Short-term rental maintenance schedule and legal checks

Preventive maintenance for a short-term rental is a fixed schedule of checks, from a quick look at every turnover to inspections every few years, plus the contractors, calendar blocks and budget to carry it out. Part of it is not optional: smoke detectors are compulsory in Flemish, Brussels, Walloon and Dutch homes, and boilers in Flanders and Brussels have legal service intervals.¹²³⁸⁵⁷ Airbnb also expects hosts to fix known hazards, such as inoperable smoke detectors, poorly maintained appliances and mould, before accepting reservations.¹³

Key takeaways

Keep one schedule per unit, by frequency, and record every check with its date and result.
Smoke detectors are compulsory in all three Belgian regions and in the Netherlands, with different rules on placement and type.¹²³⁸
In Flanders, gas central heating from 20 kW needs maintenance every two years and oil every year; Brussels has a similar periodic PEB check.⁵⁷
Registered tourist accommodation in Flanders has its own maintenance table, including a detector check every three months and a yearly fire extinguisher check.¹²
Agree in the management agreement who pays for what and up to which amount you may approve a repair alone, before the first booking.

In this guide

Why preventive beats reactive in a rental
The maintenance schedule by frequency
Smoke and CO detectors: the rules by region
Boilers and heating: the legal intervals
Fire safety for registered accommodation in Flanders
Damp, mould and ventilation
Who pays: owner, manager or guest
Contractors: who to call and what to agree
Cleaners as your early warning
Blocking nights and the calendar
Budgeting for maintenance
Questions people ask
Sources

Why preventive beats reactive in a rental

In a rental, a boiler that fails on a Sunday means a guest without hot water, a refund request and a review. Three platform rules make that concrete.

Airbnb expects hazards fixed before the booking. Hosts must address known hazards before accepting reservations, with examples such as inoperable smoke detectors, poorly maintained appliances like furnaces and gas kitchen appliances, and mould.¹³ Airbnb can require proof of the fix, suspend the listing or cancel reservations.¹³
Broken things show up in the ratings. The Accuracy category asks whether everything was in good working condition, and Cleanliness asks whether the home was free of health hazards like mould and pests.¹⁴
A cancellation costs real money. If you cancel a confirmed Airbnb booking 48 hours or less before check-in, the fee is 50% of the reservation amount for the nights not stayed, with a minimum of $50 USD.¹⁵ Fees are waived only for a Major Disruptive Event or certain valid reasons beyond the host’s control, and there is no payout for the cancelled stay either way.¹⁵

Our reading: a failure a schedule would have caught is hard to present as beyond your control, and a planned visit in a quiet week costs fewer nights than an emergency in a busy one.

The maintenance schedule by frequency

The table combines legal intervals we verified at official sources with practical checks; the Basis column shows which is which. Adapt it to the systems each unit has.

A preventive maintenance schedule for a short-term rental (legal intervals from official sources, other items our advice)

Frequency	What to check	Who does it	Basis
Every turnover	Detector warning lights, leaks, slow drains, appliances, lock battery level, mould on silicone, balcony clear	Cleaner, with photos	Advice
Monthly	Test each smoke and CO detector with the test button and dust it; clean extractor hood and dryer filters; check ventilation grilles are open	Manager or cleaner	Brandweer advises monthly testing and dusting for homes⁹
Every three months	Check every autonomous fire detector in Flemish tourist accommodation under annex 2	A competent person, which may be the operator	Rule in Flanders¹²
Every year	Oil or solid fuel central heating maintenance in Flanders; periodic PEB check for oil or solid fuel boilers in Brussels; fire extinguisher check in Flemish tourist accommodation; chimney for oil or solid fuel appliances	Recognised or certified technician	Rules in Flanders and Brussels⁵⁷¹²
Every year	Gutters, outdoor taps before frost, balcony railings, a full appliance check	Handyman or manager	Advice
Every two years	Gas central heating from 20 kW in Flanders; gas boilers and gas water heaters in Brussels	Recognised or certified technician	Rules⁵⁷
Every two years, at least	Gas appliances in the Netherlands, by a CO-vrij certified company	Certified installer	Dutch government advice¹⁰
Every four years	Gas pipe tightness check in Flemish tourist accommodation	Competent technician	Rule in Flanders¹²
Every five years	Low-voltage electrical installation inspection in Flemish tourist accommodation	A recognised inspection body	Rule in Flanders¹²
Every ten years	Replace smoke detectors, including mains-powered ones	Manager or electrician	Brandweer and the Brussels fire service⁹²

