- Show the account balance, freely available funds and expected contributions separately.
- For each major work item, distinguish need, resolution, quotation, order and financing.
- Check your apartment's share using the actual allocation key.
What the reserve fund shows and what remains unresolved
Under § 31 WEG, the reserve fund provides for future expenditure. Contributions should reflect expected costs and take account of thermal refurbishment and energy-related improvements. Statutory minimum requirements therefore do not replace checks of the specific building. Existing funds, building condition and forthcoming works must be considered together.
Ask for the balance on a particular date and its reconciliation from the latest accounts. Have major invoices already been paid, are they still outstanding or has the work only been ordered? Are there contribution arrears? A recorded receivable from an owner in arrears may not yet be available for a roof invoice due shortly. Nor is the reserve a personal savings account whose calculated share is automatically paid out to the seller.
Foundations: RIS [1]
Three documents answer different questions
The accounts explain past income and expenditure. The forecast describes forthcoming works, foreseeable expenditure and the resulting payments. § 20 WEG requires the manager to communicate this forecast no later than the end of the current accounting period. Resolution documents, in turn, show what the owners' association has actually decided. A non-binding discussion note is not yet evidence of a work order.
Place the documents side by side in chronological order. If planned façade work has appeared for several years without its scope and cost becoming clearer, ask what is holding it up. If the project has since been commissioned, the valuation needs the current position. An older forecast may underestimate the funding now required.
| Document | Which information should you look for? | Which question remains? |
|---|---|---|
| Annual accounts | Reserve fund movements and outstanding items | What is the position today? |
| Forecast | Planned works and expected payment demands | What is the cost basis? |
| Resolution and notification | Approved scope and financing | Are there any known challenges? |
| Quotation or order | Scope of works, price, dates | Which additional works are possible? |
| Technical report | Damage, urgency, necessary scope | Are quotations aligned with this report? |
Foundations: RIS [2]
Keep technical need and project status separate
Two independent columns are useful for each measure. The first describes the need: urgent damage, planned maintenance or a desired improvement. The second describes project status: investigated, quoted, resolved, ordered or completed. Urgent damage may not yet have a resolution; conversely, an approved improvement may be technically deferrable.
For resolutions, wording, date, notification and known challenges are relevant. Whether a resolution was validly passed and can still be challenged cannot be decided from a heading in the minutes. § 24 WEG contains specific rules on this. Ask the manager for a factual status update and have decisive disputed questions checked against the complete documents.
Foundations: RIS [3]
How much falls to your apartment?
Under § 32 WEG, expenditure is generally allocated according to co-ownership shares; differing agreements, court determinations or special accounting units may be relevant. Living area alone is therefore not a sufficient calculation basis. The actual applicable allocation key should be available, particularly for lifts, garages or multiple building sections.
Separate a possible additional one-off contribution from a permanently higher reserve contribution and from loan instalments. For financing, check the term, interest, outstanding loan amount and allocation to the unit. On a sale, the contract must clarify how amounts already demanded or becoming due only in future are treated between the parties. No blanket commitment on costs should be inferred from the handover date alone.
Foundations: RIS [4]
What does this mean for the valuation?
Prepare two outputs: the documented building condition and the apartment's evidenced or still conditional payment outlook. A professional valuation can then examine how buyers take this combination into account in the market. The cost of a measure and its effect on value need not coincide; a necessary repair often first restores proper usability.
Watch for double counting. If a comparable apartment already has similar refurbishment needs, the same difference must not be applied again without checking as a full cost deduction. Nor do an additional reserve contribution and the invoice it finances constitute two independent losses. Describe uncertain projects as scenarios with missing prerequisites until scope and financing are sufficiently clear.
Fictional financing overview for roof works
A calculation example only, using invented amounts: a reserve balance of 180,000 euros, 30,000 euros already committed and a new roof project costing 210,000 euros.
- After deducting the already committed 30,000 euros, the calculated amount remaining for the project is 150,000 euros.
- Without further contributions, other works or a loan, the funding gap is 60,000 euros.
- If a substantiated 4 per cent share applied to the apartment for this measure, its calculated share would be 2,400 euros. This does not yet establish that a resolution demanding such a payment has been passed.
The calculation describes the capital requirement under explicitly simplified assumptions. It determines neither the apartment value nor automatically the payment obligation of the seller or buyer.
Your next assessment steps
Record what you have already clarified and which documents you still need.
Request the current reserve balance and outstanding commitments
Establishes which funds are actually available for new works.
Where can I obtain the supporting information?
The property manager, reconciled with the accounts and bank balance.
Collect the forecast and documents for major resolutions
Separates planned measures from decisions already taken.
Where can I obtain the supporting information?
The property manager; expressly request any missing appendices to the minutes.
Check reports and quotations for comparable scopes of work
Shows urgency, scope and the reliability of the cost estimate.
Where can I obtain the supporting information?
The manager or appointed technical specialist.
Have the allocation key and financing plan confirmed
Translates building costs into the unit's possible liability.
Where can I obtain the supporting information?
Management documents and, where appropriate, legal review.
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Sources and date
The following sources support this main article. For your specific property, current documents and the applicable conditions matter.
- RISApartment Ownership Act 2002 § 31: reserve fund
- RISApartment Ownership Act 2002 § 20: duties and powers of the manager
- RISApartment Ownership Act 2002 § 24: resolutions of the owners' association
- RISApartment Ownership Act 2002 § 32: allocation of expenditure
Editorial date: 11/09/2026. Examples explain relationships and do not contain an individually prepared property valuation. Editorial work and sources.
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