Black ice at 7:03, a fall at 7:10: winter-service lawsuits are won on minutes and logs. The basis is the owner's duty to maintain safety, concretised by municipal bylaws.
The usual windows
- Weekdays roughly 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays and holidays from 8 or 9 a.m. (check the municipal bylaw).
- During continuous snowfall: clear as soon as reasonable – not by the minute, but promptly once it stops.
- Paths: typically 1.0–1.5 m wide; include routes to bins and letterboxes.
Delegation – and its limits
To tenants only via a clear lease clause (a notice board is not enough), fairly rotated and practically feasible; to contractors via a contract with defined times, areas and trigger criteria. Either way, the selection and supervision duty stays with the owner or manager – document your spot checks.
"Whoever creates a source of danger – of whatever kind – is in principle obliged to take the necessary and reasonable precautions to prevent harm to others."
— settled Federal Court case law on § 823 BGB (e.g. VI ZR 126/07, translated)
Proving it
Deployment logs with date, time, weather and area decide cases. Kept digitally (photo plus timestamp in the ticket system), the record builds itself – and the grit costs flow into the service charges as operating costs.