OVK (obligatorisk ventilationskontroll)

What it is

OVK stands for obligatorisk ventilationskontroll, a legally required inspection that confirms a building’s ventilation works as it should. A certified inspector (funktionskontrollant) carries out the check, writes up a protocol (protokoll) and issues a certificate (intyg) showing the date, the result and when the next check is due. The building owner is responsible for getting it done on time, and the certificate should be posted somewhere visible in the building.

If you are buying a bostadsratt or renting

Here OVK is relevant. A bostadsratt (a flat owned through a housing co-operative) sits in a block of flats, and those buildings are inspected at fixed intervals: every 3 years for buildings with mechanical supply and extract ventilation, with or without heat recovery (FT and FTX), and every 6 years for buildings with extract-only or natural ventilation (F and S). It is the BRF (the bostadsrattsforening, the co-operative that owns the building) that handles this, but how well it is kept up says something about how the building is run.

If you are buying a detached house

Here OVK is usually nothing to worry about. Recurring OVK does not apply at all to one- and two-dwelling houses with natural ventilation or ordinary extract-only ventilation without heat recovery. If the house has an FTX unit (mechanical supply and extract with heat recovery), only a first inspection was needed when the system was first put into use, and nothing after that. So a detached house without an up-to-date OVK is normal, not a warning sign.

What you can check

• In a bostadsratt: ask for the latest OVK protocol and certificate. Was the inspection approved, and is it not overdue?
• Are there any remarks that need fixing, and who pays for them?
• In a detached house: note what kind of ventilation it has. An FTX unit still needs regular cleaning and filter changes to work well, even though OVK is not required.