The cost allocation key
The cost allocation key
"My rental charges increase from year to year by 10 to 30 %! Before 2017, each tenant received their hot water meter reading and had to pay what they had used. Now, the total hot water bill for dozens of tenants in my building is divided up according to the surface area of the flats, because some individual meters are no longer working. Is this legal?
Laurence, Geneva
Under article 257b of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), the actual costs incurred by the lessor of residential or commercial premises for services related to the use of the property, such as heating, hot water or operating costs, are considered to be ancillary costs.
These costs are only payable by the tenant if this has been specifically agreed. Landlords often make use of this possibility and regularly charge ancillary costs to tenants. Article 5 of the Ordinance on rental leases and leases of residential and commercial premises (OBLF) lists the expenses to be taken into account with regard to heating and hot water costs: these include fuel and energy consumption, maintenance of the installations, etc. On the other hand, the costs of repairing and refurbishing the installations do not count as heating costs. It should be pointed out that the landlord must allow the tenant to consult the supporting documents at his request, so that he can check that the charges are justified.
The law does not impose a mandatory allocation key for ancillary costs. It is therefore possible to allocate hot water costs according to the surface area of the flats. It is not necessary for the allocation key to take into account the individual benefit derived by each tenant; for example, lift costs are generally allocated regardless of the floor occupied.
A change in the distribution key that is unfavourable to the tenant must be notified to him on the official form at least 10 days before the start of the period for terminating the lease, on pain of nullity (art. 269d CO). So, provided it has been duly notified, the distribution key you mention at first glance seems valid. However, you may ask to examine the details of the calculations to check that they are correct.
