Maintenance Contract

A maintenance contract is a binding agreement between a property owner and a service provider (trading company, building services company, or property management firm) that sets out the terms for the regular maintenance, inspection, and upkeep of a property or its technical systems. It provides planning security for the owner, ensures compliance with legally required maintenance intervals, and guarantees that technical systems (heating, elevators, fire protection systems) remain operationally safe in the long term.

Typical Items Covered by Maintenance Contracts

Maintenance contracts are primarily concluded for technically complex systems: heating systems (annual maintenance by a heating specialist, including pressure testing, cleaning, and adjustment), elevators (legally required inspection by a certified body, maintenance contract with an elevator company), fire alarm and sprinkler systems (semiannual to annual inspections), ventilation systems (filter replacement, cleaning), underground parking garages (lighting, barriers, ventilation), and photovoltaic and solar systems. For property management companies, coordinating these contracts is a core responsibility.

In addition, maintenance contracts are also concluded for non-technical areas: garden maintenance, cleaning of common areas and stairwells, winter services, and gutter cleaning are typical services that are permanently secured through framework agreements. When managing larger residential complexes, these contracts can contribute significantly to cost stability and quality assurance.

Contract Structuring: Maintenance, Inspection, and Full Maintenance

Maintenance contracts differ based on the scope of services:

Maintenance contracts cover regular cleaning and adjustment work, as well as the repair of minor defects as part of routine maintenance. The costs for replacement parts and major repairs are generally not included.

Inspection contracts additionally include condition assessment and documentation-the service provider records the condition of the system and provides recommendations for upcoming measures. For safety-critical systems (elevators, fire alarm systems), the documentation requirement is mandated by law.

Full-service maintenance contracts also cover the costs of repairs and replacement parts-at a flat rate. These contracts offer maximum cost certainty but are more expensive. Full-service maintenance contracts are widely used for elevators, as malfunctions require immediate and costly responses.

When drafting the contract, attention should be paid to clearly defined response times for malfunctions (e.g., 4 hours for an elevator outage, 24 hours for a heating failure in winter), precise service descriptions, warranty provisions for work performed, and fair notice periods.

Maintenance Contracts for the Management of Rental Properties

Anyone who professionally manages rental properties-whether personally or through a property management company-should secure the essential technical systems with maintenance contracts. If damage occurs as a result of neglected maintenance (e.g., heating failure in winter, elevator breakdown), the owner is liable to the tenants for the consequences. Maintenance contracts thus also serve to protect against liability and can prove, in the event of a dispute, that the owner has fulfilled their duty of care.

The costs of maintenance contracts (e.g., heating maintenance, elevator maintenance) can be passed on to tenants as operating costs, provided this is agreed upon in the lease agreement. Pure repair costs-those exceeding the scope of the maintenance contract-are not apportionable and are borne by the owner.

Digital Management of Maintenance Contracts

Modern property management software enables the digital management of all maintenance contracts, maintenance schedules, and inspection intervals. Reminders for upcoming maintenance, automatic document archiving, and digital signatures significantly simplify management. For owners of multiple properties, structured tracking of all contracts is not only a matter of efficiency but also of legal certainty: In the event of damage, it must be verifiable that all required maintenance was performed.

Practical Tip for Property Owners in Nuremberg and Franconia

In Nuremberg and the metropolitan region, numerous regional trades and building services companies offer maintenance contracts for private and commercial property owners. We recommend entering into contracts with local businesses that can guarantee quick response times and are familiar with local conditions. N-ERGIE offers maintenance contracts specifically for heating systems; for elevators, regional service partners of well-known manufacturers are the first point of contact.

When transferring a property (purchase or new lease), all existing maintenance contracts should be handed over to the buyer or the new property management. As part of our marketing process, we verify whether all relevant systems are properly maintained-and transparently communicate this to prospective buyers as a quality feature.

Frequently Asked Questions

As a property owner, am I required to enter into a maintenance contract for the heating system?

There is no legal obligation to enter into a maintenance contract for the heating system, but the Building Energy Act (GEG) and the Industrial Safety Regulation prescribe specific inspection and maintenance intervals. A maintenance contract is the easiest way to fulfill these obligations and maintain the necessary documentation.

Can maintenance costs from the maintenance contract be passed on to the tenant?

Yes, certain maintenance costs (e.g., heating maintenance, elevator maintenance) are apportionable operating costs under the Operating Costs Ordinance (BetrKV)-provided the lease agreement contains a corresponding provision. Repair costs that go beyond mere maintenance, however, are not apportionable.

What is the typical term of maintenance contracts?

Contractors and service providers often require terms of 1 to 3 years with automatic renewal. We recommend insisting on minimum terms of no more than one year and notice periods of no more than 3 months to remain flexible in the event of a change in ownership or a change of service provider.

What happens to existing maintenance contracts when the property is sold?

Maintenance contracts are generally tied to the owner and not to the property itself. They do not automatically terminate upon sale; either the buyer must agree to assume the contract, or the contract must be properly terminated. We recommend explicitly stipulating in the purchase agreement which existing service contracts are to be transferred to the buyer.

How does maintenance documentation help when selling a property?

Complete maintenance and inspection records are an underestimated value factor in real estate sales. Anyone who can present a prospective buyer with all service reports for the heating system, elevator inspection reports, and fireplace inspection certificates from the past five to ten years demonstrably shows careful management-and reduces the risk of price negotiations due to alleged maintenance backlogs. In the Nuremberg metropolitan area, we observe that well-documented apartment buildings and condominiums with complete maintenance records sell on average 3 to 8 percent faster than comparable properties without documentation. These documents are particularly relevant for investors looking to purchase a fully managed rental property: They enable a well-founded assessment of expected operating costs and the risk of short-term repair needs. We recommend that owners collect all maintenance documents in a structured manner in a property folder-physical or digital-and make them available in an organized manner at the time of sale.

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