Guides / Operating costs
Operating costs
The Nebenkostenabrechnung, which costs are billable, deadlines and heating.
The Nebenkostenabrechnung (operating-cost statement) is the most common dispute in a German tenancy, and the most clearly regulated one. § 556 BGB gives both sides a 12-month deadline: the landlord to issue the statement, the tenant to object. Which costs may be passed on at all is an exhaustive list in § 2 BetrKV; administration, maintenance and reserves are not on it.
Here you'll find guides to creating and to checking the statement, to heating costs (HeizkostenV), the CO₂ cost split and flatshare special cases, plus the free Nebenkosten-Checker for deadline and line items.
Guides for tenants
- CO₂ costs: does the landlord pay too? (CO2KostAufG 2026)
Since 2023 tenants and landlords share heating CO₂ costs under a 10-step model (CO2KostAufG). How to check your share, and cut it when it's wrong.
- Cable TV in your Nebenkosten: what tenants need to know in 2026
Since 1 July 2024 landlords can no longer pass cable-TV fees on through the Nebenkosten. How to check your statement and get the money back.
- How to check your Heizkostenabrechnung as a tenant (2026)
Check your Heizkostenabrechnung: 50 to 70% must be billed by consumption (§ 7 HeizkostenV). How to check the deadlines and the invoices, and when you can cut 15%.
- How to check your Nebenkostenabrechnung as a tenant (2026)
Check your Nebenkostenabrechnung: the landlord has 12 months to bill, you have 12 months to object (§ 556 BGB). Which costs count and how to object.
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