Klaipėda apartment building maintenance costs set to rise

Residents of apartment buildings in Klaipėda, Lithuania, face potential increases in their monthly bills as the city council prepares to vote on new technical maintenance tariffs. The proposed changes, expected to be decided in September, would update the maximum rates for the first time since 2018, with the new tariffs valid for up to four years.

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The tariff increase was determined by changes in their values, market wage growth, increased indirect cost assessment, and the mandatory new function – data digitization in the information system.

The municipality explains that several factors necessitate the tariff adjustment. A key driver is a new requirement from the Ministry of Environment, implemented last year, mandating the digitization of apartment building maintenance documents and their upload to a special information system. Additionally, rising market wages for employees and an increased frequency of building monitoring, from four to six times per year, contribute to the higher costs. A new coefficient for buildings equipped with renewable energy sources also impacts the calculation.

"The tariff increase was determined by changes in their values, market wage growth, increased indirect cost assessment, and the mandatory new function – data digitization in the information system," states the explanatory note accompanying the decision project. The current maximum tariffs were established in 2018 and were binding for building administrators, while serving as recommendations for other maintenance providers.

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Now administrators are forced to hire technical building supervisors, which we have already done, incurring additional monthly costs.

Aurelija Liubertienė, chairwoman of the "Mano Baltija" apartment owners' association, confirmed that certified technical building supervision is now unavoidable. "Now administrators are forced to hire technical building supervisors, which we have already done, incurring additional monthly costs," she told VE.lt. She noted that a new line item for a "building technical supervisor" has appeared on residents' bills. Certified service providers are required, and the fees paid cover their work, including registering discrepancies in the information system, tracking changes, and conducting annual inspections with photographic documentation accessible to residents.

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The system records discrepancies in the information system, tracks changes, includes an annual inspection, and documents the building's condition with photos, which each resident can access.