Does the owners' association have to approve accessible alterations to my flat?

A ramp, a stairlift or wider doorways: if you want to make your flat accessible, you often need the owners' association to agree. What you can insist on — and where the limits lie.

You are getting older, a member of your family uses a wheelchair, or illness has made the stairs impossible to manage. Suddenly your own flat is no longer a home you can move around in freely. You want a ramp built at the entrance to the building, a stairlift installed, or the bathroom doorway widened. And then comes the deflating response from the owners’ meeting: “We’ll have to discuss that first.” Does the owners’ association even have to approve it — or can you simply push it through?

In brief

Yes, you have a genuine statutory right to accessible alterations that affect the common property. Under § 20(2), first sentence, no. 1 WEG (German Condominium Act), any flat owner may demand a reasonable structural alteration. The alteration must serve use by people with disabilities. As a matter of principle, the association cannot refuse you the “whether”. On the “how”, it is entitled to have a say. Limits apply where the work fundamentally reshapes the building or unfairly disadvantages other owners. As a rule, you bear the costs yourself.

How I can help

• I assess whether your project falls within the right under § 20(2) WEG
• I draft a legally sound application to the managing agent and the owners’ meeting
• I negotiate with the managing agent and advisory board towards a consensual solution
• I bring a claim for a court order in place of a resolution if the association fails to resolve or resolves against you
• I challenge unlawful rejection resolutions within the one-month deadline
• Where relevant, I coordinate with care insurers and other funding bodies on subsidies

When you actually need approval

Not every alteration needs a resolution. As long as you are working exclusively within your own separate property, you decide alone. For example: you have a level-access shower tray fitted without touching load-bearing walls or communal pipework. Approval only becomes necessary once the work changes the common property: the building entrance and a ramp, the stairwell and a stairlift, the installation of a lift, widening doorways in load-bearing walls, interference with communal pipes and cables, or the façade. It is precisely for these cases that § 20(2), first sentence, no. 1 WEG applies. The provision is one of the “privileged” measures for which the law grants an individual right.

The right — and its limits

The right under § 20(2) WEG covers only “reasonable” structural alterations. Reasonable means: suitable and necessary to actually remove the barrier. The work must not go beyond what is needed. A simple stairlift rather than an elaborate lift may suffice in a given case, and is then the more proportionate solution. The association may have a say on the specific design, provided that accessible access is ultimately guaranteed.

§ 20(4) WEG draws the line. Measures may neither be resolved upon nor permitted if they fundamentally reshape the property or unfairly disadvantage another owner without that owner’s consent. This also applies to the right under subsection 2. For example: an added lift permanently deprives a neighbour of light and outlook, or it calls into question the structural stability of the entire building. On that basis the measure can fail. In practice this means: the association must make an accessible solution possible for you, but not necessarily the exact design you have in mind.

The process: from application to enforcement

1. Submit the application: You send a specific application to the managing agent, ideally with a cost estimate and a plan. Ask for it to be placed on the agenda of the next owners’ meeting.
2. Resolution: Within the framework of proper administration, the association must resolve on how it will carry out the alteration. If the measure falls under § 20(2) WEG, the “whether” is, in principle, no longer at its discretion — but the details of execution are.
3. On rejection or inaction: If the meeting unlawfully rejects your application, you can challenge that resolution within one month of it being passed (§ 45 WEG). The claim must also be substantiated within two months. Sometimes the meeting does not resolve at all, even though it would be required to. In that case, you can obtain clarity through the courts by way of a claim for a court order in place of a resolution under § 44 WEG: the alteration is to be permitted.
4. Implementation: Following a positive resolution or a court decision, you carry out the work in accordance with the agreed technical and design specifications.

Who pays?

Here the law draws a clean distinction. Under § 21(1) WEG: where a structural alteration is permitted to you individually or carried out at your request, you bear the costs alone. In return, you alone are entitled to the benefits of the alteration. This also applies to the right to accessibility: you get your ramp or your stairlift, but in principle you pay for it yourself, not the association. It is otherwise only where the owners’ meeting resolves, by qualified majority, on a different, communal allocation of costs. That may come into consideration where several owners would benefit from the measure.

A typical case from practice

An owner in her mid-70s can no longer manage the three steps to the building entrance on her own because of a walking disability. She applies for a ramp to be installed. The managing agent puts the application on the agenda. The meeting rejects it nonetheless: in its view, the ramp alters the appearance of the façade. My assessment shows that a technically discreet ramp solution would have been possible. It would not have fundamentally reshaped the building. I challenge the rejection within the deadline. In the court proceedings, the parties agree on a specific, visually understated design. The applicant bears the costs of it alone.

Common mistakes

• Reacting too late: Anyone who fails to challenge a rejection resolution within one month has to take the detour of a fresh resolution, or loses valuable time.
• Imprecise applications: A vague wish (“I’d like a bit more accessibility”) leaves the meeting too much room to say no. Concrete plans and cost estimates significantly improve the chances of success.
• Expecting the association to cover the costs: Many clients assume the association must pay as well. Without a resolution to the contrary, the opposite is true.
• Building without authorisation: Anyone who starts work without an authorising resolution risks the association demanding that it be undone. That is so even where a right to the measure would, in principle, have existed.

Frequently asked questions

Can the owners’ association reject my application for an accessible alteration outright?

No, not if the measure falls under § 20(2), first sentence, no. 1 WEG and is reasonable. The association may have a say on the specific execution. But the fundamental “whether” is no longer at its free discretion, as long as the limits of § 20(4) WEG are not exceeded.

Do I have to inform my landlord or the association if I am only altering my own flat?

As long as the work concerns exclusively your own separate property, you do not need a resolution. That applies where no load-bearing walls, communal pipework or the external appearance are affected. When in doubt, it is worth obtaining a legal assessment beforehand to avoid later disputes over undoing the work.

Who pays for a stairlift or lift if several owners would benefit from it?

In principle, the costs are borne by whoever demanded the measure individually. The meeting can, however, resolve otherwise by qualified majority. In that case the costs are borne communally and proportionately.

How long do I have to challenge a rejection resolution?

You must bring the challenge within one month of the resolution being passed, and substantiate it within two months. This deadline is strict: if you miss it, the resolution becomes final and binding.

What if the owners’ meeting does not even vote on my application?

If a required resolution is not passed, you can bring a claim for a court order in place of a resolution. The court then determines that the measure is to be permitted. This is particularly relevant where applications are repeatedly adjourned or stalled.

Your next step

Particularly in the district of Ebersberg and in Rosenheim, I increasingly see in my practice how many owners come to depend on an accessible flat in old age or after a setback in their health. The demographic need has long been palpable, and condominium practice often lags behind. This concludes my four-part series on privileged structural alterations under § 20(2) WEG. It has covered EV charging points, protection against burglary, fibre-optic connections and now accessibility. If your owners’ meeting is blocking or delaying your alteration, I assess your right, draft the correct application and, if need be, enforce it through the courts. You will find further topics relating to your property at /en/topics/real-estate-law.

This article provides general information and is no substitute for legal advice in an individual case. Last updated: 2026-08-27.

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