Utilities are represented by activities that provide citizens with comfortable living conditions. List of provided utilities must be reflected in the agreement between residents and housing and communal services, management company, HOA or other responsible body. However, not every person has such a copy of the house, so many people ask the quite logical question of what is the responsibility of the house manager and what exactly needs to be paid for.
With the flow recent years Some changes have been made to Russian legislation regarding the sphere utilities. According to government regulations, utility service providers can be either a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. This person is responsible for acquiring the necessary resources, carrying out the agreed work, and the serviceability of all communication systems.
According to the latest changes, the right to use public services has:
- The owner of an apartment or other residential premises with his family;
- Citizens who received living space from a cooperative;
- Tenants of housing in an apartment building;
- Tenants of premises apartment building.
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Main points
First of all, it should be noted what is included in the list of provided utilities:
| Name of communication | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Cold water supply | 24-hour supply from a central or intra-house network in quantity and quality appropriate for domestic needs. If there is no water supply system, there must be a water supply to the street water pump. |
| Hot water supply | 24-hour supply through the central water supply network. |
| Sewage drainage | Disposal of domestic wastewater through the intra-house and central sewer system. Most of the existing premises of an apartment building are equipped with such systems. |
| Electricity supply | Uninterrupted round-the-clock supply of electricity in sufficient quantities |
| Gas supply | 24-hour supply via the gas supply network. Supply using gas cylinders is acceptable. |
| Heating | Supply of heat energy through centralized networks, as well as heat supply systems, maintaining proper temperature conditions during the heating season. |
Of course, utilities cannot include an item that specific house actually doesn't apply. For example, if there is no sewerage system or hot water supply, they should not be included in the payment and, accordingly, are not included in the agreement with the management company.
Obligations of management companies and housing and communal services
General household needs that are satisfied by management companies, housing and communal services and other relevant structures are also included in the cost of utilities. Every resident should know what exactly he is paying for and whether he is getting what he is paying for. General utilities include:
Additionally, there may be other clauses that are included in the contract individually. If you need to find out exactly what additional utilities these are and what else they include, you can contact the management company or housing and communal services. Often such a need arises from overly vigilant citizens or in cases of unscrupulous performance by governing bodies of their duties.
Current standards
The changes that affected the rules for the provision of utility services include not only the division of responsibilities into items, but also the procedure for calculating and paying for receipts. Not counting heating, payment is divided into a common house payment and individual payment for each apartment owner. Receipts also arrive separately.
Innovations also affected regulatory coefficients. This was done in order to encourage citizens to install individual meters in apartments. The principle turned out to be very simple: for those who have the technical ability to install a meter, but did not do so, an increased standard was introduced for all types of public services. Further, for the same category of the population, the tariff increased every six months by ten percent to a limit of sixty percent. In other words, further refusal to install meters is fraught with an overpayment of sixty percent just two years after such an innovation, which was approved back in 2013.
The only advantage of such a change is the fact that this percentage overpayment is aimed at saving energy and increasing the efficiency of existing systems.
Improper fulfillment of contract terms
If Management Company still demands payment in full from residents, taking into account all the corresponding increases in tariffs, but at the same time fulfills its obligations in bad faith or does not fulfill them at all, then the law provides for certain actions. For example, if garbage is not removed in a timely manner, the surrounding area is not cleaned, there are no lamps in the entrance and windows are broken, then this and other violations must be recorded in an appropriate act. It can be drawn up by any resident of a given building, together with two neighbors and the chairman of the homeowners’ association.
It is worth considering that the reference period for the provision of low-quality utility services will be the date when the act was signed. In case of identified violations and mass discontent of residents, it is necessary to prepare a collective complaint with specific claims. The complaint must contain the last names, first names, patronymics, residential addresses and signatures of each resident participating. Such a document is submitted to the management company or housing and communal services. The complaint should clearly indicate the date by which the tenants demand that the deficiencies be corrected. You must keep a copy of it for yourself.
Next, a similar letter is sent to the Housing and Communal Services Department of the locality with a request to take appropriate measures and bring violators to justice. This is done if the first complaint has no effect. Further, if the second option does not work, you should go to court.
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Housing and communal services– these are services provided by management companies to ensure comfortable living and maintain the housing stock in good technical condition. What is included in utilities and how to save on them will be discussed below.
What services should be provided
Management companies are required to provide utility services, payment for which is made both from the number of registered people and according to meter readings. Many people are interested in the question of what applies to public services. Russian legislation regulates the provision of housing and communal services (HCS). The list of utilities should include:
- Drinking cold water. Supply cold water is produced to supply residents of apartment buildings around the clock through a central or intra-house water supply system. Compliance with all Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision parameters, the required quality and volume - these are the basic requirements for cold water. If there is no water supply system, the supply is made to the water supply on the street.
- Hot water supplied around the clock through a centralized or local supply system to meet the needs of residents.
- Drainage. Drainage is carried out around the clock via centralized networks or in-house systems. Sewerage must be located in all apartment buildings.
- Electricity supply. Electricity of adequate quality is supplied around the clock to consumers’ apartments via a centralized power supply network.
- Gas supply. Gas is supplied to apartments around the clock via centralized gas supply networks. Gas supply also includes the provision of gas cylinders.
- Heating. Hot heating is supplied during the cold season, providing residents with warmth. It is also necessary to heat common areas to maintain optimal temperatures.
