for a safe feeling at home

Owning your own house/flat is an important part of life for many people. Finding the right house/flat in particular takes a lot of time and effort. It is therefore all the more important that your own property functions reliably and for a long time, retains its value and incurs low costs. In normal use, residential buildings usually have a lifespan of 80 – 100 years.

To achieve this service life, it is important to regularly inspect and maintain the entire building from the roof to the basement. This is the only way to avoid expensive damage or annoying faults or to restore the correct condition with little effort.

The detection of damage or weak points should not be left to chance. A regular and planned inspection of your own home may take a little time, but it has many advantages.

Many checkpoints can be carried out by laypersons, but in the case of structural and/or safety-related issues, they should/must be carried out by a specialist or, in the event of anomalies, they should be consulted for technical clarification.

What legal inspection obligations do I have as a real estate user?
Legislation as well as insurance companies oblige real estate users to have some systems such as

• Oil and gas boilers – acc. Clean Air Act of the respective federal state
• Air conditioning & heat pump – acc. Refrigeration Plant Ordinance (KAV) if > 1.5 kg refrigerant in the system
• Leak test of the gas pipe – acc. Gas ordinance of the respective federal state

must be regularly maintained and checked.

Who should carry out the checks?
Most inspections can be carried out by laypersons without much prior knowledge, as defects/damage are usually easy to spot with the naked eye. However, when in doubt, an expert should always be consulted to assess how critical a defect is in order to prevent misjudgements.

Only the statutory inspections or dangerous inspections (e.g. on the roof) should be carried out by a specialist.

Particularly in the case of possible insurance-relevant issues, the facts should always be documented with pictures or in writing by a specialist company in order to ensure meaningful evidence in the event of a claim.

How often should the check be carried out?
The interval essentially depends on the physical wear sensitivity of the system and the risk of damage.

Very short intervals (6 months to 1 year) make sense in the event of a high risk of death/injury (e.g. checking the RCD to reduce the risk of electric shock), energy inefficiencies (e.g. gas boiler maintenance to avoid excess consumption) or high follow-up costs (e.g. moisture damage).

Medium intervals (3 – 5 years) are ideal for medium risk, e.g. for soiling, slow wear processes (e.g. corrosion) or very simple and robust systems (e.g. lightning protection system).

Long intervals (from 10 years) are suitable for low risk and very slow wear processes (e.g. rusting through of pipes, frost damage to stones or concrete, etc.).

In the enclosed checklist (see Appendix 1) you will find the most common components and systems that should be checked regularly. In the event of above-average loads and exceptional environmental conditions, the intervals should be shortened accordingly based on your own and/or professional assessment. It is better to check once too often than too seldom!

To fulfill this responsibility, at least when it comes to maintenance/inspection, and to avoid missing any more appointments in the future, download our MyBuilding24 app(for Android, for Apple).
There you can record all your devices and systems requiring inspection and maintenance and manage the associated appointments.
With a complete list of maintenance work available at all times, you are always on the safe side.

Glossary

Legislation:

Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health – BetrSichV:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/betrsichv_2015/index.html

DGUV Information – recurring inspections of el. systems and equipment:
https://publikationen.dguv.de/widgets/pdf/download/article/787

Technical rules for operational safety – TRBS:
https://cust980373stdlrsweu001.blob.core.windows.net/staticweb/Vorschriften/Betriebssicherheit/Technische-Regeln-fuer-Betriebssicherheit-TRBS/trbs/start.htm

Federal Immission Control Ordinance – 1. BImSchV:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bimschv_1_2010/index.html

Chemicals Climate Protection Ordinance – ChemKlimaSchutzV:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/chemklimaschutzv/