Maintenance planning in a WEG: how to build a works plan that holds up

What a maintenance plan is — and what it is not

A maintenance plan answers three questions: what needs doing to our building and when, what will it cost, and will we have the money when the time comes? It is a list of all significant components of the common property with their condition, remaining useful life and cost estimate, laid out on a timeline over ten to fifteen years.

It is not a survey report on every component. And it is not a resolution that commits the association to any measure. It is the basis on which owners' meetings can make good decisions, instead of voting under time pressure on the first quote that arrived.

The energy side can be covered by an individual renovation roadmap (individueller Sanierungsfahrplan, iSFP) drawn up by an energy consultant. It does not replace the maintenance plan, but it fits into it well. Whether and how much the consultation is subsidised changes often — check the current conditions with BAFA before commissioning one.

---

Why the effort pays off

The reserve becomes justifiable. The law requires an adequate maintenance reserve (§ 19(2) no. 4 WEG) but does not say how large. Per-square-metre rules of thumb give a reference point — an increase only becomes convincing when owners can see what the money is needed for. More on the methods in our article on how large the maintenance reserve should be.

Special levies become rarer. If you know the flat roof is due in four years, you can start saving today. If you don't, you resolve on a special levy in four years' time.

Works can be bundled. Scaffolding goes up once, not three times: façade, windows in common ownership, gutters and balconies planned together save on site setup and hassle.

The flats gain value. Buyers and banks increasingly ask about the reserve and upcoming works. An association with an up-to-date plan can answer both.

---

Seven steps to the plan

1. Review the documents

Building plans, the declaration of division (Teilungserklärung), the resolutions register (Beschluss-Sammlung), maintenance contracts and inspection records, invoices for earlier works, the energy performance certificate. The invoices show when each component was last renewed — often the most important and hardest-to-find piece of information.

2. Inspect

Every component of the common property, from top to bottom: roof and roof drainage, façade, windows (where common property), balconies, stairwells, risers and sewer pipes, heating plant, electrical distribution, lift, underground car park, outdoor areas. With photos and notes, so the next inspector can compare.

3. Assess condition and remaining useful life

A simple scale is enough, for example: good, works in five to ten years, works in one to five years, urgent. Add the remaining useful life: typical service lives as a starting point, corrected for what you see on site. A 30-year-old roof may last another ten years or start leaking next winter.

4. Estimate costs

For routine works, experience and comparable projects are enough. For large or unusual items, a rough estimate by a specialist planner is worth it. Two mistakes are common: pricing works at today's costs although they are eight years away, and forgetting ancillary costs such as scaffolding, planning and site supervision.

5. Set priorities

Not everything that is old is urgent. A proven order:

1. Safety — loose façade parts, fall protection, fire safety
2. Knock-on damage — leaking roofs, waterproofing, pipes; this is where waiting gets expensive
3. Legal duties — inspection and retrofit obligations with a deadline
4. Economics — works that lower running costs
5. Comfort and appearance — important, but can wait

6. Run it against the reserve

Now the list becomes a financial plan: today's reserve, the annual contribution, spending per year. In no year should the reserve fall below a minimum balance kept back for unforeseen damage. If the contribution is not enough, there are three levers: raise the contribution, postpone works that can wait, or deliberately plan for part-financing.

7. Bring it into the budget and the owners' meeting

The plan is presented to the owners' meeting, and the contribution to the reserve is resolved through the annual budget (§ 28 WEG). Individual measures are resolved on when they become due — with planning, a cost framework and financing.

---

An example

A fictional residential complex with 86 units, a reserve of €286,000 at the start and an annual contribution of €110,000:

Year	Works	Cost	Reserve at year end
2027	Car park: driving lane sealing	€85,000	€311,000
2028	Flat roof, building B	€85,000	€336,000
2029	Modernise lifts, buildings A–C	€120,000	€326,000
2030	Risers, building A	€60,000	€376,000
2031	Renew heating plant	€180,000	€306,000

The reserve covers all five measures without falling below €300,000. Without a plan, the association would probably have resolved on each of these measures separately and by surprise — and financed at least two of them through a special levy. The figures are a worked example, not cost estimates for your building.

You can work through the savings needed for your own flat with the reserve calculator.

---

Who draws up the plan

The property manager is the natural place for the planning: they hold the documents, know the contracts and will have to prepare the works later anyway. For measures of minor significance and to avert disadvantages, the manager may and must act on their own (§ 27(1) WEG); anything larger they prepare for a resolution.

Components with particular risks need specialists: underground car park and concrete, structural elements, façade, heating and energy. A good plan says openly where the manager's estimate ends and where a specialist planner should be appointed. How we organise this is described under technical management.

---

Common mistakes

• The plan sits in a drawer. A plan that never reaches the annual budget changes nothing.
• Today's costs for tomorrow's works. Without price increases, every plan is too optimistic after three years.
• Single measures instead of packages. Three scaffolds cost more than one.
• No minimum balance. A reserve planned to run down to zero has nothing left for a burst pipe.
• Drawn up once, never updated. Every three to five years and after every major measure, the plan belongs back on the table.

---

Large complexes and multi-building estates

The larger the complex, the more planning pays off — and the more structure it needs. In multi-building estates, list the items for each building separately, with shared components such as the underground car park, the heating plant or the outdoor areas as items of their own.

Whether the buildings keep separate reserves is set by the community rules. Since the WEG reform, the association can change how contributions to the reserve are allocated by resolution under § 16(2) sentence 2 WEG; the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has expressly confirmed this (judgments of 14 February 2025 – V ZR 236/23 and V ZR 128/23). How we look after large complexes is set out under property management for residential complexes.

---

For the associations it manages, Ravenica draws up a maintenance plan after inspecting every building and aligns it with the annual budget — so that major works reach the owners' meeting well in advance.