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Who pays for this repair?
In a rented flat you pay for routine upkeep and small repairs, and your landlord pays for the rest. Pick what needs fixing to see whose it is under the limits in force since 1 January 2026, how much of your yearly cap is left, and what to do if it’s your landlord’s, with a letter in Czech to print.
Yours to pay
A small repair by kind: the government’s list names it (§4(g)), so it’s yours whatever it costs, until your yearly cap.
- Call-out and travel fees aren’t counted in the cost and are yours to pay (§5).
- Only fittings that belong to your landlord count: anything you brought is yours to repair (§3).
Your yearly cap
- Cap this year
- 8.250 Kč
- Paid so far
- 0 Kč
- Left before it’s passed
- 8.250 Kč
150 Kč per m² of 55 m², counted from 1 January (§6).
What to do next
- Have it fixed, or fix it yourself, and keep the receipt.
- Add the cost to your small repairs this year: once they pass your cap, further ones are your landlord’s.
- Tell your landlord anyway if it could cause more damage, such as a leak.
How the check works
Every rule comes from Government Regulation 308/2015 Coll. on routine maintenance and small repairs, as amended from 1 January 2026, and the Civil Code, as they read on 20. Oktober 2026. Each is listed below with its section.
The rules
- The tenant does and pays for routine upkeep and small repairs, and only those; the landlord keeps the flat and the house fit to live in (Civil Code §2257). A lease can’t put more on you (§2235).
- A repair the regulation lists is a small repair whatever it costs (§4). The list names repairs, and replacements only of some things, such as switches, valves and locks. It leaves out radiators and the central heating pipes.
- Any other repair is a small repair while it costs at most 1.500 Kč, with related repairs to the same thing added together (§5).
- Once a calendar year’s small repairs cost more than 150 Kč per m² of floor area, further repairs that year are the landlord’s (§6). Balconies, terraces and cellars count at half.
- Call-out and travel fees aren’t counted towards either limit, and the tenant pays them (§5, §6).
- Report a defect at once if it’s urgent, otherwise without undue delay. If the landlord doesn’t fix it in time, you may fix it and claim the reasonable cost, or ask for a cut in the rent (Civil Code §2264, §2265).
What it leaves out
- What your lease says about who does a repair: it can put less on you, never more.
- Insurance: your landlord’s building cover or your own contents cover may pay for damage from a leak or a fire.
- Owners in an owners’ association (SVJ) or a housing co-op, whose rules are their own.
- What happens at the end of the lease: you hand the flat back as you took it, allowing for normal wear (Civil Code §2293).
Every rule and its source
Each figure comes from the law, read on the date shown.
A repair not on the list is yours up to1.500 KčGeprüft
Government Regulation 308/2015 Coll. §5, from 1 January 2026 (1,000 Kč before): related repairs to the same thing count together; call-out fees aren’t counted. Geprüft am 20. Oktober 2026
Yearly cap on small repairs150 Kč per m² a yearGeprüft
Government Regulation 308/2015 Coll. §6(1), from 1 January 2026 (100 Kč per m² before): counted over a calendar year. Geprüft am 20. Oktober 2026
Balconies, terraces and cellars count at50 % of their areaGeprüft
Government Regulation 308/2015 Coll. §6(2): with any other space only the tenant uses. Geprüft am 20. Oktober 2026
Questions
Repairs in a rented flat, answered
My boiler broke. Who pays for the repair?
Repairs to the flat’s own boiler (etážové topení) and to a water heater are on the government’s list of small repairs, so they’re yours whatever they cost, until your yearly cap of 150 Kč per m². Replacing the whole boiler isn’t on the list: it’s yours only up to 1.500 Kč, so in practice it’s your landlord’s. Servicing it is routine upkeep, which is yours.
What changed on 1 January 2026?
The limits rose. A repair not on the list is a small repair up to 1.500 Kč (it was 1,000 Kč), and the yearly cap is 150 Kč per m² of floor area (it was 100 Kč). Only the call-out fee is now left out of a repair’s cost, and checking and cleaning the flat’s own boiler and stove is named as routine upkeep.
How does the yearly cap work?
Add up what you pay for small repairs from 1 January. Once the total is more than 150 Kč per m² of your flat’s floor area, with balconies and cellars at half, further repairs that year are your landlord’s. For a 55 m² flat that is 8.250 Kč. Routine upkeep and call-out fees don’t count.
My lease says I pay for all repairs. Is that valid?
No. The law says a tenant does and pays for only routine upkeep and small repairs (Civil Code §2257(2)), and a lease can’t take away a tenant’s rights under the rules on renting a flat (§2235). Terms that put more on you don’t bind you.
Who pays for a leaking radiator?
The list of small repairs leaves out radiators and the central heating pipes by name, so the cost decides: up to 1.500 Kč it’s yours, more is your landlord’s. Turn off the valve and report it at once.
What if my landlord won’t fix it?
Report it in writing first. If your landlord doesn’t fix it without undue delay and properly, you can have it fixed and claim the reasonable cost, or ask for a cut in the rent, unless the defect is minor (Civil Code §2265(2)). If they still don’t fix it after a further deadline and it’s a gross breach, you can end the lease without notice (§2266).
Who pays if I broke it?
You do, whatever it is: damage you, your household or your guests caused is yours to put right. If you don’t, your landlord can repair it and charge you (Civil Code §2267).
Do I have to repaint the flat?
Painting is routine upkeep, which is yours while you live there (Government Regulation 308/2015 §2). When you leave, you hand the flat back as you took it, allowing for normal wear from normal use (Civil Code §2293).
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