Section 18 in The Gujarat Ownership Flats Act, 1973
18. Definitions.
- In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires.-(a)"apartment" means a part of the property intended for any type of independent use, including one or more rooms or enclosed spaces located on one or more floors (or part or parts thereof) in a building, intended to be used for residential purposes and with a direct exit to a public street, road or highway or to a common area leading to such street, road or highway;(b)"apartment owner" means the person or persons owning an apartment and an undivided interest in the common areas and facilities in the percentage specified and established in the Declaration;(c)"apartment number" means the number, letter, or combination thereof designating the apartment in the Declaration;(d)"association of apartment owners" means all of the apartment owners acting as group in accordance with the bye-laws and the Declaration;(e)"building" means a building containing five or more apartments, or two or more buildings, each containing two or more apartments, with a total of five or more apartments for all such buildings, and comprising a part of the property;(f)"common areas and faciliters" unless otherwise provided in the Declaration or lawful amendments thereto, means-(1)the land on which the building is located;(2)the foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, main walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, stair-ways, fire-escapes and entrances and exits of the building.(3)the basements, cellars, yards, gardens, parking areas and storage spaces;(4)the premises for the lodging of janitors or persons employed for the management of the property;(5)installations of central services, such as power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigerators, air-conditioning and incinerating.(6)the elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and in general all apparatus and installations existing for common use;(7)such community and commercial facilities as may be provided for in the Declaration; and(8)all other parts of the property necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance and safety, or normally in common use;(g)"common expenses" means,-(1)all sums lawfully assessed against the apartment owners by the association of apartment owners :(2)expenses of administration, maintenance, repair or replacement of the common areas and facilities;(3)expenses agreed upon as common expenses by the association of apartment owners;(4)expenses declared as common expenses by the provisions of this Part or by the Declaration or the bye-laws;(h)"common profits" means the balance of all income, rents, profits and revenues from the common areas and facilities remaining after the deduction of the common expenses ;(i)"competent authority" means in relation to a building constructed or to be constructed by Housing Board, the Housing Commissioner; and in any other case, the Registrar of Co-operative Societies as defined in the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961;(j)"Declaration" means the instrument by which the property is submitted to the provision of this Part as hereinafter provided, and such Declaration as from time to time may be lawfully amended;(k)"Housing Board" means the Housing Board constituted under the Gujarat Housing Board Act, 1961 (Gujarat XXVIII of 1961);(l)"Housing Commissioner" means the Housing Commissioner appointed as such under the Gujarat Housing Board Act, 1961 (Gujarat XXVIII of 1961);(m)"joint family" means an undivided Hindu family and in the case of other persons, a group or unit, the members of which are by custom jointly in possession or residence;(n)"limited common areas and facilities" means those common areas and facilities designated in the Declaration as reserved for use of certain apartment or apartments to the exclusion of the other apartments;(o)"majority or majority of apartment owners" means the apartment owners with 51 per cent, or more of the votes in accordance with the percentages assigned in the Declaration to the apartments for voting purposes;(p)"manager or Board of managers" means the manager or Board of managers of an association of apartment owners;(q)"person" includes a joint family;(r)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules under this Act;(s)"property" means the land, the building, all improvements and structures thereon, all owned in freehold or held on lease or as occupant under any law relating to land revenue and all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, and all articles of personal property intended for use in connection therewith, which have been, or are intended to be, submitted to the provisions of this Part.
