Who clears the pavement outside your house in Stockholm?

What does the law say about who clears the pavement?

The basic rule is that the municipality is responsible for street cleaning and snow clearance on public streets, squares and pavements. However, the Street Cleaning and Signage Act (1998:814) gives the municipality the right to decide, through local regulations, that the property owner must maintain the pavement or equivalent space outside their property. This covers shovelling, gritting, removing snow banks and often keeping gutter drains free of snow and ice.

Many municipalities in Stockholm County have introduced such regulations for detached-house areas and blocks with individual properties. The City of Stockholm has taken a different approach and clears most pavements itself, but there are exceptions even there. The rules differ between municipalities, and it is the property owner's responsibility to know what applies at their own address.

What is the property owner always responsible for?

Regardless of municipal regulations, the property owner is responsible for everything on their own property. In addition, under Chapter 3, Section 3 of the Public Order Act (ordningslagen), snow and ice that could fall from roofs, gutters and similar must be removed without undue delay.

• The driveway, garage entrance and parking spaces on the plot.
• The courtyard and the paths to entrances, waste rooms and bicycle storage.
• Steps, ramps and entrance areas, which need both shovelling and anti-slip treatment.
• Snow and icicles on roofs and in gutters that could fall onto the street or courtyard.
• The pavement outside the property, if the municipality has transferred responsibility through local regulations.

What happens if someone slips outside the house?

Whoever is responsible for a surface can be liable for damages if someone slips there and the surface was not shovelled or gritted as it should have been. The courts look at whether the property owner did what could reasonably be required: how long the snow had been lying, whether ice was expected and whether anything was done at all. A property owner who has neither shovelled nor gritted for several days after a snowfall is in a weak position.

Someone who fulfils their responsibility can still end up in a dispute, but then documentation is decisive. Logs showing when the surface was shovelled and gritted, which anti-slip treatment was used and what the weather was like make a big difference. A homeowner's home insurance and a property's liability insurance often cover damages, but the insurer may require that the responsibility was actually being met.

What does without undue delay mean in practice?

The phrase means that the work must be done as soon as reasonably possible, not according to a fixed time limit. During an ongoing snowfall nobody needs to shovel every hour, but once the snow stops, shovelling and gritting are expected within a few hours, including at weekends and early in the morning. Freezing rain and supercooled conditions count as an urgent situation where gritting needs to be done immediately.

In practice this means a property owner in Stockholm needs to be prepared from November to March, keeping an eye on weather forecasts and having a shovel, sand or grit to hand. Anyone who is away or cannot shovel themselves needs to arrange for someone else to do it, because the responsibility does not disappear just because the owner is not at home.

How to find out what applies at your address

The rules are set out in the municipality's local regulations on pavement maintenance and can usually be read on the municipality's website under snow clearance or winter road maintenance.

• Search the municipality's website for pavement maintenance (gångbanerenhållning) or property owner responsibility in winter.
• Check whether the regulation applies to the whole municipality or only to certain areas and street types.
• Read what is included: shovelling, gritting, snow banks, drains and sometimes sweeping up grit in spring.
• Contact the municipality's contact centre if it is unclear where the boundary between the municipal surface and yours runs.
• If you live in a housing cooperative (BRF) or joint property association, the responsibility lies with the association, which in turn needs to organise the work.

How does Service Plus help property owners with snow removal?

Service Plus Stockholm AB shovels and grits pavements, driveways, courtyards and paths throughout Greater Stockholm, both for homeowners and on seasonal contracts for housing cooperatives, property companies and joint property associations. Our snow specialist Skottis monitors the weather forecasts and makes sure the surfaces are cleared and gritted when the snow arrives, with documentation of every visit showing when and how the work was done. The scope depends on the size of the surfaces, how many entrances and steps are included and which anti-slip treatment is suitable. Service Plus assesses the job on site, provides a free quote and replies to enquiries within 24 hours.