Responsibilities of property owners and street maintenance guidelines

Responsibilities of property owners in the inner city 

Helsinki’s inner city area covers the following districts: Alppiharju, Eira, Etu-Töölö (west side of Runeberginkatu), Hermanni, Kaartinkaupunki, Kaivopuisto, Kallio, Kamppi, Katajanokka, Kluuvi, Kruununhaka, Länsisatama, Punavuori, Ruoholahti, Sörnäinen, Ullanlinna and Vallila. 

• Ploughing and gritting the pavement adjacent to the property. 
• Removing snowbanks piled up on the pavement or next to it (the snow must be transported to snow dump areas if there is no room for the snow on the plot). 
• Clearing the pavement of grit (Property owners can sweep the grit from the pavement to the curb of the roadway for the city to clean up. However, they must not sweep grit onto tram tracks or a roadway that has already been cleaned. To prevent street dust, the grit must be wet, and using a leaf blower is not allowed in cleaning up grit). 
• Emptying waste bins along the pavement. 
• Ploughing and gritting bus and tram stops along the pavement. 
• Emptying the waste bins at bus and tram stops along the pavement. 
• Removing dirt, litter, tree leaves, weeds and loose objects from the area adjacent to the property, up to the centre line of the street area. 
• Keeping the gutters and street gullies open. 
• Maintaining driveways leading to plots. 
• Reporting to the City of Helsinki about street damage. 

See the diagram about the responsibilities of property owners (PDF, in Finnish)

Responsibilities of property owners in other areas of Helsinki 

• Removing snow from the driveway entrances of the plots after ploughing. 
• Preventing slippery conditions on pavements if meltwater from the plot ends up on the pavement and freezes over. 
• Maintaining driveways leading to plots. 
• Reporting to the City of Helsinki about street damage. 

See the boundary between the inner city and other areas of Helsinki (PDF, 10 Mb)