Owners are allowed to decide on uniform smoke alarm devices in WEG

Background: Decision on smoke alarms

At an owners' meeting, the members of an apartment owners' association in North Rhine-Westphalia decided to transfer the installation and maintenance of smoke alarms for all apartments to a specialist company. The acquisition costs are to be financed from the maintenance reserve and the ongoing costs for maintenance and testing are to be apportioned via the annual statement according to co-ownership shares.

The owners of several apartments have filed an appeal against the decision. They object that they have already fitted their homes with smoke alarms and would like to be exempted from the regulation.

Decision: Uniform equipment with smoke alarm devices permitted

The legal challenge is unsuccessful.

The apartment owners can decide to install smoke alarms in all apartments. The decision-making authority also includes the decision on regular inspection and maintenance. According to Section 49, Paragraph 7, Clause 4 of the BauO NRW, it is the direct owner and not the owner who must ensure operational readiness. However, the apartment owners can still decide to have the newly installed smoke alarm devices serviced and checked uniformly by a specialist company.

The resolution also corresponds to proper administration. By having the installation and maintenance of smoke alarm devices for the entire building "in one hand", a high level of security is guaranteed. The community can ensure that the smoke alarm devices comply with the relevant DIN standards and are installed and serviced by qualified specialists through the uniform procurement and the uniform regulation of maintenance and control.

Such a regulation "from a single source" also minimizes insurance law risks. It is generally equitable discretion for the apartment owners to give priority to these interests over the interests of those owners who have already installed their own smoke alarm devices in their apartments and therefore wish to be exempt from a uniform regulation.

Individual solutions lead to a lack of clarity, especially in larger condominiums, and to a considerable amount of additional work for the administrator when checking whether the installation and maintenance obligation has been fulfilled in each individual case and whether proof of this has been provided. What such proof should look like is also unclear. This can lead to gaps in building security. But even in smaller communities, the discretion granted to the apartment owners is not exceeded when the community chooses the most practical and safest way to fulfill the obligation to install and maintain smoke alarm devices. In contrast, the additional financial burden for apartment owners who have already equipped their apartment with smoke alarms is low.

(Federal Court of Justice, judgment of December 7th, 2018, V ZR 273/17)

Federal Court of Justice on tenancy law: Uniform equipment takes precedence

For tenancy law, the Federal Court of Justice had previously made it clear that uniform equipment for the entire building represents a higher level of security than equipment provided by individual tenants. Therefore, tenants must tolerate the installation of smoke alarms even if they have already installed their own devices. Read more about smoke alarm devices: Tenant must tolerate installation despite own devices

Smoke alarm devices: regulations of the federal states

You can read about the regulations on smoke alarm devices in the individual federal states here: Top topic smoke alarm devices: regulations in the federal states

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Federal Court of Justice jurisprudence on WEG law