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Lift costs in German service charges — do ground-floor tenants pay?
Operation, servicing and the emergency call are recoverable; repairs are not. Why almost every flat pays, and how to check the line.
Few items on a German service-charge statement cause as much irritation as the lift. If you live on the ground floor and never use it, the charge feels unfair. If you live on the fifth floor, it feels obvious. The law is surprisingly clear, with a few practically important exceptions. This guide explains what is recoverable, how the costs are allocated and which questions pay off. It covers residential tenancies in Germany and is not individual legal advice.
The legal basis
Section 2 no. 7 BetrKV covers "the costs of operating the passenger or goods lift": the operating electricity, supervision, operation and care of the installation, the regular check of operational readiness and safety including adjustment by a specialist, and cleaning the installation.
Allocation still requires a clause in your lease under section 556(1) BGB. With an older lease that lists individual cost types and does not mention the lift, a later allocation can be problematic. Check this point first — it decides more than any detail about the key.
Why the ground floor pays too
Operating costs are allocated by a uniform key for the economic unit, not by individual use. The lift serves the whole building: it carries tradespeople, removals, prams and visitors, and it increases the usability of the property as a whole. Allocation to all flats including the ground floor is therefore generally permissible.
It can be different where part of the building has no technical access to the lift at all, for example a side wing with its own staircase. Then the shared possibility of use is missing and a separate economic unit should be considered. An express exemption in the lease is also possible, but it has to be in the lease.
What is not recoverable
Repairs, replacing components, modernising the controls, renewing the cabin and retrofitting to meet new standards are excluded by section 1(2) no. 2 BetrKV. Insurance covering damage to the installation itself does not belong in operating costs either.
Full-service maintenance contracts (Vollwartungsverträge) deserve particular attention. They combine servicing, inspection and repair work at a flat price. The portion attributable to repairs must be deducted. Many managers apply a flat percentage; insist that this deduction is visible in the statement, and ask to see the maintenance contract.
Emergency call, inspection and electricity
Connecting the lift to an emergency call centre is ongoing operation and recoverable, as is the periodic inspection by an approved body. The lift's operating electricity belongs in this line rather than in the general electricity line. Where there is no separate meter an estimate is used; it should be visible in the statement.
Check whether the general electricity line is unusually low or the lift electricity unusually high. Double counting arises easily when the manager and the metering company calculate separately.
The allocation key
Without a different agreement, section 556a(1) BGB requires allocation by living area, and the actual area is decisive (BGH, judgment of 30 May 2018 – VIII ZR 220/17). Keys by number of occupants or by units are possible if agreed.
Redo the arithmetic: total costs ÷ total area × your area. If the result deviates, an explanation is missing — often a prior deduction for commercial units or a pro-rata calculation for part of the year.
Two lifts, one figure
Larger estates often have several lifts serving different entrances. If the costs of all installations are pooled and spread across the whole living area, households in an entrance with a cheap installation subsidise the expensive one next door. Whether that is permissible depends on the agreed economic unit and on whether the installations can actually be used jointly.
Compare the total area stated with the number of flats in your entrance. If it implies a much larger unit, ask about the boundaries and since when they have been used.
When the lift is out of service
A long breakdown has two consequences. Fewer operating costs arise because no electricity is used, while the maintenance contract and the inspection continue to cost the same. And a substantial outage, particularly on upper floors, may amount to a defect of the rented property. That is a question about the rent, not about the service-charge statement — keep the two separate.
Record outage periods with dates. If you later discuss a rent reduction, that record is the decisive basis.
Putting the amount in context
The DMB national benchmark for the 2024 billing year gives the lift at €0.20 per square metre per month — about €168 a year for a 70 m² flat. The figure applies only to buildings that actually have a lift. If your amount is far above it, the maintenance contract is the first place to look: full-service costs more than a plain inspection, and the repair element may not be passed on.
How to check your line
Note the total costs, the key, your area and the share shown. Ask for the maintenance contract and how the maintenance element was determined. Request the invoices from the service company and the inspection body; you are entitled to inspect the documents under section 556(4) BGB.
Read on and check your own bill
For why repairs never belong in the statement, see repairs and maintenance. For how shares are calculated, see allocation keys, and for context on amounts, average service charges per square metre.
You can also have the line checked automatically: upload your statement to the free check and see in the preview whether the lift looks unusually expensive.