WEIGHTY MATTER

Can a condo owner train clients in our gym?

Q We have an owner who happens to be a personal trainer. He uses our condo gym to train his clients. Our gym does not have that much equipment but is a fair size to accommodate the owners. When I have gone down to use the equipment, sometimes it is not available because of these additional people, who don’t even own a condo in our building. Is it legal for this person to be conducting this sort of business in our common area gym?

A Any owner may make reasonable use of the common elements, subject to the Condominium Act, your declaration, bylaws and your rules. Using the condo gym to operate a business by training nonresident owners would not be considered reasonable. This gym is part of the condo amenities to be used by the owners and their guests. Owners are paying for the use and upkeep of this gym through their monthly condo fees. They are not paying fees to accommodate non-owners who are not guests but actually paying customers of the owner.

On the other hand, if there are other owners in the building who wish to use the services of this personal trainer, this could be considered a reasonable use of the gym. However, the trainer would have to check with the board of directors, who would have to consider the qualifications of this trainer and have proof of these qualifications. Another issue to consider would be insurance coverage for injury/liability, as well as the hours in which this service would be provided.

All owners must have the opportunity to use the amenities that are available to them. If the board can work out a reasonable plan that suits everyone, I see no problem with allowing the personal trainer to proceed with training owners who live on the premises. However, non-owners who are clients of this trainer would have to go elsewhere to conduct their exercises and training.