BDO in leased premises

In a rented property, the answer to the waste question is rarely simply „landlord” or „tenant”. From a regulatory point of view, the most important question is not who collects the rent, but who actually produces the waste and in what connection with the activity they arise. If the waste is the result of the tenant's day-to-day business activities, it is the tenant who most often becomes the generator of the waste and it is the tenant who may have record-keeping obligations and the obligation to register with BDO. The mere fact that a landlord has contracted for the collection of municipal waste or included rubbish in the service charges does not automatically transfer all waste obligations related to the tenant's business activities. At the same time, the official BDO material emphasises that waste arising in the staff welfare area is treated as municipal waste and to that extent is not recorded, but this does not apply to other waste arising from the business. 

When is the tenant responsible for waste?

The tenant is primarily liable if it is their activity that generates waste other than typical municipal waste. This applies, for example, to used toner cartridges, office equipment, fluorescent lamps, packaging waste from goods, waste from treatments, servicing of equipment or other streams generated in connection with the activity. In such a case, the tenant cannot hide behind the mere fact that the premises are someone else's or that rubbish disposal is regulated by the building owner. BDO makes it clear that the exemption applies to waste from the social area, whereas with other waste, the obligation to register with BDO may still exist. In practice, this means that the tenant should separately assess whether it is generating waste that requires records and whether it needs to be registered in BDO for this reason. 

When can a landlord assume liability?

The regulations allow for a situation in which responsibility for waste is assumed by one of the entrepreneurs using the shared premises or the landlord himself. However, this does not happen automatically. BDO points out explicitly that such a transfer of responsibility is only possible if the transferee ensures that the waste is dealt with in accordance with the Waste Act and the whole thing is regulated in writing on pain of invalidity. This is very important, because many entrepreneurs assume that a general provision in a lease such as „waste on the owner's side” is sufficient. Meanwhile, effective assumption of responsibility implies the transfer of rights and obligations incumbent on the waste generator, and therefore cannot be based on a loose verbal agreement or a vague annex to the contract. In practice, if the parties really want to sort this out, the provision should be unambiguous and cover how specific types of waste are to be dealt with. 

What about waste after repairs, maintenance and servicing?

Particularly often confused are the wastes generated by the services performed in the rented premises, for example lighting repairs, appliance servicing or maintenance work. BDO explains that if a contractor contracts a service for construction, demolition, renovation, tank or equipment cleaning, cleaning, maintenance or repair, the waste generator is, in principle service provider, unless otherwise stated in the contract. This means that neither the landlord nor the tenant is always automatically responsible for any waste physically created in the premises. Worn-out fluorescent light bulbs are a good example: if they are replaced by an external service company and the contract does not assign responsibility to the client, the service company may be the generator of the waste. The most important conclusion for tenants and landlords is therefore simple: in rented premises, it is not the address that determines responsibility for waste, but the actual operating model and content of the contracts.

If you want to check that waste and BDO responsibilities are correctly allocated between landlord, tenant and service companies in your rental property, it is worth sorting this out before an inspection or liability dispute arises. For details, see Contact on the website there, you can describe the rental model and match the support to the real responsibilities of the business.