Women in housing companies: a practical guide to board work
In this article
Board meetings are full of talk about roofs, heat distribution centres, perimeter drains and construction contracts. A building walk-through may include a caretaker, an electrician and a site manager. Construction and property maintenance have traditionally been male-dominated, and many women have found themselves the only person at a meeting who is not familiar with the technical vocabulary. This guide is written for women who serve, or are thinking of serving, on a housing company board, but the same advice works for every member.
What the law says
The Limited Liability Housing Companies Act (asunto-osakeyhtiölaki) sets no gender-related conditions for board members or the chair. Every share carries equal rights in the company unless the articles of association provide otherwise, and no body of the company may make a decision that gives anyone an undue advantage at the expense of others (chapter 1, section 10). This principle of equal treatment concerns shareholders’ position in the company. Discrimination based on gender is covered separately by the Equality Act (opens in a new tab) (tasa-arvolaki, in Finnish), which prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination.
The board’s task is to ensure that the company’s administration and property maintenance are properly organised (chapter 7, section 2). A board member does not repair pipes or diagnose moisture damage. Where necessary, the board brings in an expert, and the members’ job is to understand the matter well enough for the decision to be well founded.
Ask for terms to be explained
Pressure difference, capillary moisture, ventilation balancing and wet room waterproofing may all be perfectly correct terms. If you do not understand what they mean for your particular building, ask: “What does this mean in practice for our building?” A good expert can explain things clearly, and if a decision-maker does not understand what is being decided, asking a follow-up question is the responsible thing to do.
An experienced and persuasive speaker may well be right, but a decision should not rest solely on “the expert said so”. Before a significant decision, it is worth understanding what problem is being solved, what has been investigated, what the alternatives are, what they cost and what risks they carry.
Five questions that always work
- What is this based on? Perhaps the most useful question in any housing company.
- Is this an observation or investigated fact? A damp mark is an observation; moisture damage is a conclusion that needs to be investigated.
- What are the alternatives? The first proposal is not automatically the only one.
- What will this cost in the long run? The lowest purchase price is not always the lowest total cost.
- Can we have this in writing? A written justification makes the background to a decision traceable for future boards too.
These questions shift the conversation from people’s authority to information. If you do not get an answer, you can simply say: “I would like to understand this before we decide.” That is careful decision-making.
Ask for significant matters in writing
Spoken discussions are forgotten; written information remains. When a significant repair or a significant sum of money is involved, ask to see the expert report, the condition survey, the quotes, the cost estimate and a comparison of the alternatives. A board member also has the right to have their dissenting opinion recorded in the minutes (chapter 7, section 6).
Familiarise yourself with the contracts as well. Ask what the maintenance contract covers, what is invoiced separately, who is responsible for what and how observations are reported to the board. If the justification offered is “this is how it has always been done”, it is worth asking whether that way of working still makes sense.
Join the building walk-through
Technical rooms can feel unfamiliar, but a building walk-through is the best way to understand what is being discussed at meetings. Ask during the walk-through: What is this piece of equipment and what does it do? What does normal operation look like? What was last repaired here?
Record your observations neutrally. “There is an unusual dark mark here” is an observation. “There is structural moisture damage here” is a claim that needs to be investigated.
Property management is no longer a man’s field
According to figures given by the Finnish Association of Property Managers (Isännöintiliitto) in 2022, 55% of professionals in the property management sector and 43% of property managers were women (Verkkouutiset, 22 September 2022 (opens in a new tab), in Finnish). In technical property maintenance and construction, men still make up a clearly larger share. Ask the property manager the same things you would ask any expert: what do you recommend and what is it based on, does this need a decision by the board or by the general meeting, and what risks do you see.
If you feel belittled
Not every bad meeting is discrimination. It may be down to time pressure, a poor meeting culture or strong personalities. You do not, however, have to accept repeated gender-related belittling.
Write down what happened: what, when, who was present and whether the situation related to the company’s decision-making. Raise the matter with the chair or the property manager. The legal assessment of any individual situation always depends on the facts, and if necessary you can ask for advice from the Ombudsman for Equality (opens in a new tab) (tasa-arvovaltuutettu).
A board needs different perspectives
One member understands finance, another building technology, a third contracts, a fourth knows the residents’ everyday life and a fifth asks what the others missed. A woman is a valuable board member for the same reason as any good member: for her expertise, her observations and her questions.
Ten practical tips
- Read the meeting papers in advance and mark what you do not understand.
- Ask rather than guess.
- Ask who carried out the technical assessment.
- Distinguish between an observation, an assumption and an expert opinion.
- Ask for significant assessments in writing.
- Ask for alternatives instead of a single solution.
- Familiarise yourself with the contracts.
- Take part in building walk-throughs.
- Ask about the history of recurring faults.
- Do not accept urgency as the only basis for a decision.
More on the topic: housing company board member and the chair of a housing company board.
Frequently asked questions
Can a woman chair a housing company board?
Of course. The Limited Liability Housing Companies Act sets no gender-based conditions for board membership or for chairing the board.
Does a board member need to understand building technology?
No. The board’s task is to ensure that property maintenance is properly organised and to make decisions on the basis of sufficient information. Technical expertise is brought in from experts when needed.
Can I question a recommendation from the property manager or a contractor?
Yes, and you should. It is good practice to establish the basis and the alternatives for significant decisions, regardless of who made the recommendation.
This article provides general information and does not replace case-specific legal or technical advice.
