Finland’s Maintenance Needs Statement: Is It Mandatory?

The word kunnossapitotarveselvitys does not occur in the Finnish Housing Companies Act, but the duty exists: the ordinary general meeting must be shown the board's written statement on what maintenance the company's buildings and properties will need over the five years after the meeting. In practice the statement is often called a kunnossapitotarveselvitys, but that is the name used in practice, not a term of the law. The quotations are the Finnish text of the Housing Companies Act 1599/2009, taken from the Finlex open data and the Finlex page, read on 7 November 2026.

Is the word in the Act?

No. We searched the whole text of the Act for the word, and it was not found. The Act speaks of a written statement of the board. That is good to know when someone says that the law requires a kunnossapitotarveselvitys: the requirement exists, but the name is the one used in practice. It also affects what can be demanded of the statement: its content is set by the wording of the law, not by some organisation's form.

What does the Act say?

The section on the ordinary general meeting lists what the meeting must be shown. Point 2:

”hallituksen kirjallinen selvitys tarpeesta sellaiseen yhtiön rakennusten ja kiinteistöjen kunnossapitoon yhtiökokousta seuraavan viiden vuoden aikana, joka vaikuttaa olennaisesti osakehuoneiston käyttämiseen, yhtiövastikkeeseen tai muihin osakehuoneiston käytöstä aiheutuviin kustannuksiin;” (Asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 6 luku 3 § 2 momentti 2 kohta)

The sentence has four limits:

• Author: the board, and in writing.
• Time span: the five years following the general meeting.
• Object: the maintenance of the company's buildings and properties.
• Threshold: maintenance that materially affects the use of an apartment, the yhtiövastike (the company charge) or other costs arising from the use of the apartment.

The statement therefore need not list every small repair. It concerns maintenance that has a material effect on living or on costs.

When must the statement be presented?

At the ordinary general meeting. The time of the meeting is limited:

”Varsinainen yhtiökokous on pidettävä kuuden kuukauden kuluessa tilikauden päättymisestä. Yhtiöjärjestyksessä ei voida määrätä muusta määräajasta.” (Asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 6 luku 3 §)

Where the financial year is the calendar year, the meeting must be held by 30 June. The statement must be brought to the meeting, and the notice must state where and when the meeting documents are available (6 luku 19 §): the board's proposals and the financial statements must be kept available for at least two weeks before the meeting (6 luku 22 §).

Is there a vote on the statement?

Not by the structure of the Act. The section has two lists: what must be presented at the meeting, and what must be decided. The maintenance statement is in the first. Among the matters to be decided is, for example, this:

”talousarviosta ja yhtiövastikkeen määrästä, jos tämä kuuluu yhtiökokoukselle;” (Asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 6 luku 3 § 3 momentti 4 kohta)

The statement is therefore background. Money matters are decided in the budget and the amount of the charge, if they belong to the meeting. The section does not say that the statement is to be voted on.

The second statement: works done

The same list has another statement:

”hallituksen kirjallinen selvitys yhtiössä suoritetuista huomattavista kunnossapito- ja muutostöistä ja niiden tekoajankohdat.” (Asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 6 luku 3 § 2 momentti 3 kohta)

So besides the statement on future works, the board tells what has already been done and when. Together they give a picture in two directions: backwards, and five years ahead.

Who is responsible for the statement?

The board. The Act requires a housing company to have a board, whereas a manager (isännöitsijä) is optional:

”Yhtiöllä on oltava hallitus. Sillä voi olla myös isännöitsijä, jos yhtiöjärjestyksessä niin määrätään tai yhtiökokous niin päättää.” (Asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 7 luku 1 §)

The Act speaks of a statement of the board. Who prepares the text in practice is the company's own matter: the manager, if the company has one, or the board members themselves. A good structure and a ready equipment history save time in either case every year, when the statement has to be made again.

An example of a structure

A statement is easy to read when each building part gets the same facts in the same order. For the facade, say: which part, how old, when it was last repaired, what is intended in the next five years, in which year the work falls and how the estimated cost shows in the charge. The same row repeats for the roof, windows, pipes and ventilation. A shareholder who reads the statement before the meeting then sees at a glance in which years the costs gather. When the structure stays the same from one year to the next, changes since the previous year show at once and the discussion at the meeting stays on what matters. This is a practical suggestion, not a requirement of the law.

What happens to the data afterwards?

The data in the statements do not stay only in the minutes. The housing-data act describes a register in which data on measures under these statements are recorded:

”asunto-osakeyhtiölain 6 luvun 3 §:n 2 momentin 2 ja 3 kohdassa tarkoitettujen selvitysten sekä 7 luvun 28 §:ssä tarkoitettujen ilmoitusten mukaisista toimenpiteistä.” (Laki 1328/2018 13 §)

The company's duty to submit data to Maanmittauslaitos, and its limits, we cover separately in the article on the osakehuoneistorekisteri. Here it is enough that the data of the statement are worth keeping structured: they are needed both for the meeting and possibly for the register.

What does the law leave open?

We did not find in the text of the Act:

• a requirement of a particular form, template or length,
• a requirement of a certain precision for the cost estimate,
• a separate sanction for a missing statement,
• that the meeting must approve the statement.

The form therefore has to be agreed in practice. Ready-made templates are available from various sources; we do not assess them here, and they are aids, not a requirement of the law.

How a board can put the statement together

1. List the building parts: roof, facade, windows, pipes, ventilation, lifts, electrics, yard.
2. Note for each the age, the last measure and the estimated remaining life.
3. Take the next five years and place the maintenance in years, as far as it materially affects use or costs.
4. Estimate the cost and its effect on the charge, and mark what is an estimate and what is a quote.
5. Write separately the statement on major works already done and when they were done.
6. Deliver the statement with the meeting documents and keep it as an annex to the minutes.

What Unitify does

The statement is written by the board or the manager, and Unitify does not write it for you. Unitify helps with the work around it: an equipment register with service history, requests and faults per building, charges and arrears per apartment and notices to shareholders in the resident app, where you see who opened them. AI can produce drafts that the board reviews and approves. Documents, such as the statement and the meeting materials, are in one place. The app interface is in English for now and is set up per project; there is no Finnish interface yet.

If you are on a board or manage several housing companies, you can start free from the Unitify page for Finland.

Sources: asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 1599/2009 and laki huoneistotietojärjestelmästä 1328/2018, Finlex open data; read 7 November 2026; we have not read amendment 535/2026 itself. Check the current text before you rely on this. This is not legal advice.