How to Check Your Heizkostenabrechnung as a Tenant (2026)

What is a Heizkostenabrechnung?

The Heizkostenabrechnung (heating-cost statement) is the part of your Nebenkostenabrechnung (annual operating-cost statement) with which your landlord passes on the costs of heating and hot water. It is governed by its own ordinance — the Heizkostenverordnung (HeizkostenV), the heating-cost ordinance — and therefore has its own rules that go beyond the general operating-cost check. (For the remaining items, see the guide on checking the Nebenkostenabrechnung.)

The most important fact first, and it is also your strongest lever: heating and hot-water costs must be billed 50 to 70 percent by consumption (§ 7 HeizkostenV). If they are not, you may cut your share by 15 percent (§ 12 HeizkostenV).

The 50–70% rule: your share by consumption (§ 7 HeizkostenV)

Under § 7 HeizkostenV, 50 to 70 percent of the heating and hot-water costs must be distributed by measured Verbrauch (consumption) — read off your meters. The remaining 30 to 50 percent (the Grundkosten, base costs) are allocated by floor area. Within this range the landlord may choose the Verteilerschlüssel (distribution key).

In certain older, poorly insulated buildings with exposed, insulated pipes, § 7 HeizkostenV even mandates 70 percent by consumption. So check first: what Verbrauchsanteil (consumption share) does your statement use — and is it within the permitted range?

The 15% Kürzungsrecht: your strongest lever (§ 12 HeizkostenV)

If the landlord bills the heating and hot-water costs not by consumption, contrary to the Heizkostenverordnung, you have a Kürzungsrecht (reduction right): you may cut your share by 15 percent (§ 12 HeizkostenV). Typical cases:

• billing 100 percent by floor area or occupant count, although consumption metering would be possible
• missing, broken or unread meters
• a base-cost share above 50 percent (i.e. less than 50% by consumption)

Important: the Kürzungsrecht applies to the entire heating and hot-water cost — not just the faulty part. It does not apply, however, if the landlord can still correct the error. And you must actively assert the reduction: it does not happen automatically — you notify the landlord.

The two 12-month deadlines (§ 556 Abs. 3 BGB)

As with any Nebenkostenabrechnung, two separate deadlines run:

1. The landlord's Abrechnungsfrist (billing deadline): they must bill within 12 months of the end of the billing period (§ 556 Abs. 3 S. 2 BGB). For 2025 that means: by 31 December 2026 at the latest. After that their claim to a Nachzahlung lapses — but a Guthaben (credit) in your favour you must still receive.
2. The tenant's Einwendungsfrist (objection window): you have 12 months from receipt of the statement to object to errors in writing (§ 556 Abs. 3 S. 5 BGB). What counts is not the date on the letterhead, but the day the statement actually reaches you.

Achtung: The Einwendungsfrist is a strict cut-off (Ausschlussfrist). Raise your Einwendungen — including the 15% Kürzungsrecht — in writing within 12 months of receipt, ideally by registered post. Let the window lapse and your substantive objections are generally barred, even if you were in the right.

Step by step: how to check your Heizkostenabrechnung

1. Note receipt and deadline. Record when the statement arrived — your 12-month Einwendungsfrist runs from that day. At the same time, check whether the landlord billed on time.
2. Check the Verbrauchsanteil. What percentage is billed by consumption? It must lie between 50 and 70 percent (§ 7 HeizkostenV).
3. Reconcile your own Zählerstände. Compare the start and end readings stated in the statement against your own notes. Do the recorded values match?
4. Check the Verteilerschlüssel for base costs. Grundkosten are distributed by floor area — your square metres and the building total must be correct.
5. Check the Kürzungsrecht. Was nothing billed by consumption, or is the base-cost share above 50%? Then the 15% Kürzungsrecht applies (§ 12 HeizkostenV).
6. Reconcile your Vorauszahlungen. The stated total of your monthly advance payments must match what you actually paid.
7. Request Belegeinsicht. If doubts remain, request inspection of the original documents (§ 259 BGB) — the heat supplier's invoice, maintenance contracts and the meter-reading records.

What to check, where, which lever

What you check	Where in the statement	Your lever
Verbrauchsanteil 50–70%	Verteilerschlüssel for heating/hot water	§ 7 HeizkostenV — must be in range
No consumption metering / base costs > 50%	split of base vs. consumption costs	§ 12 HeizkostenV — cut 15%
Your own Zählerstände	start and end reading of your meters	Belegeinsicht (§ 259 BGB)
Floor area for base costs	the m² figure	demand correction
Vorauszahlungen	advance payments made	reconcile with bank statement
Receipt & deadline	date of receipt	§ 556 Abs. 3 BGB — 12 months

Common errors in the Heizkostenabrechnung

• No consumption-based billing — everything by floor area although meters exist (§ 12 HeizkostenV: cut 15%).
• Base-cost share above 50% — the consumption share then falls below the 50% floor of § 7 HeizkostenV.
• Wrong or missing Zählerstände — the recorded values do not match your consumption.
• Late statement — after the 12-month deadline (§ 556 Abs. 3 BGB) no Nachzahlung is owed.
• Belegeinsicht refused — you may withhold the Nachzahlung until inspection is granted.

With HausMaus it's easier

HausMaus is free for tenants and checks your Heizkostenabrechnung against § 7 HeizkostenV and § 2 BetrKV: the app shows you both 12-month deadlines from § 556 BGB so you don't miss the Einwendungsfrist, and you store your own Zählerstände to reconcile against the recorded values. If the Verbrauchsanteil is wrong or the costs were not billed by consumption, HausMaus drafts the matching Einwendungen — and you send them to the landlord. Wohnen, geregelt.

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