Who handles repairs in a German rental apartment, and who pays?

For rental property repairs in Germany, the landlord answers to the tenant: every defect is reported to you, and you must have it put right. Who pays is a separate question. Repairs to your own unit (Sondereigentum) are yours to fund. Repairs to the building's common property (Gemeinschaftseigentum) are organised by the owners' association and paid from funds you contribute to. A tenant pays only for damage they caused, or for small repairs under a valid lease clause.

This guide sets out landlord repair responsibilities in Germany in the order a repair happens, then follows a leaking pipe. For your wider role, see landlord responsibilities in Germany.

Towards the tenant, the responsible party is always you. The lease obliges you to keep the apartment fit for its agreed use (§ 535(1) BGB), even when the fault lies in common property that only the association can repair. While a defect impairs use, the rent is reduced by law, and a residential lease cannot exclude this (§ 536(1) and (4) BGB). Wear from normal use is not the tenant's responsibility (§ 538 BGB).

A tenant pays for small repairs only under a valid small-repair clause (Kleinreparaturklausel). The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) requires it to cover only items the tenant uses frequently and directly, such as taps or switches, and to cap each repair and the total per period, such as a year (BGH, 7 June 1989, VIII ZR 91/88; Stiftung Warentest). A standard clause making the tenant carry out or commission the repair is invalid (BGH, 6 May 1992, VIII ZR 129/91).

The tenant must report a defect, or a risk to the apartment, without delay. A tenant who does not owes you the resulting damage and, where you could not act for lack of notice, cannot reduce the rent (§ 536c BGB). Ask for photos and record when the report arrived; the time matters for the rent reduction and any insurance claim.

Escaping water or no heating in winter cannot wait for quotes. Stop the damage first; decide who pays later.

• Work that must be done immediately needs no advance notice to the tenant (§ 555a(2) BGB).
• Any owner may take the measures needed to avert damage directly threatening the common property, without the other owners' consent (§ 18(3) WEG). Keep such emergency measures (Notmaßnahmen) to what is necessary, such as shutting off water, and tell the building administrator (WEG-Verwalter) at once.
• The tenant may remedy the defect and claim the necessary costs if you are in default, or if immediate repair is needed to preserve the property (§ 536a(2) BGB).

Routine rental apartment maintenance, such as a dripping tap, leaves time for checks and quotes.

Location does not settle responsibility. Parts needed for the building's structure or safety, and installations serving all owners, are common property even inside your apartment (§ 5(2) WEG). Hausverwaltung or Sondereigentumsverwaltung explains the boundary.

Costs follow their own rules. Common costs are shared by co-ownership share, but the owners can resolve a different split for particular costs (§ 16(2) WEG). Before accepting or refusing a bill, check the declaration of division (Teilungserklärung), recorded agreements and resolutions in the minutes, ideally before you buy.

For common property, the WEG-Verwalter may act alone only on minor matters, to meet a deadline or to avert a loss, unless the owners widen those powers; larger repairs need a resolution (§ 27 WEG). Report the defect in writing and follow up. The association pays from the monthly advances (Hausgeld) set under its economic plan (§ 28(1) WEG), the maintenance reserve (§ 19(2) no. 4 WEG) or a special levy.

For repairs inside your unit, you choose the tradesperson and approve the cost. Ask for a written quote (Kostenvoranschlag) for anything beyond the emergency, and a second for larger jobs. If a manager acts for you, the contract should set the property manager's repair approval limit: the amount per job they may commission without asking you, and what counts as an emergency.

If your apartment is in Berlin, Dresden or Leipzig and you live elsewhere, Alpha Minoris's Vermieter-Autopilot can run this workflow for you as your Sondereigentumsverwalter. It receives the tenant's report, arranges quotes and contractor access, and liaises with the WEG-Verwalter on common-property defects. Costs and approval limits follow the written mandate. You remain the landlord and fund the repairs, so you still need a reserve; Sondertilgung or a cash reserve explains why it comes before extra loan repayments.

The tenant must allow necessary maintenance work, announced in good time unless it is minor or urgent, and you reimburse reasonable expenses it causes them (§ 555a BGB). As an owner, you in turn must let the association's contractors into your unit for common-property work, within § 14(1) no. 2 WEG.

Ask for the invoice in your name, stating the apartment and the work done. File it with the report, photos, quotes, your approval and any association or insurer correspondence. Where Vermieter-Autopilot manages your apartment, it keeps this file; the tax return remains yours, usually with a tax adviser (Steuerberater).

Repair costs are generally deductible against rental income (§ 9(1) EStG). One exception catches new owners: repair and modernisation costs within three years of purchase that exceed 15 per cent of the building's acquisition cost, excluding VAT, are depreciated with the building instead. Routine annual maintenance does not count (§ 6(1) no. 1a EStG, applied by § 9(5) EStG).

Proper administration includes insuring the common property at replacement value, plus owners' liability cover (§ 19(2) no. 3 WEG). Building insurance (Wohngebäudeversicherung) normally covers damage from water escaping from pipes (Leitungswasserschaden) (Verbraucherzentrale).

It does not always pay. Flooding and backflow fall outside the pipe-water cover, gross negligence can reduce or remove cover (Stiftung Warentest), and an excess (Selbstbehalt) may apply (Verbraucherzentrale). Wear and tear is maintenance, not an insured event. The tenant's belongings need the tenant's own contents insurance (Hausratversicherung).

Illustrative example. Fictional apartment, documents and figures. Inputs: the owner lives abroad and uses a unit manager; the contract allows emergency measures without approval and other repairs up to €500 per job; the Teilungserklärung makes supply lines common property up to and including each unit's shut-off valve, and pipes after it part of the unit; no resolution changes the cost split; owner's share 45/1,000; emergency plumber €240; repair quote €1,150; hypothetical riser repair €3,200.

1. Report. On a Friday evening, the tenant sends photos of water spreading below the washbasin. The manager logs the time, asks the tenant to close the unit's shut-off valve and alerts the WEG-Verwalter. The flow stops, suggesting a leak after the valve, but that does not settle who pays.
2. Emergency. A plumber attends that night for €240, finds a failed joint on the branch pipe and makes it safe, within the manager's emergency authority.
3. Documents, not location. The branch pipe runs beside the riser in the same wall. Under this Teilungserklärung it belongs to the unit, so the owner pays for the repair. Had the riser leaked, the WEG-Verwalter would commission the repair and the association would pay from Hausgeld, the reserve or insurance; at 45/1,000, the owner's share of €3,200 would be €144. Different documents could reverse either answer.
4. Approval. The €1,150 quote to replace the joint and retile exceeds the €500 limit, so the manager sends it to the owner, who approves in writing.
5. Insurance. The WEG-Verwalter reports the water damage to the building insurer. Whether it pays for drying and the ceiling below, and who bears any excess, depends on the policy and the association's rules.
6. Access and rent. The manager agrees the repair date with the tenant. The washbasin is unusable for ten days, so the tenant may reduce the rent appropriately. The owner bears this, even in the riser scenario.
7. Records. Report, photos, invoices, approval and insurer letters go on file. The owner pays €1,390 (€240 plus €1,150) from the property reserve.

Before your first tenant reports a leak, find the Teilungserklärung, agree an approval limit in writing and set aside a repair reserve. Discuss your first rental property with Alpha Minoris.