For a heat pump, air conditioning, a lift or a pool, ask the installer or building manager which interval applies; those systems are not covered here.

Smoke and CO detectors: the rules by region

Flanders. Every home must have smoke detectors, including owner-occupied homes since 1 January 2020, with at least one on every floor. They must be CE marked and meet NBN EN 14604. In a rental, the landlord must buy and install them.¹
Brussels. Smoke detectors are a legal obligation for all housing since January 2025. They need a built-in 10-year battery, must be optical and meet EN 14604, and go on the escape route and on every floor; four or more must be interconnected, with compliance possibly required by 1 January 2028 at the latest. A landlord pays for them and replaces them in time, and they are replaced after 10 years at the latest.²
Wallonia. Smoke detector rules have applied since 2004. Detectors must be optical, meet NBN EN 14604, be BOSEC approved or a European equivalent, and carry a five-year guarantee. The rules also set number, placement and who maintains them.³
The Netherlands. A smoke detector is compulsory on every floor with a living room, bedroom or kitchen, and the owner or landlord must install them.⁸ The Dutch fire services say this has applied to existing homes since 1 July 2022, advise testing and dusting every month, and say every detector must be replaced after 10 years.⁹

For tourist accommodation in Flanders, annex 2 of the fire safety standards adds its own requirements: every room on the route from a sleeping place to the entrance door, the bedroom included, needs an autonomous detector with a non-replaceable battery that lasts at least five years, and at least one per floor.¹² Annex 2 covers holiday homes with up to 9 sleeping places, and up to 12 if the unit is not part of a larger building with other homes or businesses; larger accommodation falls under other annexes.¹¹

None of the official pages above makes a CO detector compulsory in a home. The Dutch government advises hanging one, and Airbnb strongly urges hosts to install smoke and CO alarms in spaces with fuel-burning appliances and to test them regularly.¹⁰¹³ Our advice is to fit one wherever there is a gas boiler, gas water heater, stove or fireplace.

Boilers and heating: the legal intervals

Flanders

Central heating on gas, butane or propane from 20 kW needs maintenance every two years, on oil from 20 kW every year, and on solid fuel every year. Only a technician recognised by the Flemish government may do it, and you receive a cleaning certificate and a combustion certificate.⁵ Below 20 kW, maintenance is not compulsory but is recommended.⁵ The separate heating audit for installations older than five years has not been mandatory since 1 July 2024.⁶

In an ordinary lease the tenant arranges maintenance and the landlord keeps at least the last two certificates.⁴ Short-stay guests are not tenants in that sense, so in practice the owner, or you on their behalf, arranges it.

Registered tourist accommodation under annex 2 must also show safe heating with a technician’s certificate, and the electrical installation with a valid inspection report.¹²

Brussels

The periodic PEB check is compulsory every two years for a gas boiler or gas water heater, and every year for oil or solid fuel boilers. Only a technician approved by Bruxelles Environnement may do it. In a lease the tenant arranges it unless the lease names someone else, such as the owner.⁷

The Netherlands

The Dutch government advises having a gas appliance checked at least once every two years by a CO-vrij certified company. Work on a boiler, gas water heater or gas fire must be done by a certified company; doing it yourself is a punishable offence.¹⁰

Wallonia

Wallonia has its own boiler rules. We found no current official page to cite for the intervals, so check them with the Walloon energy administration or a certified technician.

