Additional costs for heating and hot water

The extra costs can be recorded in a variety of ways. It would be easiest to simply agree on a warm rent (inclusive rent) or a flat-rate heating cost. Then the tenant would pay a lump sum that includes the basic rent and all incidental rental costs. However, this would not be in the interests of the legislature.

Ancillary costs for energy must be recorded based on consumption

• The legislator tries to curb energy consumption. The heating costs ordinance serves this purpose. Its ultimate goal is to encourage tenants to be more energy-conscious about their consumption. This only works if the tenant pays for his energy consumption at least in part on the basis of consumption. If he were to be able to bill the energy consumption independent of consumption, this would be counterproductive. Therefore, the agreement of a warm rent or an inclusive rent or a heating cost flat rate is not permitted.
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• The heating costs ordinance therefore obliges the landlord to share the tenant's consumption for heater and record hot water. For this purpose, he must provide the apartment with consumption recording devices. The tenant must tolerate this (§ 4 HeizkV).

Consumption share for heating and hot water at least 50 percent

• The landlord must bill the tenant's energy consumption for heating and hot water at least 50 percent and at most 70 percent based on consumption and apportion it to the tenant. If all tenants of an apartment building agree, the consumption share can be up to 100 percent. The agreement of a consumption rate lower than 50 percent, however, is not permitted.
• A certain allocation key can be agreed in the rental contract for the non-consumption-dependent share of consumption. This is regularly the living space.


Is rent permissible - information on utility billing

In addition to the rent, tenants also pay ancillary costs. The additional costs can be included in the rent ...

• Once a year the landlord has to prepare the utility bill. The recording of energy consumption is usually assigned to a heat metering company. Admittedly, the case law requires that an average educated tenant should be able to postpone an operating cost bill in terms of thought and arithmetic. In view of its complexity, however, this only applies to a limited extent for heating bills. However, the landlord must list the various items relating to heating (fuel costs, maintenance costs, cleaning costs) and explain the distribution key. In addition, the billing period (12 months) must be specified precisely. The time of reading is to be communicated.

Exceptions to usage-based billing

• An exception to the consumption-based billing of additional costs for heating and hot water exists, among other things, when the recording of consumption is technically not possible or uneconomical is. It is uneconomical if the expected savings in energy consumption (for example due to the installation of a hot water meter) is not sufficient, the investments and the running costs to cover. The cost of the consumption-based billing must therefore be covered by the energy savings over a period of at least ten years (Section 11 HeizkV).
• There is also an exception for buildings with no more than two apartments, one of which the landlord lives in himself. Here, too, the parties can agree on a warm rent or an inclusive rent or a flat-rate heating cost.

Otherwise it is Heating costs ordinance an extremely complex set of rules. It is hardly understandable for the layman. It contains a whole series of sometimes difficult conceptual givens. This can be illustrated by way of example using Section 9 HeizkV. The regulation contains a complex calculation basis if the energy consumption for hot water cannot be measured with a reasonable amount of effort. The amount of heat is then to be recorded using a computational equation.