The duties of whoever operates an asset: safe condition, inspections, servicing, instruction and documentation. Can be delegated, but not given up.
Operator responsibility is the sum of the duties that several rules place on whoever operates an asset. Under the BetrSichV they fall on the employer. Anyone who, without being an employer, uses an installation subject to monitoring for commercial or economic purposes is treated the same way (§ 2(3)). On top of that come the Occupational Health and Safety Act, for refrigeration systems the F-gas Regulation with its duties for the operator of the equipment, and for medical devices the MPBetreibV. In substance, the duties cover the safe condition of the asset, the risk assessment, maintenance, inspections, instruction and documentation.
The duties can be delegated but not given up. Under § 13(2) ArbSchG, the employer may appoint reliable and competent persons in writing to perform tasks on their own responsibility. The employer stays responsible for the organization: it must provide a suitable organization and the necessary resources (§ 3(2) ArbSchG). Whoever hands servicing to a service company has outsourced the execution. Selecting, instructing and supervising the people appointed remain the operator's job, as does the duty to order inspections, have defects fixed and document everything.
For cost, liability and deadlines, this means the operator has to plan and pay for inspections and repairs of defects, even if the service contract does not include them. Necessary maintenance measures must be carried out without delay (§ 10(1) BetrSichV). After an incident, authorities, accident insurers and insurance companies ask whether duties were clearly assigned, deadlines tracked and defects fixed promptly. Someone who can show this with documents is in a better position than someone relying on verbal arrangements with the contractor.
What matters
- Name one responsible person per asset and delegate tasks in writing, with authority and budget.
- Keep an asset register with the deadlines for inspections, servicing and instruction.
- Spot-check contractors and compare the service report, the contract and the actual condition of the asset.
- Arrange a substitute for when the responsible person is absent or leaves the company.
- Document decisions with a date and the reasons.
Suppose an owner hands the building technology to a contractor. The contract covers servicing of the systems but names no inspection dates. After an inspection body's defect report, nobody checks whether the repair was done. When the defect later causes a failure, the owner has to explain how the tasks were arranged and supervised. There are no documents.
In the original wording
“Treated as equivalent to the employer is […] anyone who, without being an employer, uses an installation subject to monitoring for commercial or economic purposes […].”
Unofficial translation
“The employer may appoint reliable and competent persons in writing to perform, on their own responsibility, tasks that fall to the employer under this Act.”
Unofficial translation