The janitorial costs are part of every operating cost statement and are paid by the tenants on an annual pro-rata basis. A janitor is primarily responsible for general control and monitoring activities on the property. This includes, for example, checking the escape and rescue routes, the proper functioning of the technology and lighting of common areas or the control of external doors. The costs of janitorial services are passed on to the tenants in the utility bill.
A clear distinction must be made between activities that fall within the scope of repair and maintenance and those that are part of administrative activities. This is because the costs that are part of the administration of a building are borne by the landlord. In a legal dispute (AT VIII ZR 62/19), a landlord from Berlin also allocated the costs of an additional "emergency service flat rate" for the janitor to the tenants and listed them in the operating costs statement. One tenant refuses to bear the costs, because the tenants are of the opinion that these do not belong to the operating costs.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) agrees with the plaintiff and decides that the costs for the janitor emergency service must be borne by the landlord (AT VIII ZR 62/19). This is because, in contrast to general janitor activities, which are primarily aimed at complying with the house rules and are routinely carried out, the janitor must act outside normal business hours in the event of fault reports and alert a specialist company to rectify the fault. These tasks would normally be performed during the day by the landlord or the property management company, are part of the administrative activities and cannot be allocated to the operating costs.
Source: BGH
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