According to the law, apartment residents pay only for quality services that meet the standards. But it is not uncommon for situations when during the heating season the radiators are lukewarm or there is no hot water.
The consumer does not always know the cause of such inconveniences, the time frame for their elimination, or how problems can be avoided in the future.
The greatest inconvenience for everyday life is when cold water flows from a hot tap. There is no opportunity to carry out hygiene procedures or do normal housework.
ATTENTION! The supply of hot water may be temporarily interrupted due to an accident on the main line, and the consumer only needs to wait until the emergency repair work is completed.
Will there be a recalculation for missing hot water supply? Hot water tariffs are high and are growing every year. Even if you have a common house or apartment meter, you have to pay a lot. And it is natural to want to pay only for real utilities provided in full.
Reasons for lack of hot water supply
Why does a hot water tap only flow cold?
Hot water supply standards are regulated by law, and the supplier must adhere to temperature standards .
Residents of both old houses and new buildings can give many examples when the standard temperature is not maintained, even over a long period. But knowledge of the law will allow them to strive to improve the quality of public services and recalculate their low level .
There may be several reasons for the lack of hot water supply to the house:
- Water may simply cool down in the pipes overnight if the company operates an open water supply system. In this case, apartment residents just need to drain a little liquid from the pipes, after which hot water will flow from the tap.
- Barely warm water in the tap may flow due to low pressure. This problem is faced most often by residents of high-rise buildings. Water rises weakly in buildings above five floors. In order to eliminate the inconvenience, an additional pump or other equipment should be installed.
- Violations of the temperature regime also occur in houses that are the end points of the hot water supply line.
ATTENTION! According to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, the water temperature in hot water supply pipes should not fall below 75 degrees. Only small deviations are allowed, for daytime - 3 degrees, for nighttime - 5 degrees.
If this phenomenon is constant, the consumer loses every day a significant amount of resource, paid very expensively.
Example of a complaint to a management company
Complaint to the management company
I, Kirin Andrey Aleksandrovich, am the owner of apartment No. 28 of an apartment building at the address: Shebekino, st. Shumilova, 115. The house is maintained by the manager headed by you.
As a homeowner and a citizen permanently residing in the above-mentioned apartment, I pay rent in full on a monthly basis, including for the proper maintenance and repair of common property in our house. All payments can be documented: payment receipts.
In turn, the management company, in accordance with Art. 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation is responsible for the provision of services for the management of an apartment building, proper maintenance and repair of common property in such a building.
In accordance with clause 10 and clause 11 of the Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of August 13, 2006, Chapter III of the Rules and Standards for the Technical Operation of the Housing Stock (Resolution of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation dated September 27, 2003 . No. 170), the responsibilities of the management company include:
- cleaning and sanitary cleaning of common areas, land plots included in the common property;
- collection and removal of solid and liquid household waste, including waste generated as a result of the activities of organizations and individual entrepreneurs using non-residential (built-in and attached) premises in an apartment building;
The housing maintenance organization must ensure the good condition of building structures, heating devices and pipelines located in the stairwells, the required sanitary condition of the staircases, the standard temperature and humidity conditions in the stairwells, and illumination with artificial light.
In our house, garbage constantly accumulates in the stairwells and surrounding area, sometimes three times (!) we replaced light bulbs ourselves, despite calls and messages to your organization. The land near the house is also cleaned by the residents themselves. In addition, since November 2021, a window on the staircase between the 2nd and 3rd floors has been broken and not replaced, which violates the temperature regime.
Based on the above, guided by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, I demand that measures be taken immediately upon receipt of this complaint to eliminate the violations committed. Otherwise, in order to protect housing rights, I will be forced to file a complaint with the housing inspectorate, Rospotrebnadzor and the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.
Where to contact?
I have been getting cold water instead of hot water for a long time, what should I do? This question interests those who are tired of waiting for normal living conditions in their home.
- The first authority to contact is the management company . It is responsible for the quality of public services and is the supplier of hot and cold water.
- Specialists from the management company must come to the address of the residents who submitted the application to check the temperature of the water in the hot water supply pipes. The measurement data is recorded in a report, which is sent to the management company.
- The application can be from the owner of one apartment or even from the entire house. Used to draw up a document such as a complaint, a sample of a standard form.
- The next step is to organize a commission from the management company to solve the problem with hot water in an apartment or house.
- Does the hot water tap only dispense slightly warm or cold liquid even after contacting the management company? An effective measure against the supplier's inaction will be an application to the court . At the same time as filing a lawsuit, you should also stop paying for hot water supply.
When applying, you should be guided by Government Decree No. 354 of 05/06/2011, as well as SanPiN 2.1.4.2496-09.
IMPORTANT! To save time, a sample for a complaint or application can be downloaded from our website!
You cannot tolerate the low level of public services for long; complaints about it, especially to the court, in most cases have a positive result .
Sample complaint to housing and communal services
Contacting a service organization with a claim is the first stage of restoring justice. In this case, it is necessary to competently draw up a complaint, reflecting not only the essence of the case, but also your legal requirements.
How to compose it correctly?
