Mandatory inspections for a detached house

Apartment residents rarely deal with inspections themselves: the building's owners' association or property manager handles them. However, the owner of a detached house acts as their own board member, technician and scheduler. There are numerous legal obligations, and keeping track of them easily gets lost in the day-to-day running of a household.

On top of that, most of these obligations do not follow a common calendar rhythm. A chimney is handled differently from a fire extinguisher, air conditioning differently from a solid fuel boiler, and so it easily happens that the inspection you are least likely to remember gets missed. The following overview summarises the four most common obligations for a detached house, including links to detailed pages for each area.

Chimney and flue gas path

The most common mandatory inspection for a detached house is the check of the flue gas path in accordance with Decree No. 34/2016 Coll., on cleaning, checking and inspecting flue gas paths. If you heat with solid fuels and the chimney is in year-round operation, the flue gas path must be cleaned three times a year and inspected once a year by a chimney sweep. For gas appliances, cleaning and inspection once a year are sufficient. Inspections are also required when putting a chimney into operation, after any construction modification of the flue gas path or after a chimney fire.

Without a record of inspection, Act No. 133/1985 Coll. On fire protection stipulates a fine of up to 25 000 Kč, and more importantly, the risk that an insurance company will reduce or completely deny coverage following a chimney-caused fire. Details regarding deadlines can be found on the page chimney sweep inspections.

Solid fuel boiler

If the building is heated by a solid fuel boiler with an output of 10 to 300 kW connected to a hot water system, there is one further obligation: an inspection of the technical condition and operation of the boiler every three years, carried out by a competent person in accordance with Act No. 201/2012 Coll. On Air Protection. The situation is different for gas boilers, which we discuss in detail in the article. Mandatory boiler inspection: what the law says.

Fire extinguisher: mandatory for new buildings

Detached houses approved from 2008 must have at least one portable fire extinguisher with a fire-fighting rating of 34A according to Decree No. 23/2008 Coll. Once the extinguisher is installed in the house, Decree No. 246/2001 Coll. Applies: an operational check once a year, a periodic test for water and foam extinguishers every three years, and for other types every five years. Without a valid inspection mark, the extinguisher is invalid, even if it functions perfectly. An overview can be found on the page fire extinguisher inspection.

Air conditioning: obligations based on refrigerant charge

Domestic air conditioners are not automatically subject to mandatory inspection. According to Regulation (EU) 2024/573 on fluorinated greenhouse gases, leak testing is governed by the refrigerant quantity converted to tCO₂eq: no obligation applies up to 5 tCO₂eq; between 5 and 50 tCO₂eq, testing is required once a year; for equipment above 50 up to 500 tCO₂eq, every six months. Most domestic units remain below the 5 tCO₂eq threshold, but in homes with multiple units or a heat pump with a larger charge, it is worthwhile to verify the charge. More on the page air conditioning inspection.

Not all four obligations apply equally to every house: a house without a solid fuel boiler does not need to arrange a boiler inspection, while a house without air conditioning does not require a leak tightness check. The table below shows the deadlines where the relevant equipment is actually present in the house, clarifying what needs monitoring and under which regulation.