Calculator
Calculate the maintenance reserve.
The law requires an adequate reserve but names no figure. Three methods lead to three very different results; read side by side, they give a reliable range.
In short
The Peters formula gives the full maintenance cost over eighty years and therefore the upper limit. The rates of the II. BV (Second Computation Ordinance) are the common benchmark but only partly reflect today’s construction costs. The figure only becomes reliable with a renovation roadmap (Sanierungsfahrplan) based on remaining service lives and estimated costs.
Your flat
Your monthly share according to the budget (Wirtschaftsplan). Leave empty if you don’t know it.
Building
Sum of all units. You’ll find it in the declaration of division or the annual statement.
Balance according to the asset report (Vermögensbericht), for the whole association.
Assumptions
For the Peters formula. New-build costs for apartment buildings are currently mostly between €3,000 and €4,500 per m².
Around 70% is typical. The rest relates to the individual units and isn’t financed from the reserve.
Peters formula
Upper limit€245.00/month
€42.00 per m² per year · €2,940 a year for 70 m²
€3,200/m² × 1.5 ÷ 80 years
II. BV rates
Guide value€76.03/month
€13.03 per m² per year · €912 a year for 70 m²
at least 32 years · building 51 years old
Renovation roadmap
Reliable€206.63/month
€35.42 per m² per year · €2,480 a year for 70 m²
€35,422 a year for the whole association
Renovation roadmap
The starting values are a rough estimate for an apartment building with around 1,000 m² of living space. Replace them with your own figures; only then does the third result above become reliable.
The results are guide values, not a draft resolution and not legal advice. Whether a reserve is adequate depends on the condition of the specific building; the II. BV rates only apply directly to publicly subsidised housing.
Frequently asked questions about the maintenance reserve
How high does the maintenance reserve have to be?
The law names no figure; it requires the reserve to be adequate (§ 19(2) no. 4 WEG). Common guide values are €7 to €12 per square metre of living space per year, of which around 70% relates to common property.
Why is the Peters formula so much higher?
It describes the full maintenance cost over an eighty-year service life, including items many associations finance through special levies (Sonderumlage). As a proposal for a resolution it won’t pass at most meetings; as a reality check it is useful.
Why is only around 70 percent applied?
The formulas describe the maintenance cost of the whole building. Part of it relates to the individual units and is borne by each owner. Only common property is funded from the association’s reserve.
What is better than a rule of thumb?
A renovation roadmap. It lists building components with their remaining service life and estimated costs, and works backwards. Its decisive advantage over any formula: it can be discussed at the owners’ meeting.
Do I get my share of the reserve back when I sell?
No. The reserve belongs to the association. Your share passes economically to the buyer and should be reflected in the purchase price.
Is it Instandhaltungsrücklage or Erhaltungsrücklage?
Since the 2020 WEG reform, the law says Erhaltungsrücklage. Nothing has changed in substance; older resolutions and declarations of division still use the old term and remain valid.
The roadmap becomes a budget.
For the associations we manage, we draw up the renovation roadmap with remaining service lives and savings requirements: as a basis for the owners’ meeting, not as a sales pitch.
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