There is no unified form for a complaint, therefore, when drawing it up, the rules and regulations adopted for applications and other business papers are followed:
- the full name of the addressee and personal data of the applicant are written in the header;
- in the text of the petition, the essence is stated briefly, logically, without emotion, with reference to the violated legal acts;
- the pleading part calls for action to be taken and the perpetrators to be brought to justice;
- date and signature.
Low temperature sample
If the temperature of the water flowing from the tap is below the established standards of 60-75 degrees, then this is exactly what should be written about in the main part of the complaint, referring to the violated clauses of the Rules for the provision of utility services. The application will have the structure shown in the table.
Item name
Main content
Several options for designing the “header” regarding the addressee of the message are acceptable. One option involves only specifying the organization. According to another option, the application can be issued in the name of the head of this company. In this case, you will need to accurately indicate his position, surname and initials.
Download and review a sample complaint about hot water temperature inconsistency.
Sample for absence
A complaint about the lack of hot water in the taps is drawn up similarly to the option discussed above, taking into account one nuance. In addition to the fact of lack of water, you can make a claim for late notification, violation of deadlines for repair work, unfair calculation of rent, etc.
complaints about lack of hot water.
Thus, if cold water comes out of the tap instead of hot water, then you need to make a complaint using the sample. The first instance for resolving a conflict situation is the organization serving the house. If the problem is not resolved, then they consistently contact the supervisory authorities designed to monitor compliance with housing legislation.
Source of the article: https://potrebprav.ru/zhkh/zhaloba-na-goryachuyu-vodu
Control of water supply to the apartment
The industry produces special devices for measuring the temperature of water in the tap and heating batteries.
Installing a water meter with a temperature sensor will allow the consumer to pay only for those services that are supplied in accordance with the standards .
The meter will not only count the liquid in the hot water supply pipes that corresponds to the standard temperature (not lower than 75 degrees).
ATTENTION! The costs of purchasing and installing a heat meter will quickly pay off, as the device will reduce costs for low-level services.
You need to be prepared for the fact that the management company will not want to install such a monitoring device, especially if it works irresponsibly and unprofessionally. But according to the law, such actions violate consumer rights .
Justification of the claim in the Criminal Code
How often do homeowners in an apartment building get frustrated with constant dissatisfaction with public utilities, and in such cases, filing a complaint with the management company can be an effective way to rectify the situation. After all, a claim is a way of pre-trial dispute resolution. And filing a claim or complaint with government agencies may initiate a procedure for choosing a different method of managing the house or another service organization.
The list of violations of the organization of management of an apartment building can be very voluminous. It makes no sense to present such a list here. Therefore, we will indicate in which regulations the responsibilities of the management company can be found, and therefore the legal basis for the claim.
This is the Housing Code (Chapter 6, Section VIII), a detailed list of responsibilities and how they should be carried out are set out in the Decree of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation dated September 27, 2003 No. 170 (Rules and Standards for the Technical Operation of the Housing Stock), Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 13, 2006 No. 491 (Rules for the maintenance of common property), SanPiN.
Do not forget that in relations with the management company, a citizen is a consumer, and, therefore, the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” apply. In case of serious violations, damages, penalties, and compensation for moral damages may be recovered from the management company, for example, a battery that was not replaced on time, roof repairs, etc. And if the case goes to court, then reimbursement of expenses for paying for the services of a representative. Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Chapter 6) Housing Code of the Russian Federation (Section VIII) Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006 N 491 Decree of the State Construction Committee of September 27, 2003 N 170
Consequences
Hot water enters the pipe with cold water and causes its temperature to rise. This creates favorable conditions for the active development of microflora in it , making the liquid dangerous.
If warm water enters the riser through a boiler, the most serious consequences concern the culprit of the situation , since a large amount of electricity is spent on heating unnecessary liquid.
The management company or HOA does not bear any responsibility for such breakdowns . They only service the section of pipe that reaches the shut-off valve.
In a situation where non-designed plumbing fixtures cause harm to other residents, the homeowners are to blame. Neighbors can be seriously burned by boiling water.
Most plumbing fixtures installed on a cold riser are not designed for high-temperature liquids to flow through them and, if mixed, can become unusable. Such devices include a cold water meter, a flush mechanism, a toilet tank and filters.
Requirements
Legislation defines standards for hot water supply. According to Sanpin requirements, its temperature must be at least 60 degrees. This is explained by the requirement for the safety of its use.
Water whose temperature is below normal is not suitable for consumption, as it is considered the optimal environment for the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria.
Legionella is considered the most dangerous. Water temperatures below 40 degrees have a detrimental effect on the microbe. The higher its temperature, the sooner it dies.
However, there is another limit. The maximum limit is 75 degrees. Using water above 60 degrees is only possible together with cold water. Otherwise, there is a risk of skin burns. The legislation provides for deviations from the standards:
- from 12 midnight to 5 am, the water temperature can decrease by no more than 5 degrees,
- at other times, a decrease is possible by no more than 3 degrees.
Deviation from standards in connection with the law is accompanied by a reduction in payment:
- if the water is 3 degrees colder than the set value, the cost decreases by 0.1% for each hour,
- if the water is colder than 40 degrees, payment is made at the cold water supply tariff.
Utility specialists will not take measurements on their own initiative to carry out recalculations in fat deposits. In order not to overpay, it is better to get meters with temperature sensors.