Other services, such as waste removal, repairs and maintenance of housing, are classified as housing services. Various organizations can provide all housing and communal services:
- (HOA);
- Housing or housing construction cooperatives;
ODPU fee
Today, payment is mainly carried out according to the standards of management companies. The best option would be to pay for the actual volume provided. For this purpose, metering devices are installed in all apartments today. Residents transmit data to the management company, which calculates the readings and presents an invoice in the form of an EPD.
By law, multi-apartment buildings must be equipped with communal metering devices that facilitate precise definition resource consumption.
Today, the MTPL fee is calculated as follows:
- The readings of individual metering devices in each apartment are taken into account, and housing and communal services are calculated based on them;
- Part of the ODPU data is added to the readings for a separate apartment and added to the EPD.
This is how utilities are paid.
Payment procedure for communal housing and utility services
The 2012 rules for the provision of utility services made it possible to calculate heating standards in a new way. Previously, you had to pay for the entire home area; today, heating common areas is not included in housing and communal services costs. There is also no need to pay for general sewerage. Firm standards have been established for the consumption of general hot and cold water– 90 liters per person every month.
Management companies are aimed at saving common housing and utility services. If the limited standard is exceeded, then the difference is paid by the management organization, not the residents. The exception is HOAs, where the owners themselves decide to pay the difference. If housing and communal services are provided by a resource supplier, then the excess is divided between consumers taking into account the occupied square meters.
Failure to provide utilities
If utility services turn out to be improper, for example, they do not burn, then the consumer can draw up a report about this. Residents must record a violation of their rights. To do this, the tenant, two neighbors and the chairman of the house council draw up a statement describing the violations. Failure to provide housing and communal services is considered from the date of signing the document.
If for a long time DEZ does not clean the territory or repair entrances, then the following must be done:
- Write a collective complaint of all consumers to the management organization. Demand that the problems that have arisen be resolved by the management company within a certain period.
- Apply in person to the management organization. It should indicate all the shortcomings of the work and demand that they be corrected and that those responsible be held accountable for this.
- If these steps do not affect the DEZ, then it is necessary to go to court.
Contract for the provision of utility services
The management organization provides utility and housing services under a written agreement in accordance with the new Rules. DEZ or another management company concludes it in the case of providing services to a tenant. The Rules specify the terms for the provision and requirements for payment of utility services.
Any consumer has the right to receive housing and communal services that ensure the convenience of living in the house and control its technical condition. For tenants and tenants of housing, a lease or rental agreement must be drawn up. In the absence of a written agreement, the tenant may be denied utility services.
Obligations of companies providing housing and communal services
The cost items of housing and communal services management companies also include expenses that they must fulfill. Every consumer must know what he ultimately pays for and what relates to housing services. Organizations providing housing and communal services must:
- Maintain the temperature in hallways and apartments at the proper level.
- Monitor the presence of lighting in entrances and local areas.
- Clean the local area, remove garbage, comply with the requirements of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision.
- Monitor compliance with fire safety standards.
- Monitor the technical condition of basements, attics and roofs.
- Perform all necessary seasonal work.
- Spend money to maintain common property in proper condition.
- Monitor the condition of common areas.
The rental agreement may also contain additional clauses that are added individually at the request of consumers. You can find out what may be included in utility bills, and which housing and utility services the management company is required to provide, by contacting the DEZ. This is required if there is any doubt about proper operation housing and communal services organizations, as well as in case of improper performance of their duties by management structures.
How to reduce your utility bill
Tariffs for housing and communal services are constantly increasing, so many consumers are looking for ways to reduce the composition of utilities in order to make expenses lower. This can be done by submitting an application to your management company to waive some housing and communal services. It is impossible to refuse all of them, since heating, for example, is supplied by common system, and it is almost impossible to turn it off in a separate apartment. You can disable the following utilities:
- If residents do not use a television antenna, then it is worth contacting the service organization and asking them to disconnect the cable. This will reduce the cost of the EPD.
- Today, few people use a radio point, so you can refuse this type of housing and communal services in the DEZ.
If housing and communal services are not provided, it is necessary.
To pay for received housing and communal services, it is necessary to install individual metering devices. Every month you need to transfer the data taken from them to the management company. Those who do not have such devices pay higher standards. If they refuse to install them, residents and tenants overpay by more than 50%. Therefore, installing meters will help track resource consumption and reduce utility bills.
Refusal of unnecessary utilities is regulated Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”.
A detailed list of persons for whom it will be mandatory to make payments for housing and communal services can be found in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.
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The main payers are:
- residential tenants;
- tenants of residential real estate;
- citizens using an apartment in accordance with the lease agreement;
- members of residential cooperatives;
- citizens who own living space by right of ownership.
Payments for housing and communal services will be charged only to those persons who are officially registered in a house or apartment, with the exception of cases where a citizen living in a property temporarily or for other reasons has not been registered, takes the initiative to pay for utilities. In this case, it is recommended to conclude an agreement that will officially confirm the fact that a person has paid for housing and communal services.
Payers of this payment can be both individuals and legal entities, as well as individual entrepreneurs.
Legal regulation
The main document regulating many nuances of this issue, is dated 05/06/2011. Also, information on utility bills is contained in Order No. 234 adopted by the Russian government on June 26, 2013.