Snow removal and gritting

Neighbor/property owner obligations

We would like to draw your attention to the legal obligations of neighbors in accordance with § 93 StVO (German Road Traffic Regulations), in particular the first two paragraphs, which read as follows:

(1) The owners of properties in urban areas, with the exception of owners of undeveloped properties used for agriculture and forestry, must ensure that the sidewalks and footpaths serving public traffic located along the property at a distance of no more than 3 m, including the stairways located along them, are cleared of snow and debris and gritted in the event of snow and black ice between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
If there is no sidewalk (footpath), the roadside must be cleared and gritted to a width of 1 m. The same obligation applies to the owners of sales huts.

(2) The persons referred to in paragraph 1 must also ensure that snow drifts or ice formations are removed from the roofs of their buildings or sales huts located on the street. In addition, snow from their own property must also be stored or disposed of on their own property and must not be shoveled onto public property (streets and sidewalks) under any circumstances!
In addition, we would like to point out that the clearing obligation of residents/property owners also applies to the removal of snow accumulations on the sidewalk caused by the clearing of roads by snow plows operated by the road administrators.

Winter service provided by the municipality

In the course of providing winter services on public traffic areas, it may happen for technical reasons that the municipality clears and grits areas for which the residents/property owners are themselves obliged to clear and grit in accordance with the above-mentioned or other legal provisions.

We therefore expressly point out that:

this is a non-binding service provided by the municipality of Semmering, from which no legal claim can be derived;
the legal obligation and the associated civil liability for the timely and proper performance of the work remains in any case with the obligated residents/property owners;
the assumption of this clearing and gritting obligation by tacit practice within the meaning of § 863 ABGB (Austrian Civil Code) is hereby expressly excluded.