Who has to vacate and when?

Snow and ice are hardly surprising in winter, yet the cold season keeps the courts busy every year with rulings concerning snow removal and salting obligations, as well as liability in cases of accidents caused by icy conditions. Here is an overview of some important regulations.

The municipality typically transfers the responsibility for snow removal and salting of the adjacent sidewalk to the homeowner. If the property is rented, the homeowner can transfer this responsibility to the tenant. This arrangement must be clearly stated in the lease agreement; a general clause such as "all official and police regulations must be observed" is insufficient for transferring this responsibility.

As further court rulings show, while landlords may generally rely on tenants fulfilling their obligations, they are nevertheless expected to monitor compliance. Failure to do so risks making the landlord liable, rather than the tenant, for damages resulting from falls by pedestrians or cyclists (see judgment of June 30, 2000, case no. 1 O 60/00).

The obligation to clear snow and ice cannot be transferred indiscriminately to every tenant: frail senior citizens or tenants with severe disabilities do not have to pick up a shovel and are also exempt from the winter obligation if they cannot find anyone on site who can do the work (cf. Regional Court of Münster, judgment of 19.02.2004, file no. 8 S 425/03).

If the landlord hires a snow removal service, they can charge the tenant for the costs as part of the ancillary costs. The snow removal service is liable for damages if a tenant falls and is injured due to uncleared access paths to the building (see Federal Court of Justice, judgment of January 22, 2008, case no. VI ZR 126/07).

When should salt be spread?

Unless otherwise stipulated in the rental agreement, the sidewalks, specifically a strip approximately 80 to 120 cm wide, on each side of the property must be cleared of snow and ice on weekdays starting at 7:00 a.m. On Sundays and public holidays, the tenant may, depending on the municipality, wait until 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. This obligation typically ends at 8:00 p.m.

In January 2007, the Higher Regional Court of Brandenburg ruled that preventative gritting is required even outside of designated times if there are concrete indications of black ice formation. However, the principle of proportionality applies. The Higher Regional Courts of Schleswig and Karlsruhe have ruled that there is no all-day obligation to clear snow and ice during freezing rain. "The party responsible for gritting must only reapply grit when the weather conditions are not so exceptional that repeated gritting is pointless or futile," ruled the Federal Court of Justice on November 27, 1984 (Case No. VI ZR 49/83). At the same time, however, the Federal Court of Justice stated that gritting must also be carried out several times in succession if the effect of the grit lasts only a short time due to exceptional weather conditions, such as persistent precipitation on supercooled ground. Therefore, there is some room for interpretation here.

Good to know: Private liability insurance protects the owner and the tenant against damages that may occur in the course of their snow removal and salting obligations.

Sources: kostenlose-urteile.de, urteile-zum-winterdienst.de, advocard.de, haufe.de