What may a caretaker do – and what not? Powers and limits in everyday practice

Whether it is a reported defect, a conflict between residents or a repair carried out without authorisation — in everyday practice the role of a caretaker service is quickly overestimated. Here is an overview of what a caretaker service is actually responsible for, and where the line between it and the managing agent clearly runs.

The caretaker acts on instruction, not in his own right

A caretaker service is a contractor to the residents' association or the managing agent — it acts solely within the agreed scope of work. What German law calls the Hausrecht (the authority to decide who may enter, or to give instructions with effect towards outsiders) derives from ownership or possession of the building — § 903 BGB gives the owner the right to „andere von jeder Einwirkung auszuschließen“ (to exclude others from any interference). It therefore stays with the owner or the managing agent and does not pass automatically to the caretaker service, even though that service is the most visible point of contact on site day to day.

Typical tasks within day-to-day business

• Checking for and reporting defects (rather than repairing them without authorisation outside the agreed scope)
• Minor repairs within the agreed scope of work
• Locking-up duties, checking communal areas, monitoring technical installations (e.g. heating, lighting)
• Acting as the point of contact for residents on everyday matters — without any authority to decide management questions

Where the limits lie

• Contractual decisions (e.g. engaging new contractors, larger repairs) remain a matter for the managing agent or for a WEG resolution. Under § 27 Abs. 1 WEG, the managing agent may take measures on its own initiative only where they are of minor significance and do not give rise to substantial obligations, or where they are necessary to meet a deadline or to avert a disadvantage — everything beyond that is decided by the owners (§ 19 Abs. 1 WEG). This applies all the more to a caretaker service as a downstream contractor.
• Conflicts between residents(noise, arguments about parking spaces and the like) are in principle not the caretaker's job — at most he can mediate and pass the matter on to the managing agent.
• No sanctions on its own authority: a caretaker service may not impose contractual penalties or remove property belonging to third parties (e.g. wrongly parked vehicles, items left standing around) without agreement. Anyone who deprives a possessor of possession against their will, or interferes with that possession, acts unlawfully under § 858 BGB — depending on the individual case this can amount to verbotene Eigenmacht (unlawful interference with possession).
• Larger structural alterationsrequire a WEG resolution regardless of the caretaker's assessment: measures that go beyond the proper upkeep of the common property are decided by the flat owners under § 20 Abs. 1 WEG.

Why a clear description of the work helps both sides

Many misunderstandings arise because the scope of work in the contract is worded too vaguely. A detailed schedule of services set down in writing protects both the residents' association (clear expectations, transparent costs) and the contractor (no argument about extras that were expected “tacitly”). How such a schedule can be spread across several firms or given to a single provider is covered in our article Caretaker service vs. individual firms — what pays off for managing agents?.

How Zamsa helps

Our caretaker service works to a schedule of services agreed in writing — every item is named, every visit is documented. Anything we notice outside the agreed scope we report to the managing agent instead of deciding on it ourselves. That way everyone involved can see what has been done and where the decision rests with the managing agent.

The limits described here are general practical guidance; in any individual case it is always the specific service contract or the WEG resolution that determines the actual scope of duties.