House rules in Croatian buildings: quiet hours, works, pets and parties

Which rules apply in your building

House rules have general and special parts. The general rules are the national Rulebook on House Rules in Buildings (NN 86/2025), in force since 12 June 2025 in every building with at least four flats. The co-owners can add special rules by majority vote, and these have to be posted in a common area of the building.

The majority is counted by floor area or ownership shares, not by number of flats. A majority can change what the Rulebook expressly allows, such as quiet hours, works hours, pets in common areas or where bikes go. Where the Rulebook allows no change, for example the front door always being closed, special rules can, in our reading, be stricter but not more lenient.

In our reading the Rulebook doesn't apply in a family house or a building with two or three flats and no business unit: the Building Management and Maintenance Act doesn't cover them.

Quiet hours and noise

Unreasonable noise from shouting, music or anything else isn't allowed. During quiet hours, keep noise low enough that it can't be heard outside the flat:

• on working days 3–5 pm and 10 pm–7 am,
• at weekends and on public holidays 1–5 pm and 10 pm–9 am.

The Rulebook sets no decibel limits. The co-owners can set other hours by majority, so check the rules posted in the building, usually at the entrance.

Works in the flat

Tell the other co-owners and residents at least two days before works start: what you'll do, when you start and how long it'll take. Works are allowed 8 am–8 pm on working days and 9 am–7 pm on Saturdays. No construction works on Sundays or public holidays, except urgent repairs.

Quiet hours don't apply to works, so in our reading they're allowed on working days between 3 and 5 pm too. The co-owners can set other hours by majority.

A tenant may make alterations to the flat only with the landlord's prior written consent anyway (Housing Lease Act, Art. 14).

Parties

For a party you may go beyond quiet hours if you announce it two days ahead and it ends by midnight. The Rulebook doesn't say to whom or how, so a note on the notice board or in the building's group chat is the simplest way.

Pets

The Rulebook allows pets in flats, subject to animal-welfare law, city by-laws and the co-ownership agreement. You may not keep them or leave them unsupervised in common areas, you must clean up after them anywhere in and around the building, and they mustn't disturb other residents. The Rulebook itself sets no leash rule and no limit on numbers.

Whether you may keep a pet in a rented flat is, in our reading, up to your lease: landlord and tenant agree on it freely, and the tenant uses the flat as the lease says. Flats whose listings say pets are allowed or negotiable are on Pet-friendly flats.

Stairwells, bikes, prams and other common areas

Don't leave bikes, scooters, furniture, boxes, bags, shoes or rubbish in the entrance, corridors, stairwell, terracesBalcony and terrace (balkon, terasa)A balcony projects from the building's façade; a terrace is a level surface on or next to the building, covered or open. Both count only in part in floor-area figures.Source: Pravilnik o načinu obračuna površine i obujma u projektima zgrada (NN 90/10), čl. 4.–5., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or attic. Bikes and scooters may stay only where the co-owners have set a place aside, with at least 1.25 m of free passage and not on an escape route. Prams and wheelchairs may stay in common areas if they don't block the way.

The front door must always be kept closed. Use the lift with care and respect its load limit when moving heavy things. Cellar and fitted-out attic doors must be locked unless a majority decides otherwise.

Balconies, windows, plants and waste

Don't shake out tablecloths, bedding or rugs or throw things or cigarette ends from balconiesBalcony and terrace (balkon, terasa)A balcony projects from the building's façade; a terrace is a level surface on or next to the building, covered or open. Both count only in part in floor-area figures.Source: Pravilnik o načinu obračuna površine i obujma u projektima zgrada (NN 90/10), čl. 4.–5., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary, loggiasLoggia (lođa)An outdoor space of a flat set into the body of the building and open on one side. Unlike a balcony, it doesn't project from the façade.Source: Pravilnik o načinu obračuna površine i obujma u projektima zgrada (NN 90/10), čl. 4.–6., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or windows. Keep plants in pots that hold water and are secured against falling, and water them without damaging the facade. Put rubbish only in the bins and rooms meant for it.

What an owner who lets the flat must tell the co-owners' representative

• the tenant's name, surname and contact (Rulebook, Art. 2),
• a change of tenant within 15 days at the latest,
• a change in the number of people living in the flat within 15 days, if the shared costs depend on it,
• their own address, if the owner doesn't live in the building.

The owner is responsible for compliance with the house rules by everyone who uses or visits the flat, including tenants and their guests. The rules also bind the tenant directly: the Constitutional Court said so (NN 41/2026).

Housing more than four adults who aren't related (in a direct line or as siblings) needs the prior written consent of a two-thirds majority of co-owners and of every neighbour sharing a wall, floor or ceiling. More in the guide Housing for workers.

When the rules are broken: warning, fee, police and court

1. 1Any co-owner documents the breach and collects signatures or e-mail confirmations on a reasoned decision.
2. 2The breach is established once co-owners holding a majority have signed.
3. 3At a co-owner's request, the building managerBuilding manager (upravitelj zgrade)simplifiedThe company or registered trader the co-owners choose to run the building. It allocates and collects the reserve fund and organises maintenance and emergency repairs.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 41., 49.–52., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary sends the flat's owner a warning within ten working days.
4. 4If the co-ownership agreement provides for a fee (€50 to €500), the manager issues a fee decision with the third and every later warning within two years; the fee is paid into the reserve fundReserve fund (pričuva)simplifiedMoney the co-owners pay each month to maintain the building's common parts and run it. The flat's owner owes it to the building, not the tenant.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 28. i 29., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary.

Warnings and fees go to the flat's owner; in our reading, the owner then takes it up with the tenant under the lease. The co-owners' representativeCo-owners' representative (predstavnik suvlasnika)simplifiedThe co-owner whom a building's owners elect to represent them in running it and to work with the manager. An owner must report a change of tenant to them within 15 days.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 41. i 42., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary has no special powers in this procedure, but in practice is the first person worth talking to.

The Noise Protection Act doesn't cover noise from flats or from animals, so it isn't a job for the municipal wardens. If noise goes on at night you can call the police on 192, who decide whether it's an offence. An owner exposed to excessive noise can also sue to make it stop (Ownership Act, Art. 110).

What to put in the lease

The Housing Lease Act has no article on house rules, but a lease must cover the use of common areas and parts of the building. If the tenant or their household disturb the neighbours' peaceful use of their homes, the landlord can terminate the lease after a written warning giving 30 days to put it right; the notice periodNotice to end a lease (otkaz ugovora o najmu)simplifiedA statement by which landlord or tenant ends a lease. A tenant gives at least three months' notice on an open-ended lease; a landlord may only give notice on legal grounds.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19.–25., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary is three months.

Our advice: write in the lease that the tenant and household follow the Rulebook and the building's special rules, attach them or say where they're posted, agree on pets, and name who deals with the co-owners' representativeCo-owners' representative (predstavnik suvlasnika)simplifiedThe co-owner whom a building's owners elect to represent them in running it and to work with the manager. An owner must report a change of tenant to them within 15 days.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 41. i 42., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary. For what else to check before signing, see the lease checklist.

Frequently asked questions