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Inspection register and safety duties: statutory inspections in retail properties

Electrics, fire safety, lifts, drinking water, trees: which recurring inspections apply to retail properties and how an inspection register helps.

In a retail property, a large number of technical installations meet a large number of visitors. Laws, ordinances and accident prevention regulations require recurring inspections for many of these installations. An inspection register (Prüfkataster) brings these obligations together in one place and shows what is due, when, and who is responsible.

What an inspection register should do

An inspection register is a structured overview of all installations in a property that are subject to inspection. For each installation it should at least record: the legal basis, type of inspection, inspector, applicable interval, last and next inspection, open defects and the status of their remedy. Allocating responsibility is just as important. In let retail units, tenants often operate their own installations, such as refrigeration or shop fittings. The lease should clearly state who arranges inspections for which parts.

Electrical installations: DGUV Regulation 3

Under section 5 of DGUV Regulation 3 (DGUV Vorschrift 3), the accident prevention regulation of the German Social Accident Insurance, the employer or business operator (Unternehmer) must ensure that electrical installations and equipment are inspected before first use, after modifications and at regular intervals. The intervals must be set so that defects are detected in good time. For fixed electrical installations, the implementing guidance gives a reference value of four years, with the inspection carried out by a qualified electrician (Elektrofachkraft). Shorter intervals apply to installations in special locations and to residual current devices.

Fire safety and smoke extraction

Whether smoke extraction systems, fire alarm systems or sprinklers must be inspected periodically by certified inspection experts (Prüfsachverständige) is governed by the federal states in their own inspection ordinances. The model inspection ordinance (Muster-Prüfverordnung) of the Conference of Building Ministers covers, among other things, retail premises within the meaning of the Retail Premises Ordinance (Verkaufsstättenverordnung). In Saxony, for example, the obligation applies to retail premises whose sales rooms and malls together exceed 2,000 m² gross floor area; periodic inspections take place every three years. As scope and intervals differ between federal states, the applicable state law and the building permit must be reviewed for each site.

Lifts: Industrial Safety Ordinance

Under the Industrial Safety Ordinance (Betriebssicherheitsverordnung, BetrSichV), lift installations must be inspected by an approved inspection body (zugelassene Überwachungsstelle). The interval for the periodic main inspection must not exceed two years. An intermediate inspection, also by an approved inspection body, is required halfway between two main inspections.

Drinking water: testing for Legionella

The Drinking Water Ordinance (Trinkwasserverordnung, TrinkwV) requires operators of building water supply systems to test for Legionella under certain conditions: the water is supplied as part of a commercial or public activity, there are showers or other facilities in which water is aerosolised, and there is a large hot water system (a storage tank of more than 400 litres or more than 3 litres in a pipe between the heater and the draw-off point). Where the supply is purely commercial, testing is required at least every three years; where it is public, generally once a year. Letting counts as a commercial activity for this purpose.

Trees on the site

Trees in car parks and on peripheral areas also belong in the register. According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH), owners must monitor their trees at reasonable intervals for disease and the risk of breakage. A careful visual inspection is generally sufficient; if warning signs such as dead branches or fungal growth appear, a detailed expert examination must be arranged. There is no fixed statutory interval. In practice, the tree inspection guidelines of the FLL (Forschungsgesellschaft Landschaftsentwicklung Landschaftsbau) are used as the technical benchmark.

Checklist

  • All installations subject to inspection are recorded for each property.
  • Legal basis, inspector and interval are documented for each installation.
  • Responsibilities between owner and tenant are settled in the lease.
  • State-specific inspection duties and building permit conditions have been reviewed.
  • Inspection reports are filed, defects tracked and their remedy documented.
  • Due dates are monitored well before they expire.

If you have questions about statutory inspections at your property, please get in touch: ST 77 property management.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice in individual cases.

Sources

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