Building & renovation
Remote-readable meters: the 31 December 2026 deadline and what owners must do now
Short answer
All heat cost allocators, heat meters and hot water meters that cannot yet be read remotely must be retrofitted or replaced by 31 December 2026 (§ 5(3) HeizkostenV). Cold water meters are not affected. If the owners’ association misses the deadline, tenants may cut their heating cost share by 3 per cent – a loss borne by owners who let.
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The deadline in one sentence
If your building still has heat cost allocators, heat meters or hot water meters that someone has to read in person once a year, you have until 31 December 2026 to retrofit or replace them. That is what § 5(3) of the Heating Costs Ordinance (HeizkostenV) has said since its 2021 amendment. The deadline has not been moved since.
For many owners’ associations (WEG), this was dealt with long ago. For some, it was not – especially where the metering contract has run unchanged for years and nobody looked at the date. This article helps you work out in ten minutes whether your building is affected and what still needs to happen.
What “remote-readable” means – and what is not affected
A device is remote-readable if it can be read without anyone entering the flat – in practice, usually by radio. Affected are:
- heat cost allocators on the radiators (including the old evaporation tubes),
- heat meters, for example for underfloor heating or flat stations,
- hot water meters.
Cold water meters are not affected. The Heating Costs Ordinance only covers heat and hot water. If someone tells you the cold water meter has to go because of the deadline, that is not quite right – even though replacing everything at once can make practical sense.
Since 1 December 2021, only remote-readable devices may be newly installed anyway. The year-end deadline therefore concerns older equipment.
Who bears the cost if the deadline is missed
This is where it gets interesting for owners. The ordinance gives users a right to reduce their heating cost share by 3 per cent if no remote-readable devices are installed. A further 3 per cent is possible if the monthly consumption information is missing (§ 12(1) HeizkostenV).
This right does not apply between you and the owners’ association. As an owner-occupier, you therefore cannot cut your monthly service charge (Hausgeld). The ones who are hit are owners who let: their tenant may reduce the bill even though the landlord did nothing wrong – the failure was the association’s. Three per cent sounds small, but it adds up year after year until the devices are replaced.
That is exactly why investors who let their flats should ask about this at the owners’ meeting. How the reduction feeds into your own tenant statement is explained in our article on the utility cost statement for a rented condo.
A quick check for your building
Look at a heat cost allocator: does the display show a radio symbol or a reference to radio? Old evaporation tubes are definitely not remote-readable.
Did the meter reader last come into the flat in person? Then at least part of the equipment has probably not been upgraded.
Do you receive monthly consumption information by letter, email or app? If not, either the technology is missing or the metering company isn’t delivering.
Ask the property manager in writing whether all devices in the building are remote-readable and when the metering contract ends.
Check whether the topic is on the agenda of the next meeting or has already been decided.
What the owners’ association should do now
Equipping the building with metering technology is the association’s responsibility and part of proper management. If nothing has happened yet: the remaining time is short, but not too short. Metering companies are busy towards the end of the year, so it pays to act immediately.
Now
Take stock
The manager asks the metering company which devices are not yet remote-readable and gets a quote for retrofitting or replacement – comparing purchase and rental.
Within a few weeks
Pass a resolution
If the next meeting is too far away, a resolution by written circulation or an extraordinary meeting are options. Where all that remains is meeting a statutory deadline, the manager may act without a resolution under § 27(1) WEG.
By 31.12.2026
Installation
Coordinate appointments with all residents. Anyone who doesn’t grant access puts the deadline at risk – early notice and alternative dates help.
From January 2027
Check the consumption information
Does the monthly information reach every user? Only then is the reduction risk fully off the table.
If the manager doesn’t respond, the owners can demand a meeting themselves. How that works is explained in our article on the extraordinary owners’ meeting.
Exceptions – and why they rarely apply
The obligation does not apply if retrofitting is technically impossible in the individual case or would cause undue hardship through unreasonable effort (§ 5(3) sentence 2 HeizkostenV). This is interpreted narrowly. The fact that replacement costs money is not undue hardship.
Special rules apply to buildings with no more than two flats, one of which the owner lives in. For typical owners’ associations, this plays no role. In addition, § 11 HeizkostenV lists further exceptions, for example for rooms in which consumption cannot be influenced.
The next deadline is already set
Remote readability is not quite the end of it. Devices must also be interoperable – able to work with other providers’ systems and connect to a smart meter gateway. For devices already installed as remote-readable before December 2022, a transition period runs until the end of 2031.
So if you are replacing devices now, choose interoperable equipment – otherwise the next replacement is due in five years. It is also a good moment to look at the rest of the building services, above all the heating system itself. What the new Building Modernisation Act (GModG) means for owners’ associations is covered in our article on replacing the heating in a WEG.
At Ravenica, building technology is a priority: we review metering contracts, obtain comparison quotes and make sure deadlines like this one don’t become tight in the first place. Learn more about our owners’ association management in Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen.
Frequently asked questions
Do cold water meters also have to be remote-readable by the end of 2026?
No. The Heating Costs Ordinance (HeizkostenV) only covers the recording of heat and hot water – heat cost allocators, heat meters and hot water meters. The deadline does not apply to cold water meters. Many metering companies replace them at the same time for practical reasons; that is a question of cost-efficiency, not an obligation.
As an owner-occupier, can I reduce my service charge if the WEG misses the deadline?
No. The right to reduce expressly does not apply between an individual owner and the owners’ association (§ 12(1) sentence 4 HeizkostenV). It only affects the relationship between landlord and tenant. Towards the association, the general rules apply, which in individual cases may include a damages claim.
Are there exceptions to the retrofitting obligation?
Yes, but they are narrow. The obligation does not apply if replacement is technically impossible in the individual case or would cause undue hardship because of unreasonable effort. Special rules also apply to buildings with no more than two flats, one of which the owner lives in.
Has the deadline been postponed?
As of October 2026: no. The date of 31 December 2026 has stood unchanged in § 5(3) HeizkostenV since the 2021 amendment. No extension was known when this article was published.
What is the monthly consumption information?
Once remote-readable devices are installed, users must be informed about their consumption every month (§ 6a HeizkostenV) – by letter, email or app. If this information is missing, tenants may also reduce their share by 3 per cent.
About the author
Julius Launhardt
Founder, owner & managing director of Ravenica · Dipl.-Ing. (TUM)
Graduate engineer (Dipl.-Ing.) and M.Sc. in Management from the Technical University of Munich, IHK-certified property manager, TÜV-certified sustainability manager and long-standing member of the volunteer fire brigade. As founder and managing director of Ravenica in Nuremberg, he is responsible for day-to-day business, processes and long-term strategy. Knows building services, refurbishments, energy and inheritance cases first-hand, and owns several properties himself.
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