> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.immodio.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10090110-miete-fuer-rauchwarnmelder-rauchmelder.md). # Rent for smoke detectors Help on the Immodio entry item Rent for smoke alarms.
You use this category for **rental, provision or comparable ongoing usage charges for smoke alarms** installed in your let apartments or buildings. {% hint style="warning" %} The equipment rent for smoke alarms may **not** be recovered from the tenant through the operating cost statement. {% endhint %} That applies even where the smoke alarms are required by law for the apartment and the rental costs arise regularly every year. The Federal Court of Justice has expressly held on this point that the costs of **renting smoke alarms do not constitute other operating costs under Section 2 no. 17 BetrKV**. In operating cost law the rental costs economically take the place of the equipment's acquisition costs, which are likewise not recoverable as operating costs. {% hint style="info" %} The purchase of smoke alarms is posted to the "[Low-value assets](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10066400-geringwertige-wirtschaftsgueter.md)" category. {% endhint %} #### **Important: the equipment rent and maintenance have to be separated** With smoke alarms there are two different types of cost in Immodio: * you post the rental or provision of the equipment to the category **"**[**Rent for smoke alarms**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10090110-miete-fuer-rauchwarnmelder-rauchmelder.md)**"** * you post the regular functional check and maintenance of equipment already installed to the category **"**[**Maintenance of smoke alarms**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10147600-wartung-von-rauchwarnmeldern-rauchmelder-keine-reparatur-oder-kauf-umgelegt-au.md)**"** This distinction is decisive for the operating cost statement, because * The rent for the smoke alarms is **not** recoverable. * The costs of a regular visual and functional check and of ensuring operational readiness can, by contrast, in principle be recoverable as other operating costs under Section 2 no. 17 BetrKV. #### **What can be posted to this category?** This includes in particular: * a monthly or annual **rent for smoke alarms**, * an **equipment rent** per smoke alarm installed, * ongoing **provision charges** for the equipment, * usage charges paid economically solely for making the smoke alarms available, * leasing or comparable provision charges for smoke alarms, * the share of a combined service contract clearly relating to **making the equipment available**, * where applicable, other non-recoverable equipment costs that are assigned in Immodio to this smoke alarm category in line with the distinction from maintenance. What matters is the economic content of the supply. Where you pay, for example, **€5 per smoke alarm** a year for a service provider to make the device available to you for use, this is an equipment rent. Where, by contrast, you pay **€5 for the annual functional check** of a device already in place, this is maintenance. #### **Example: a pure equipment rent** There are **20 smoke alarms** in an apartment building The service provider charges per device a year: **€6 equipment rent** The annual costs are: **20 × €6 = €120** You post the **€120** to the category: **"**[**Rent for smoke alarms**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10090110-miete-fuer-rauchwarnmelder-rauchmelder.md)**"** The **€120** may **not** be taken over into the tenants' operating cost statement. #### **Why is the rent not recoverable even though it arises every year?** That can seem contradictory at first. Section 1 BetrKV in principle defines operating costs as costs that **arise on an ongoing basis** for the owner through ownership or the intended use of the building. The mere fact that an expense arises every year is not sufficient, however. With smoke alarms the Federal Court of Justice has held that in operating cost law the equipment rent **takes the place of acquiring the equipment**. A landlord therefore cannot turn the non-recoverable acquisition of a smoke alarm into recoverable operating costs by not buying the device but renting it permanently. Otherwise recoverability would depend on which financing model the landlord chooses for the same device: **purchase → not recoverable** but: **rental → recoverable** It is precisely this different treatment that the Federal Court of Justice has rejected for smoke alarms. #### **Maintenance, by contrast, is a different type of cost** The **regularly arising costs of the functional check and of ensuring operational readiness** of smoke alarms already installed do not belong in this category. The Federal Court of Justice expressly classified these costs differently from the equipment rent. A regular visual and functional check can be recoverable as **other operating costs under Section 2 no. 17 BetrKV**. For such costs you therefore use the separate category: **"Maintenance of smoke alarms"** The following can be recorded there, for example: * a regular functional check, * a visual check, * a check of operational readiness, * a check of the alarm function, * a check of the mounting position, * cleaning as part of the maintenance, * maintenance documentation, * a permitted technical or radio-based functional check, * the labour and travel costs of the maintenance company, as far as they are part of the maintenance service. {% hint style="info" %} An equipment rent, by contrast, never belongs in the maintenance category merely because the rent and the maintenance are invoiced by the same company. {% endhint %} #### **Example: the rent and the maintenance are shown separately** A service provider looks after **30 smoke alarms**. The annual invoice reads: **Equipment rent: €180** **Maintenance and functional check: €120** **Total: €300** You then post: * €180 to