Tony M May 10, 2012:

@ Cyril Good, not least because 'at-cost' ties in well with the alternative of 'cost-plus', as you mentioned before (but not applicable here).

Cyril B. May 10, 2012:

Definitely 'at-cost'. It didn't come to my mind at the right time :)

Tony M May 10, 2012:

Réel If it's 'actual', then I think we'd probably call that 'at-cost' in English, at least in many other fields.

Rebecca Elliott (asker) May 10, 2012:

Thank you Katsy. All input is welcome :-)

Cyril B. May 10, 2012:

...but 'réel' isn't 'cost-plus', it's 'actual cost': the syndic will charge exactly what it cost them to carry out the task. For example, on this page, most 'R' entries are administrative tasks which will entail the payment of a tax: the syndic charges the exact amount of the tax, he cannot make money on that.
http://www.immocity.net/doc/CONTRAT_DE_SYNDIC_IMMO_CITY.pdf
For my defense, about mistaking it for 'cost-plus': in France, syndics will very often produce inflated invoices from the contractors they use, said inflation being their 'cost-plus' fee :)

katsy May 10, 2012:

Cyril's specialist knowledge of the field of course comes first :-) I just added my remark, as in my own field 'vacation' is used as I explained. Glad you got your answer, Rebecca!

Rebecca Elliott (asker) May 10, 2012:

OK, thanks very much Cyril. You've been a great help.

Cyril B. May 10, 2012:

...yes it's always going to be charged by the hour. We're talking about tasks like visiting the property for some reason, or getting quotes from contractors for unexpected repairs, etc.

Cyril B. May 10, 2012:

Should be 'hourly' alone, actually. I kept your 'fee' but I shouldn't have. The 3 mentions indicate the way that the syndic is charging for their services. vacation = hourly, forfait = fixed-rate, and réel should be cost-plus.

Rebecca Elliott (asker) May 10, 2012:

Cyril, do you have any references for "hourly fee" please? As Katsy says, is it necessarily an hourly fee or does my original translation work here?

katsy May 10, 2012:

I would have gone with 'sessional fee' as a 'vacation' is not necessarily an hour, but a period of time which can vary (three, fourrhours, a half-day etc...) http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/vacation

Cyril B. May 10, 2012:

No, here it's about how the syndic is charging for the various tasks they have to carry out when managing a co-ownership.
Page 2 last column
www.unarc.asso.fr/site/actumois/janvier08.pdf