The Installation of Elevators Should Not Be a Significant Expense for Co-Owners

The news in early December that the Law on the Management and Maintenance of Buildings stipulates that the Government will adopt a program for the installation of elevators within 180 days of its entry into force at the beginning of this year was met with great interest. Such interest is not surprising as the installation of elevators in buildings has been discussed for a long time, yet nothing has been realized. Given that elevators not only ease life but also increase property values, the calculation is quite clear. Whether the installation will be too expensive and whether the announced state co-financing of up to 33 percent, along with the involvement of local government, will be sufficient, we will find out soon.

Conditions for Cheaper Access to Upper Floors

According to the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property, the adoption of the program for the installation of elevators in existing buildings is expected in the second quarter of 2025. After the working group prepares the program, it will be sent for interdepartmental opinions and public consultation. The Ministry emphasizes that the conditions for applying for support for the installation of elevators are prescribed by the Law on the Management and Maintenance of Buildings and that the installation of elevators and devices for easier access for persons with reduced mobility in existing buildings will be co-financed from the state budget. These buildings must meet the requirements set by the Law on the Management and Maintenance of Buildings.

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– Co-owners who are natural persons must own more than fifty percent of the co-ownership parts of the building registered in the land registry, and in buildings where co-ownership parts are not specified, co-owners who are natural persons must own more than fifty percent of the total value area of the building. Buildings must have at least three floors or must house a co-owner, or a member of the co-owner’s household who is a person with a disability, specifically with at least 80 percent physical impairment in the lower extremities or a person with third or fourth degree functional impairment related to physical impairment. A main project for the installation of elevators or devices for easier access for persons with reduced mobility is required in accordance with construction regulations, a decision on the installation of elevators or devices for easier access for persons with reduced mobility by a majority of co-owners, and financial resources according to the share of the community of co-owners in the total costs of installing elevators or devices for easier access for persons with reduced mobility – they listed in the Ministry.

Problems and Solutions

Croatia will co-finance one-third of the total costs, they added, funds are provided in the budget, but how much the state will actually invest will depend on the interest of co-owners. Since local government units can also join the co-financing, they said that Zagreb and Pula have unofficially announced participation with an additional 33 percent. The remaining cost will depend on the size of the building and the method of cost distribution, but the Ministry believes that if co-owners take out a loan and join local government units, the cost should generally not be too high.

The future program for the installation of elevators in existing buildings should, said Katarina Sikavica, director of the Construction Sector of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, contain clear criteria for co-financing: the number of floors and tenants, accessibility for persons with disabilities, the co-financing model, simplified administration, payment methods and options for co-owners, as well as technical guidelines and instructions on how and where elevators can be installed. The government’s 33 percent of the total value, along with the obligation to include the city or municipality, would alleviate, according to her, financial, administrative, and bureaucratic obstacles. She emphasized that one of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs is likely the capacity for production and installation as they need to assess whether they will have enough workforce, equipment, and materials. One of the biggest problems is that in many buildings, it is not possible to install an internal elevator, but rather an external, panoramic elevator, for which a large number of permits are required. It is estimated that there are about sixteen thousand buildings in Croatia with more than four floors that do not have elevators, she noted, and elevators can be installed in about nine thousand of them.

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Katarina Sikavica,
director of the Construction Sector of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce

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– The cost of installation depends on the height of the building, the number of floors, and whether there is already a shaft for the elevator. Increasing the reserve fund to finance the installation of elevators may be perceived by some co-owners as an additional financial burden. However, ownership implies not only rights but also responsibilities towards the community. Special attention should be paid to parents with small children, the elderly, and persons with reduced mobility, as well as wheelchair users. For them, an elevator is a basic need – explained Sikavica, who expects great interest from co-owners.

For and Against

As is often the case when non-permanent tenders are announced, Dražen Pomper, coordinator of the information committee of the Association of Managers, expects chaos in the market, price surges, many interested parties, insufficient funds for all, complicated tenders, and higher work prices. He believes that the program should ensure a simple purchase of public areas for external elevators that will occupy city, municipal, and state areas. Pomper is confident that the installation of elevators will not be a significant expense for co-owners, but rather an improvement enabled by the state, which will increase the value of private property.

– All previous tenders have shown that people are less grateful when the subsidy is larger because they believe they should receive everything from the state. The amount of co-financing is appropriate, and it could be lower to help more buildings that want to install an elevator with a limited amount of funds. It could also be co-financed with the help of European funds, but only as part of a comprehensive renovation of the building, not as an individual subsidy for the elevator – claims Pomper.

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Dražen Pomper,
coordinator of the information committee of the Association of Managers

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However, there are also different examples. Vesna Gracin Cvija is a representative of the tenants of a three-story building in Zaprešić with three entrances and 36 apartments ranging from 35 to 75 square meters. At first glance, the building would be suitable for the installation of an elevator, but on closer inspection, it is not so. The building from 1981 is architecturally designed, Gracin Cvija pointed out, in such a way that the possibility of installing an external elevator is not foreseen, or it is complicated because the exit from the elevator on the side of the building suitable for installation would actually be on the intermediate floors, or landings.

– We would need three elevators for three entrances, but for two floors. In the case of installing an elevator, the reserve fund would have to be increased by perhaps one hundred percent to finance the installation. That is a staggering amount; it is impossible for the tenants to agree to such a significant increase in the reserve fund given the high costs, especially those with larger apartments. The state co-financing of 33 percent is certainly too little, especially compared to the pre-applications for elevator installation sent by the Society of Croatian Postal and Telecommunications Pensioners from Zagreb in 2019, when it was planned that 85 percent of the installation costs would be co-financed from European funds – noted Gracin Cvija.

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Due to ambiguities in the application, financing methods, and difficulties in designing the installation of elevators, Dejan Jović, executive director of Dizala Đurčević, does not expect significant project realizations in the first year compared to the number of required elevators. He believes that the program should contain clear instructions on how to prepare documentation and guidelines for action if the building is protected as a cultural asset.

Lack of Engineers

The most important thing for him is to meet the Accessibility Regulations, but in many cases, this is not possible due to the size of the elevator in the available space or the placement of elevator stations on intermediate floors.

– Interest in the installation of elevators has been high in previous years, and now with each article in the newspapers, there is a new wave of inquiries. Given that the elevator is usually the largest expense in these projects, all inquiries come to us, which is incorrect. It is difficult to process all inquiries and locations because the execution of the elevator depends on a number of factors and possibilities that must be calculated in the project documentation. The biggest challenge at the moment is preparing the necessary documentation with all professional collaborators because the lack of engineers has been a problem for a long time. When the installation of elevators begins, the challenge will be the lack of workforce, which we have been struggling with for a long time. However, in relation to the number of apartments and users, the price of elevators is very low. The project for the installation of elevators can be expensive for co-owners due to other necessary preparatory works such as relocating installations, static reinforcement of the shaft, special construction of the shaft, cutting stairs, or modifying the roof – warns Jović.