registered condominium file. Inspect attachments, roof rights, bylaws and any decisions affecting use of common areas.
- Inspect the solar heater situation. Record capacity and legal installation rights, not merely the number of visible heaters.
- Identify central systems. Ask whether water heating, space heating, gas, pumps and electrical control are central or individual.
- Check who disconnected. Request the statutory notice and technical records if the seller says the flat no longer pays central-heating costs.
- Request annual expenses. Break down maintenance, repair reserves, operation and one-off upgrades; look for unsettled committee charges.
- Inspect elevator records. Verify the lift inspector, maintenance company, service log and the actual Shabbat mechanism and hours.
- Review proposals. Ask about future elevator retrofits, gas-provider switches or pump changes already under vote.
- Check responsibility in writing. Put material equipment and shared-expense representations into the transaction’s due-diligence list.
Disputes and sources
For disputes about shared-system rights and obligations under the Land Law, the owners or committee may bring a claim before the Supervisor of Land Registration (המפקח על רישום המקרקעין, hamefake’ach al rishum hamekarke’in) within the supervisor’s statutory jurisdiction. Before filing, preserve the registered bylaws, vote or notice, technical plans, independent inspection and actual bills.
Primary legal text checked 31 October 2026: Knesset Land Law register; Land Law, sections 59A-59H1 and 72-73; 2025-amended disconnection regulations; central-system expense regulations; government residential access and elevator guidance; and Housing Culture Association’s Shabbat elevator guidance. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.
If you are comparing apartments, ask Semerenko Group to include common systems, roof capacity and building obligations in your buyer due-diligence and representation brief before committing to a property.
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