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Which heating costs can a German landlord pass on?
Fuel, operating power, servicing and metering are recoverable; a new boiler is not. How to read the heating line on your statement.
Heating is usually the largest item on a German service-charge statement, and the only one governed by its own regulation in addition to the operating-costs ordinance. Behind a single line called "Heizung" sit half a dozen different cost types: fuel, operating electricity, servicing, chimney checks, and the rental of the metering devices. This guide explains what may be charged and what may not. It covers residential tenancies in Germany and is not individual legal advice.
What the ordinance lists
Section 2 no. 4 BetrKV covers the costs of operating a central heating system: the fuel consumed and its delivery, the operating electricity, the operation, supervision and care of the system, the regular check of operational readiness and safety including adjustment by a specialist, cleaning the system and the boiler room, the emissions measurements required under the Federal Immission Control Act, and the rental and use of consumption-metering equipment including calibration, calculation and allocation.
The same provision also covers the commercial supply of heat — district heating (Fernwärme) or heat contracting — and the operation of the associated in-house equipment.
What is excluded
The list covers operation, not the plant itself. Replacing the boiler, renewing pipework, fitting a new circulation pump, a hydraulic balancing carried out as a building measure and any repair after a breakdown are all excluded by section 1(2) no. 2 BetrKV.
The line is sometimes fine. Annual servicing that replaces wear parts such as nozzles or seals remains servicing. If a component is renewed that is not routinely replaced, that portion is maintenance. The service contract and the invoice show what actually happened; a contract that expressly includes repair work needs that portion stripped out.
Fuel: delivered or consumed?
For oil and pellet systems the statement must reflect what was consumed in the period, not what was paid. The Federal Court of Justice held that a heating statement based only on the instalments paid to the energy supplier during the period does not satisfy the Heating Costs Ordinance; the performance principle applies (BGH, judgment of 1 February 2012 – VIII ZR 156/11).
In practice the statement must show the opening stock, purchases and closing stock of the tank. If those figures are missing for an oil or pellet system, ask for them. For gas and district heating the consumption follows from the supplier's annual invoice; check that its period matches your billing period.
Operating electricity
The electricity for burner, pumps and controls is recoverable but belongs in the heating costs, not in the general lighting line. There is often no separate meter, so an estimate is used — typically a small percentage of the fuel costs. An estimate is permissible but must be visible and plausible.
Watch out for the same electricity appearing twice: once in the heating statement and once under "Allgemeinstrom". This happens easily when the property manager and the metering company calculate independently of each other.
The metering company
Rental, reading, calibration and the preparation of the heating statement by a metering service (Messdienst) are expressly recoverable. Buying new heat cost allocators is an acquisition and is not. Since the Heating Costs Ordinance was amended, remotely readable devices and monthly consumption information are required; the running cost of that information is an operating cost, the retrofit itself is not.
Compare the metering amount with the previous year. A sudden jump often signals a device change — and therefore a possible acquisition element inside the line.
Consumption-based allocation
The Heating Costs Ordinance requires that between 50 and 70 percent of the costs are allocated by measured consumption, with the remainder by area or heated volume (section 7 HeizkostenV). Where there is no consumption-based billing at all, section 12 HeizkostenV may give you the right to reduce your share by 15 percent.
Before reducing anything, check the exceptions. The ordinance does not apply to every building, and it allows deviations in defined situations. A premature reduction can leave you in arrears.
Heating and hot water from one system
Where the central system also heats the water, the costs must be separated. Section 9 HeizkostenV generally requires a heat meter for this. Without it, the billing is not consumption-based within the meaning of the ordinance, and the Federal Court of Justice has confirmed the 15 percent reduction right in that situation (BGH, judgment of 12 January 2022 – VIII ZR 151/20).
So check whether your statement gives a measured heat quantity in kilowatt hours for hot water, or uses a formula. The difference is usually printed in small type next to the split.
Moving in or out during the year
If your tenancy starts or ends inside the billing period, an interim reading or an allocation using the degree-day method applies. Base costs are apportioned by time, consumption costs by the reading. Check that your period of use is stated correctly — a date that is one month out changes your share noticeably.
Putting the figure in context
The DMB national benchmark for the 2024 billing year gives heating and hot water together at €1.32 per square metre per month — about €1,109 a year for a 70 m² flat. Deviations upwards are explained by construction year, insulation, energy source and your own heating habits. It is an average, not a limit.
Read on and check your own bill
For the structure of the split, see heating costs 70/30. For the carbon price, see the CO₂ cost split, and for context on amounts see average service charges per square metre.
The quickest route is your own figures: upload the service-charge statement together with the heating statement to the free check. The consumption share, the split and the level are read out and put in context.