Fire safety for registered accommodation in Flanders

Every tourist accommodation in Flanders needs a positive fire safety certificate, and the fire safety standards it must meet depend on its type and capacity.¹¹ The registration side is covered in the Flemish basic conditions; for maintenance, annex 2 contains three duties that a manager runs into every year:¹²

A maintenance table with the intervals in the schedule above.
A log. The operator records the dates and findings of every inspection and keeps them available. A shared spreadsheet per unit does the job.
Fire extinguishers. At least one foam or powder extinguisher of at least 6 litres or 6 kg per 150 m², in or right next to the accommodation, checked yearly.

Annex 2 does not mention a fire blanket; one in the kitchen is a sensible extra, but we found no Belgian or Dutch rule requiring it for a small holiday home. Brussels and Wallonia run their own fire certificate systems for tourist accommodation; see Brussels and Wallonia.

Damp, mould and ventilation

Short stays make mould easy to miss. The Dutch government advises keeping ventilation grilles and small top windows open day and night, airing especially after cooking, showering and sleeping, and maintaining the boiler, water heater and ventilation. It warns that poor ventilation causes mould and raises the risk of CO poisoning.¹⁶

In practice: leave the grilles open after every turnover and ask guests not to close them, check silicone and window frames each time, and treat recurring mould as a building problem for the owner, not a cleaning task.

Who pays: owner, manager or guest

Between owner and manager, your agreement decides who pays. Usually the owner pays for repairs, parts and required inspections, and your fee covers coordinating them. Above all, agree a written approval limit so you can call a technician on a Friday night without first reaching the owner. The clause to discuss is costs, pass-throughs and repair approval limits.

Damage caused by a guest is a different track: it goes through the platform or the guest, with photos and deadlines, as set out in guest damage and insurance.

Contractors: who to call and what to agree

Build the list before you need it, with a named contact per unit for:

Plumber for leaks, blocked drains and toilets.
Electrician for faults, the residual current device and detectors on the mains.
Heating technician who is recognised or certified for that fuel in that region, and who sends the certificate after each visit.
Locksmith for lockouts and failed smart locks, with a backup key plan.
Handyman for small repairs, furniture, silicone and seasonal jobs.

Response times are something to agree, not to look up. Our advice: ask each contractor in writing how fast they come for an emergency (no heat, no water, a leak, a lockout) and for a routine job, and whether they work weekends. Prefer those who send photos and a short report, and keep a second name for heating and plumbing.

Cleaners as your early warning

The cleaner sees every unit after every stay. Add the turnover items from the schedule to their checklist and ask for a photo of anything broken, leaking or mouldy with the turnover confirmation. The photo check in the turnover guide explains how to set that up. Someone other than the cleaner owns the follow-up.

Blocking nights and the calendar

Most checks fit between two stays. A boiler service or an electrical inspection often does not, because technicians give a time slot rather than an hour.

Plan the year’s inspections in quiet weeks and book early, so you choose the date.
Group jobs on one day where you can.
Block the dates on every channel. If you list on more than one platform, check that the block reaches all of them; imported calendars do not update instantly, as explained in running both platforms.

Blocking a night you planned is cheaper than cancelling a confirmed booking because a repair cannot wait.¹⁵

Budgeting for maintenance

We found no maintenance budget rule of thumb from an official or verifiable named source for Belgium or the Netherlands, so we do not give one. Build the budget from the bottom up:

List every recurring item in the schedule for that unit.
Get a local quote for each one, including travel costs and VAT.
Add a line for things that wear out, such as linen and small appliances.
Agree a repair reserve with the owner, and the approval limit that goes with it.

After a year, compare the plan with the invoices and adjust.

Worked example: A year of planned maintenance for a flat in Ghent (illustration)

A co-host manages a two-bedroom flat in Ghent, registered with Toerisme Vlaanderen, with 4 sleeping places and a 24 kW gas boiler. The building has other flats, but with 4 sleeping places the unit falls under annex 2.

