Q. Which repairs are the landlord’s responsibility and which are the tenant’s?
A: Shulchan Aruch provides a rule of thumb: the landlord is responsible for anything that is significant for the house and requires professional labor (C.M. 314:1).
Nonetheless, this is dependent on minhag hamedinah, each place according to its common practice. Thus, for example, Aruch Hashulchan (314:4) writes that in his place (Eastern Poland/ Russia) the practice was to make double windows and insulate the walls in the winter and to fix the furnace. If they required repair, it was the landlord’s responsibility, unless due to the negligence of the tenant.
Furthermore, Shulchan Aruch (C.M. 314:2) writes that if the tenant wants to erect a ladder to the roof, it is his responsibility; but Aruch Hashulchan (314:5) writes that the common practice was that the landlord provided a ladder for each house to go up to the roof and clean the chimney.
Similarly, regarding expenses such as utilities, taxes, etc., if not specified in the contract, we follow minhag hamedinah (Pischei Choshen, Sechirus 6:1[5]).
