Every time an owners' meeting comes up, the building manager asks the same question: does the building have all the insurance it should? The answer is not in a single law. There is a national baseline, the Civil and Commercial Code, which replaced the old horizontal property Law 13,512 on August 1, 2015; there are building manager laws, such as Law 941 in the City of Buenos Aires and Law 14,701 in the Province; and there are employer duties as soon as the association hires a caretaker. This article turns all of that into a checklist, citing the article behind each duty so you can show it at the meeting or check it as an owner.
The nationwide baseline: article 2067 of the Civil and Commercial Code
Article 2067 lists the building manager's duties, and item (h) is the key one: keep the property insured with a comprehensive building policy that includes fire, civil liability and other customary risks, besides any other risks the owners' meeting decides to cover. Fire and civil liability are therefore the floor in every province; anything else comes from the bylaws and the owners' meeting. The same article adds three related duties: complying with labor, social security and tax law (item g), which is where the ART and the staff life insurance come from; complying with the safety rules and inspections set by local regulations (item c); and, at the request of an interested party, issuing within three business days a certificate of the association's debts and credits with information on the policies in force (item l). The premium is an ordinary common expense (article 2048) that each owner pays according to their undivided share (article 2046(c)).
City of Buenos Aires: Law 941 and the Registry of Building Managers
The City applies Law 941, as amended by Laws 3,254, 3,291, 5,932 and 5,983, which created the Public Registry of Building Managers. Its article 9(c) requires insuring the building against fire and accidents, the association's employees and third parties. The law also sets how compliance is shown: every monthly fee statement must detail insurance payments with the insurer's name, policy number, type of cover, insured items, expiry date and installment number (article 10(f)), and the annual sworn statement filed with the Registry includes the occupational risk insurance payments for each building's staff (article 12(c)). Failing to meet articles 9 and 10 for reasons attributable to the manager is an offense (article 15(d)), punishable by a warning, a fine of 300 to 20,000 fixed units, suspension for up to nine months or removal from the Registry (article 16).
Province of Buenos Aires: Law 14,701
The Province applies Law 14,701, which created the provincial Public Registry of Building Managers, now run by the Provincial Directorate of Legal Entities: managing a building requires a current registration. Its article 8(c) uses the same wording as the City law: insure the property against fire and accidents, the association's employees and third parties. The annual sworn statement includes payments of contributions, occupational risk insurance and health and safety training for the staff (article 10(c)). Penalties range from fines of 1 to 100 basic salaries of the lowest caretaker category without housing to suspension or removal from the Registry (article 17).
If the association has staff: ART and mandatory life insurance
An association that employs a caretaker, an assistant or any other employee is an employer, and that brings two mandatory policies that are not part of the comprehensive building policy. The first is the ART: Law 24,557 requires every employer that cannot self-insure to join an occupational risk insurer (article 3), and an employer that does not is directly liable for all benefits (article 28(1)). If the association falls behind on premiums, the ART still covers the worker but can enforce the debt against the association (article 28(4)). The second is the mandatory group life insurance under Decree 1567/74: it covers the death of every employee, the employer pays for it and, if it is not taken out, the employer pays the benefit out of pocket (article 3). Under the Superintendency of Insurance (SSN) regulation, the sum insured equals 5.5 minimum living and mobile wages, is updated every March 1, and the premium is paid through form 931; only contracts shorter than a month and permanent rural workers are excluded.
The checklist, item by item
Put together, the manager's annual review comes down to ten checks. One: a comprehensive policy in force, with fire and civil liability, in the association's name. Two: a fire sum insured updated to the building's replacement value, not its market value. Three: civil liability that includes elevators, parking and neighbors where applicable. Four: accidents of staff and third parties covered, as the City and Province laws require. Five: ART in force with premiums paid up. Six: mandatory group life insurance declared on form 931. Seven: any extra cover required by the bylaws or decided by the owners' meeting, with the minutes at hand. Eight: suppliers and contractors with ART and civil liability, and policies endorsed to the association if they are self-employed (Law 941, article 11(g); Law 14,701, article 13(f)). Nine: the details of each policy in the monthly fee statement, mandatory in the City. Ten: a renewal calendar so no policy reaches the meeting expired.
What the law does not list
None of these laws names glass, theft of common property or water damage. They are common covers in comprehensive policies and worth assessing for each building, but whether they are mandatory depends on the bylaws or on what the owners' meeting decides, because the manager also has the duties set by the bylaws and the meeting (article 2067, first paragraph). The laws cited do not set a minimum civil liability sum either: it depends on the size of the building, foot traffic and facilities.
Conclusion
Building insurance is not a single policy: there is a national floor (fire and civil liability), a local layer that in the City and the Province adds staff and third-party accidents, and employer duties when there is a caretaker. Having each item documented, with the law at hand, turns the owners' meeting into a formality instead of a debate. If you want us to check your building's policies against this checklist, request a quote with the association's details and the current policy.
Related reading
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What is mandatory, who pays, what the building policy does not cover and how to avoid underinsurance, with official sources for each fact.
Read the building insurance guideFrequently asked questions
Which insurance is mandatory for a building association in Buenos Aires City?
A comprehensive policy with fire and civil liability (article 2067(h) of the Civil and Commercial Code) and, under Law 941, cover against fire and accidents for the building, its employees and third parties (article 9(c)). If the association has employees, also the ART and the mandatory group life insurance under Decree 1567/74.
Which insurance is mandatory for a building association in the Province of Buenos Aires?
The same national baseline plus article 8(c) of Law 14,701, which repeats the City wording: insure the property against fire and accidents, the association's employees and third parties. With staff, also the ART and the mandatory life insurance.
Does the ART cover the caretaker if the association owes premiums?
Yes. If the employer fails to pay the premiums in full or in part, the ART still grants the benefits and can later enforce the debt against the association (Law 24,557, article 28(4)). The association left without cover is the one that never joined an ART: it is then directly liable for all benefits (article 28(1)).
How much does the caretaker's mandatory life insurance pay?
The sum insured equals 5.5 minimum living and mobile wages and is updated every March 1 with the last minimum wage published in December, under the Superintendency of Insurance regulation. The employer pays the cost together with payroll contributions, through form 931.
What happens if the building manager's policies are not up to date?
In the City it is an offense under Law 941 that can lead to a warning, a fine, suspension or removal from the Registry of Building Managers; in the Province, Law 14,701 provides for fines, suspension or removal. And if an uninsured loss occurs, the owners end up paying it through extraordinary fees.
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