The schedule for the year looks like this:

When	Job	Calendar
Every turnover	Cleaner checks detectors, leaks, drains, silicone and the lock battery	No block
Monthly	Co-host tests and dusts the detectors during a turnover	No block
January, April, July, October	Detector check recorded in the log	No block
Mid-November	Gas boiler maintenance (due every two years) and the yearly fire extinguisher check, on the same morning	One night blocked
Next year	Gas pipe tightness check, due four years after the last one	Planned with the boiler

The co-host books the November visit in September, blocks one Tuesday night on every channel, and adds the certificates to the unit’s log. The owner pays both invoices under the agreed approval limit.

The flat, dates and plan are an illustration of how to combine the legal intervals into one calendar, not a template for your unit.

Questions people ask

How often must a boiler in a short-term rental be serviced?

It depends on the region and the fuel. In Flanders, central heating on gas from 20 kW needs maintenance every two years and oil every year.⁵ In Brussels, the periodic PEB check is due every two years for gas boilers and gas water heaters and every year for oil or solid fuel.⁷ The Dutch government advises having a gas appliance checked at least once every two years by a CO-vrij certified company.¹⁰

Are smoke detectors compulsory in a holiday rental?

Yes, in every region we checked. Flanders requires smoke detectors on every floor of every home, Brussels in all housing since January 2025, Wallonia since its 2004 rules, and the Netherlands on every floor with a living room, bedroom or kitchen.¹²³⁸ Registered tourist accommodation in Flanders also has its own detector and fire extinguisher standards.¹²

Who pays for maintenance, the owner or the co-host?

Your management agreement decides that. Usually the owner pays for repairs, parts and required inspections, and the agreement sets the amount up to which the manager may approve a repair alone.

Should I block nights in the calendar for maintenance?

Yes, for any job that needs more than the gap between two stays. Plan it in a quiet week and block it on every channel well ahead: cancelling a confirmed Airbnb booking can cost up to 50% of the reservation amount for the nights not stayed.¹⁵

Sources

All sources checked 2 October 2026.

Vlaanderen.be, “Rookmelders”, Flemish housing quality standards, in Dutch
Brussels-Capital Region (be.brussels), “Détecteurs de fumée”, With the Brussels fire service, in French
Wallonie.be, “Disposer de détecteurs incendie dans votre logement”, SPW Logement, updated 23 July 2026, in French
Vlaanderen.be, “Verplichtingen voor centrale verwarming en stookolietank voor verhuurder en huurder”, In Dutch
Vlaanderen.be, “Verplicht onderhoud van uw cv-installatie (centrale verwarming)”, In Dutch
Vlaanderen.be, “Informatie voor de technicus vloeibare en technicus gasvormige brandstof (cv-ketel)”, Heating audit no longer mandatory since 1 July 2024, in Dutch
Bruxelles Environnement, “Contrôle périodique PEB : entretien obligatoire de votre chaudière”, In French
Rijksoverheid, “Hoeveel rookmelders moet ik in mijn huis hebben?”, In Dutch
Brandweer Nederland, “Rookmelders: check, koop, plak”, Dutch fire services, in Dutch
Rijksoverheid, “Hoe voorkom ik koolmonoxidevergiftiging in mijn huis?”, In Dutch
Toerisme Vlaanderen, “Brandveiligheid in logies”, Which fire safety annex applies to which accommodation, in Dutch
Toerisme Vlaanderen, “Bijlage 2. Specifieke brandveiligheidsnormen voor toeristische logiezen”, Annex to the Flemish government decision on fire safety standards for tourist accommodation, PDF, in Dutch
Airbnb Help Centre, “Safety requirements for homes”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Ratings for homes”
Airbnb Help Centre, “Host Cancellation Policy for homes”, Effective 9 October 2023
Rijksoverheid, “Hoe kan ik mijn huis ventileren?”, In Dutch

We check every figure against the sources above. Spotted something out of date? Email systemen@hostproacademy.com with the guide title.

Preventive maintenance for short-term rentals: a schedule, the legal checks and who to call