Regardless of whether it is a house payment or an operating cost statement, the attentive reader of his statement will notice that a corresponding key is used to allocate the costs. This key can vary depending on the cost item. It is an obvious indication of whether it is a consumption-dependent cost item or not. Widespread designations for allocation keys that refer to such types of costs are: "according to billing", "according to Heating bill" or "according to Invoice". The latter designation is not clear. There are also costs which, for example through direct invoicing, allow the costs to be allocated precisely without being based on recorded consumption. In this context, heating, water and waste water costs are often mentioned, or the term “hot and cold operating costs” is mentioned.

Consumption recording as a basis

The consumption recording serves as a basis for the creation of consumption-dependent cost items. The exact consumption recording is carried out by installed meters, which are directly assigned to the respective residential unit and can be found technically on a side line or after the respective main meter. For the above-mentioned costs "according to Invoice” there is usually no need for such counters. They are subject to the principle of causation. These are costs within a single residential unit (e.g. for the operation of the fireplace) or the use of individual waste containers directly assigned to each residential unit. As soon as these costs are distributed among several units, a usage-independent distribution key is usually used. Consequently, consumption-dependent costs are not spoken of here.

Billing according to allocation key

All other costs (apart from heating, hot water, cold water and waste water costs) are usually billed using a fixed allocation key, independent of consumption, and distributed evenly among all users via a fixed amount - according to living space or co-ownership shares, alternatively according to units, users or persons . The tenancy agreement is crucial. Without an agreement, Section 556a of the German Civil Code specifies the framework for apportioning the costs in more detail.

Consumption-dependent cost allocation

In exceptional cases, costs that are subject to a usage-based apportionment may also be billed by area. If too many units are subject to an estimate, it is almost inevitable that the heating costs will be billed according to living space, although the administrator is required to bill as precisely as possible and according to the recorded cause of the costs. A similar special case is a vacancy rate within the property that is too high. This can also result in a different regulation in the allocation of consumption-dependent costs. Not a special case, but an interesting circumstance, is the possibility for the landlord to calculate the share of the basic costs from the water and sewage costs and allocate them according to a consumption-independent distribution key (usually according to living space).

And finally ... The consumption-dependent and consumption-independent costs differ in that the costs are either apportioned as a lump sum and distributed equally to all tenants or owners or directly according to the principle of causation via consumption recording devices.

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