the category **"**[**Rent for smoke alarms**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10090110-miete-fuer-rauchwarnmelder-rauchmelder.md)**"**: * and €120 to the category **"**[**Maintenance of smoke alarms**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10147600-wartung-von-rauchwarnmeldern-rauchmelder-keine-reparatur-oder-kauf-umgelegt-au.md)**"** The **€180 equipment rent is not recoverable**. The **€120 maintenance costs can in principle be recoverable** where in particular there is a corresponding agreement in the rental agreement about these other operating costs. #### **Examine mixed "full-service" contracts particularly carefully** In practice service providers frequently do not rent out smoke alarms under two cleanly separated contracts. Instead you find designations such as, for example: * **"rental including maintenance"** * **"full-service smoke alarms"** * **"equipment service"** * **"smoke detector service"** * **"provision and inspection"** * **"rental including remote inspection"** * **"complete smoke alarm service"** With contracts of this kind the split is particularly important. A total charge can economically contain several different supplies: * the equipment rent, * maintenance, * the functional check, * remote inspection, * replacement of equipment, * repairs, * portal or administrative services, * documentation, * other services. **These components may not be treated alike for the operating cost statement without being examined.** #### **What to do where the rent and the maintenance are not shown separately?** Where the invoice states only, for example: **"Smoke alarms full service: €450"** and it cannot be seen from the invoice and the contract which amount relates to the: * the equipment rent, * maintenance, * check, * repairs, * or other services the invoice should **not be treated in full as recoverable maintenance without being examined**. {% hint style="info" %} In that case ask the service provider for a comprehensible split if at all possible. {% endhint %} #### **Replacing equipment on a routine cycle** With smoke alarms that have a permanently built-in long-life battery, the **entire device** is frequently replaced once the intended service life has expired. This complete replacement is to be distinguished from the regular functional check. The maintenance category is intended for the ongoing checking and securing of the operational readiness of equipment already in place. Where, by contrast, the complete smoke alarm is replaced, there is in principle no longer a mere annual maintenance service. In operating cost law, too, a complete replacement of equipment may therefore not automatically be treated as a maintenance cost item. Section 1 (2) BetrKV distinguishes running operating costs from maintenance and repair costs. #### **Consider a battery change separately** The position can be different with a routine battery change. Where the battery change is part of the regular maintenance service and serves to secure the operational readiness of the existing device, it can be a component of the maintenance service. Where, by contrast, not merely the battery is changed but, because of a permanently built-in battery, the **complete device is replaced**, this is not the same as the normal functional check. The specific content of the invoice is therefore decisive here as well. #### **A let condominium apartment and the WEG statement** With a let condominium apartment the owners' association can conclude uniform contracts on smoke alarms. The association can, for example, charge costs for: * the equipment rent, * maintenance, * the functional check, * replacement devices, * or a combined full-service contract. The fact that an item **is allocated to the apartment owner in the WEG statement** does not, however, automatically mean that the same item may then be recovered from the apartment's tenant. For the tenancy it has to be examined again **which specific cost component is present**. With a mixed WEG statement the following in particular should therefore be examined: * Which amount relates to the equipment rent? * Which amount relates to the maintenance? * Are acquisition or replacement costs included? * Are repairs included? * Are other administrative or service costs included? The amount relating to the **equipment rent** remains non-recoverable from the apartment's tenant. #### **Assignment in Immodio** When assigning it, select "**Property**" or "**Unit**" and then the property or the unit for which the costs arose. #### #### #### **Do not recover from tenants** The costs of renting smoke alarms may not be recovered from residential tenants as other operating costs. The **"Recoverable in the operating cost statement"** switch therefore has to stay disabled for this category. #### **In short** A particularly important separation applies to smoke alarms: **The equipment rent is the landlord's business. Maintenance can be an operating cost matter.** Post to **"Rent for smoke alarms"**, therefore, in particular: * the equipment rent, * a provision charge, * a usage charge, * comparable costs of merely making the equipment available. These costs may **not be taken over into your tenants' operating cost statement**. Regular functional checks and maintenance services, by contrast, belong in the separate **"Maintenance of smoke alarms"** category and can in principle be recoverable under the conditions described there. With combined contracts you should therefore keep permanently: * the rental or service contract, * the annual invoice, * the breakdown between rent and maintenance, * the number of devices, * the assignment of the devices to buildings or apartments, * a separate statement of replacement, repair or additional services. **The more cleanly the equipment rent and the maintenance are already separated on the invoice, the simpler and the more legally secure the operating cost statement remains later as well.**