Wisconsin Commercial Maintenance Obligations and § 704.07 Defaults

Unlike many states where commercial maintenance is purely a contract matter, Wisconsin's Wis. Stat. § 704.07 provides default maintenance rules that apply to commercial leases unless the parties explicitly agree otherwise. This creates a baseline even when the lease is silent on maintenance.

Default Rules Under § 704.07

When a commercial lease does not specify maintenance responsibilities, the following defaults from § 704.07 apply:

Landlord's Default Obligations

• Structural repairs: Roof, foundation, exterior walls, and load-bearing structures.
• Common area upkeep: Hallways, parking lots, lobbies, and shared restrooms in multi-tenant buildings.
• Building systems: Maintaining landlord-furnished equipment such as HVAC, elevators, water heaters, and central electrical systems.
• Plumbing and electrical: Repairing and replacing major plumbing and wiring systems.

Tenant's Default Obligations

• Interior maintenance: Ordinary, routine upkeep of the leased space.
• Tenant-caused damage: Repairing any damage caused by the tenant, their employees, guests, or customers.
• Routine servicing: Maintaining equipment exclusively serving the tenant's space (e.g., replacing HVAC filters, cleaning grease traps).
• Pest control: When caused by the tenant's operations or negligence.

How NNN Leases Override the Defaults

In a Triple Net (NNN) lease—the most common structure for freestanding retail, warehouse, and industrial properties in Wisconsin—the lease contractually shifts nearly all maintenance obligations to the tenant, overriding the § 704.07 defaults.

Under a typical NNN lease, the tenant is responsible for:

• Roof repairs and replacement.
• Parking lot repaving and maintenance.
• HVAC system servicing and replacement.
• All plumbing, electrical, and fire suppression systems.
• Snow removal and landscaping.
• Building insurance and property tax payments.

The landlord's only obligation may be limited to major structural issues (foundation, load-bearing walls) or may be eliminated entirely in an "absolute net" lease.

Gross Lease Maintenance

In a gross or full-service lease (common for multi-tenant office buildings), the landlord retains responsibility for most maintenance and passes the cost to tenants through higher base rent or operating expense escalations.

Typical landlord responsibilities in a gross lease include:

• All structural and exterior maintenance.
• HVAC, elevator, and mechanical systems.
• Common area cleaning and landscaping.
• Roof and parking lot maintenance.

ADA Compliance

Both the landlord and tenant can be liable for ensuring the property meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The lease should clearly allocate:

• Who pays for required ADA upgrades (e.g., ramps, accessible restrooms).
• Whether structural ADA modifications fall to the landlord while interior modifications fall to the tenant.

Capital Expenditures vs. Routine Repairs

A common source of dispute is distinguishing between a capital expenditure (e.g., replacing an entire HVAC system) and a routine repair (e.g., fixing a compressor). Well-drafted leases define:

• A dollar threshold separating capital from routine expenses.
• Whether capital expenditures are amortized over the useful life of the improvement and billed to the tenant annually.

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