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Concepts and definitions

Activated repair costs

Activated repair costs refer to the costs arising from basic repairs or renovations that are not entered in the profit and loss account as expenditure for the accounting period. Activated repair costs are included in current assets and increase their value.

Annual repairs

Annual repairs refer to costs entered as expenditure in the profit and loss accounts of housing companies.

Basic renovation

Basic renovation refers to making a building or the condition of a building as good as when new. Partitioning of flats, insulation of walls, renewal of floor structures, and refitting of kitchens and bathrooms represent basic renovation.

Housing company

A limited liability company is considered to be a housing company if its purpose is the ownership and possession of one or more buildings in which ( not necessarily) over half of the total floor area is specified in the articles of association as residential apartments in the possession of shareholders; and each share in it confers the right, either alone or together with other shares, to the possession of an apartment or other part of the company's building or real estate in its possession.

Maintenance

Activity related to the maintenance of real estate in which the aim is retention of the properties of the real estate by renewing or repairing faulty or worn parts without changing its relative level of quality.

Modernisation

Modernisation is an operation which usually raises the value or quality of a building above its previous level.

Renovation

In broad terms renovation refers to all activity aimed at improvement and maintenance of the condition of an existing building or parts thereof.

In Statistics Finland's different statistics, renovation is broken down to basic renovation and refurbishment. The term used for refurbishment varies in different statistics. In the Household Budget Survey, for instance, it is referred to as maintenance repairs.

In national accounts, building renovation is included in fixed capital formation and refers to fundamental improvement of a building. After renovation the value of a building is comparable to new.

Refurbishment is a less significant activity than renovation. Refurbishment refers to regular repairs and maintenance to buildings or parts thereof (also referred to annual repairs).

Building extensions count as newbbuilding.

Reparation measure

A reparation measure refers to an operation that changes or completely replaces an individual structure, part or system of a building.

Residential building

A building used for dwelling in which the dwelling area makes up at least one-half of the total floor area (Classification of buildings).