Minor repairs in a rented flat: what the tenant pays and what the landlord pays
A broken hob, a dripping tap, a dead socket. Which repairs the tenant pays under Section 2257 OZ and Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., when the CZK 1,500 limit applies, how to work out the annual cap of CZK 150 per m² and what to do when something breaks.
The hob stops heating, the tap drips or a socket sparks. The landlord says it is a minor repair and the tenant has to pay. Sometimes that is true, sometimes not. It depends on what broke, what the repair costs and how much you have already paid for repairs this year.
1. The basic rule
During the lease the landlord keeps the flat and the building fit for use (Section 2257(1) OZ). The tenant carries out and pays only for routine maintenance and minor repairs connected with using the flat (Section 2257(2) OZ). Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll. defines what minor repairs and routine maintenance are. Minor repairs concern the flat and its interior equipment, but only equipment that is part of the flat and belongs to the landlord (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 3). Tenants repair their own washing machine or fridge themselves.
The contract cannot shift more onto the tenant. A clause making the tenant pay for all repairs curtails the tenant’s rights and is disregarded (Section 2235(1) OZ). This does not apply to a flat let for a holiday or another obviously short-term purpose (Section 2235(2) OZ).
2. Minor repairs by type of item
The regulation lists repairs that are minor whatever they cost (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 4). The most common are:
- kitchen and bathroom: repairs of cookers, ovens, hobs, cooker hoods, kitchen units, mixer taps, showers, washbasins, baths, sinks, toilet cisterns and water heaters (letter g),
- electrics: repairs and replacement of switches, sockets, circuit breakers, doorbells, and replacing light bulbs (letter c),
- doors and windows: repairs of handles, fittings, roller blinds and blinds inside the flat, replacing locks (letter b),
- water: repairs and replacement of shut-off valves except the main valve for the flat, replacing traps (letter e),
- heating: repairs of stoves and of boilers for heating a single flat; repairs of radiators and central heating pipes are not minor repairs (letter h).
Note the difference between repair and replacement. For a cooker or a mixer tap, Section 4 of Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll. covers repairs and replacing small parts (letter i), not replacing the whole appliance. A new cooker can therefore be a minor repair only by cost, i.e. up to CZK 1,500 (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 5). For switches and sockets the regulation expressly includes replacement.
3. Other repairs: the CZK 1,500 limit
A repair not on the list is minor only if one repair costs no more than CZK 1,500. Several related repairs of the same item that follow one another are added together. The tradesperson’s travel is not counted towards this amount and the tenant pays it (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 5).
4. The annual cap of CZK 150 per m²
In a calendar year the tenant pays for minor repairs under Section 4 and Section 5 of Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll. together up to CZK 150 per m² of the flat’s floor area. Further repairs that year are no longer minor and the landlord pays them. Travel is not counted towards the cap (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 6(1)). A balcony, loggia, terrace and a cellar that is not a room count at half their area (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 6(2)).
5. Routine maintenance
Besides minor repairs, the tenant pays for routine maintenance: painting, plaster repairs, wallpapering, cleaning floors and tiles and clearing blocked drains up to the vertical pipes. It also includes regular cleaning of the cooker, hood or stove and checking the smoke detector, including replacing its battery (Government Regulation No. 308/2015 Coll., Section 2). The CZK 1,500 and CZK 150 per m² limits do not apply to routine maintenance.
6. When something breaks
- A fault that has to be fixed without delay (for example running water or a sparking socket) must be reported to the landlord immediately; another defect that prevents normal living, without undue delay (Section 2264(1) OZ). Preferably in writing, with a photo.
- A repair you do not pay for is carried out by the landlord within a reasonable time after being notified (Section 2265(1) OZ).
- If the landlord does not do it without undue delay and properly, you may fix the defect yourself and claim reimbursement of justified costs, or a rent reduction, unless the defect is not significant (Section 2265(2) OZ).
- A tenant who reports a defect unreasonably late loses the right to reimbursement of costs (Section 2265(3) OZ).
- Damage or a defect the tenant is responsible for is repaired at the tenant’s expense. If the tenant does not repair it, the landlord repairs it at the tenant’s expense (Section 2267 OZ).
