Renting? Who looks after the cv-ketel

Who looks after the boiler?

If the cv-ketel came with the home, it is part of what you rent. Repairs, inspection and replacement are then your landlord’s job. The government’s overview of who pays for what puts “repairs, inspection, renewal” of technical installations on the landlord’s side, and names a new cv-ketel as major maintenance.

The Dutch Civil Code says a landlord must put defects right when the tenant asks (article 7:206). A fault in the boiler is a defect, not a small repair. Woonbond, the tenants’ union, puts it plainly: if you rented the boiler with the house, the landlord pays for the repair and for its periodic check.

The small jobs that are yours

The Besluit kleine herstellingen (the Small Repairs Decree) lists what a tenant does. For the heating, that means:

• bleeding air out of the system (ontluchten);
• topping up the water (bijvullen), usually with the vulkraan (filling valve);
• restarting the heating after it has cut out.

They count as yours only because they are simple, need no specialist knowledge and cost next to nothing. My guides show how: topping up and resetting and bleeding a radiator.

A small job isn’t yours if it became necessary because the landlord failed to fix a defect (article 7:217). And never take the casing off the boiler. The government says DIY work on a cv-ketel, geiser or gas fire is a criminal offence.

Your contract can’t shift more onto you

The law’s list of small repairs can’t be changed to the tenant’s disadvantage (article 7:240). Woonbond says a clause making you responsible for all boiler maintenance is void.

Many landlords ask you to call their own breakdown company when the heating fails. That’s normal. As Woonbond puts it, making the call is not the same as paying for it.

Servicing and servicekosten

Regular servicing is part of the landlord’s maintenance duty, so it’s built into your rent. The Huurcommissie (the Dutch rent tribunal) says in its policy on service charges that periodic maintenance, small maintenance and inspection costs of a fixed installation can’t be charged as servicekosten.

Two narrower charges are allowed:

• a 24-hour breakdown service in the maintenance contract;
• small jobs that are yours by law, such as bleeding and topping up, when the landlord does them for you.

Woonbond adds that this extra service must be in your tenancy agreement. If you’ve been paying servicekosten for regular boiler maintenance, you can challenge it.

If your landlord doesn’t act

1. Report it in writing. Send an email or letter listing the defects and ask for repair within 6 weeks. If it’s urgent, such as no heating in winter, ask for urgent repair. Keep a copy. The government’s steps set this out.
2. Keep paying your rent. The Huurcommissie warns that arrears can sometimes let a landlord end the tenancy.
3. After 6 weeks with no repair, your options depend on the kind of rental:
   • Social or mid-rent housing (sociale huur, middenhuur): ask the Huurcommissie for a temporary rent reduction. It has a model letter for step 1. It can’t force a repair. For heating faults it may need an expert’s report, which you arrange and pay for.
   • Free sector (vrije sector): you can only go to the Huurcommissie if your contract allows it, and its ruling is advice, not binding.
   • Any rental: report it to the gemeente (Bouw- en Woningtoezicht). If the home no longer meets the building rules, it can order the repair and have it done at the landlord’s cost. Or go to the kantonrechter (sub-district court), which can order the landlord to repair.

Want to have it fixed yourself and send the landlord the bill? The government says you can, with the court’s permission or after agreeing it with your landlord first. Get that agreement in writing.

Your own boiler, a huurketel or an old one

Woonbond’s rule covers a boiler you didn’t buy and install yourself. If you did, expect its servicing and repairs to be yours, unless you agreed otherwise with the landlord.

A huurketel is a boiler rented from an energy company or other provider. Consumentenbond notes that the monthly fee normally covers installation, maintenance, repairs and parts. If the contract is in your name, call that provider first. If your landlord holds it, report faults to the landlord as usual.

In a flat with a shared flue, the landlord is responsible for maintaining the shared flue and air supply. And if your boiler is at least ten years old and less than 80% efficient, a court can require the landlord to replace it with one that reaches 80%, provided you accept a reasonable rent increase (article 7:243, which Woonbond explains).

Getting it fixed with me

I service and repair boilers for tenants and for landlords, by appointment. I don’t run a 24-hour breakdown service. If you rent, agree with your landlord first who pays, then book.

A boiler service is €145 incl. BTW plus materials. For a repair, it’s €114.95 incl. BTW per hour, with no call-out charge. Materials are extra. My prices page has the details.

Message me on WhatsApp with photos of the boiler and its display, your postcode, and who is paying.

If you smell gas, leave the property and call 0800 9009 from outside. If a CO alarm sounds or you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, get everyone outside and call 112. You don’t need anyone’s permission first.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, ask the Juridisch Loket or a tenants’ organisation.