Where to go if there is no heating or hot water

Everyone has long been accustomed to the modern benefits of civilization. That is why the lack of hot water in the tap causes a lot of inconvenience. In accordance with legal requirements, the management organization is obliged to notify in advance of the cessation of water supply to residential buildings and apartments.

However, sometimes unforeseen circumstances arise that prevent this from being done. There are several reasons why there may be no water in an apartment. Residents should know who to call and what to do if there is no hot water.

Grounds for filing a complaint about lack of water

The following points may be grounds for filing a complaint:

if the period of absence of hot water supply exceeds the permissible standards specified in the legislation;
if the water supply is turned off without warning (this does not apply to situations with breakdowns);
in case of water supply under low pressure;
inadequate water quality (insufficiently high temperature, impurities, odor, color).

The owners of residential premises (apartments, houses or rooms), as well as the tenant of housing (for example, municipal housing) can file a complaint.

To the Management Company or Vodokanal

These are the first authorities to which complaints regarding the quality of public services are submitted. To file a complaint, you can contact the company in person, leaving a document with the secretary. In this case, it is important to ensure that your request is recorded.

Often, residents of one house make collective appeals. Such statements are responded to faster.

There is an option to send a claim via Russian Post. In this case, you will also receive a notification of receipt. But please note that this delivery method takes time.

To the housing inspection and Rospotrebnadzor

Citizens can contact these authorities in the following cases:

The management company or Vodokanal ignored the complaint;
the named authorities refused to satisfy the claim;
agreed to fix the problems, but in fact nothing was done.

Rospotrebnadzor

They also write a complaint if water is supplied, but under low pressure or of inadequate quality.

To the Municipal Administration

If there has been no supply of hot water for a long time, and the above authorities ignore appeals or refuse to accept them due to insufficient evidence, it is permissible to write an appeal addressed to the Head of Administration.

To the Prosecutor's Office

If hot water supply has been resumed, but the Management Company refuses to make recalculations for the period of lack of water, this is a reason to contact the prosecutor’s office and get your rightful money back.

To court

The last authority to protect the rights of citizens is the court. You can submit an application in the following cases:

appeals to other authorities did not yield positive results;
actions of public utilities caused damage to a citizen.

All of the above authorities can be contacted in person or with the help of

postal services

. The Prosecutor's Office and Rospotrebnadzor accept claims electronically.

But you need to take into account that the volume of such statements is limited, and also that it will not be possible to attach a large package of evidence.

Why is there no heat? Finding out the reasons

So, with the onset of the heating season, your batteries still haven’t warmed up. And there is still no heat in the apartment.

This situation can be explained by two reasons:

Problems in the heating system of a particular apartment (or floor of the house).
There is a malfunction in the central line supplying heat to the house.
Prolongation of the heating season. That is, the absence of heat supply to apartment buildings in principle.

But what exactly happened in your case? Let's figure it out.

Malfunction of the heating network

The first problem - a failure in the “apartment” heating network - will manifest itself as follows: only your radiators do not heat up, but your neighbors on the landing have no problems with heating.
The second problem - a malfunction of the main heating network - is diagnosed as follows: your entire entrance or house suffers from the cold in the apartment, but the neighboring neighborhoods are still heated.
The third problem - delaying the start-up of heating - does not need to be diagnosed. The housing and communal services will provide you with this information by posting a notice on the entrance door.

Well, now that the problem has already been localized, it is necessary to begin eliminating the unpleasant situation.

Where to go if the hot water supply is not turned on on time?

If the outage is planned, the residents were notified about it in advance, then all that remains is to wait for the completion of the repair work.

The period of annual preventive repairs cannot exceed 14 days , and residents must be notified about this 10 days before the start of work.

If hot water is not provided, you can:

contact the management company or HOA with a written application or call them by phone;
call the emergency dispatch service.

The numbers can be found at the information stand at any entrance.

Who controls housing and communal services and where else can you complain?

Has your complaint to housing and communal services regarding heating been ignored? In this case, we recommend that you go further - to the prosecutor's office, Rospotrebnadzor, local authorities or the court.

How to solve a heating problem

You can contact the prosecutor's office with a written complaint against officials of the management company (HOA, DEZ), who are responsible for organizing the work of their structure. Moreover, a case of an administrative offense will most likely be opened against these persons.

Rospotrebnadzor is obliged to monitor the condition of city heating networks throughout the heating season. Therefore, your complaint, indicating the address of the management company, will only please officials from this organization. After all, they will be able to increase the effectiveness of control and verification activities by tracking down a clearly dishonest company. And your complaint is a direct reason to conduct an unscheduled inspection, the result of which will be an order demanding the elimination of all shortcomings in the work of the inspected structure.

In local governments, a special official is responsible for heat supply. Moreover, his powers are somewhat blurred. But, if desired, he is able to cheer up the management company, which is slightly more than completely dependent on the goodwill of this official, even more than both the prosecutor’s office and Rospotrebnadzor.

In a word, it is possible and necessary to find a remedy for the self-will of presumptuous utility workers. But you need to contact the “higher authorities” after trying to resolve the issue at the “local level” (in the management company). Otherwise, all those responsible for the “situation” will plead their ignorance. But if you have a complaint registration number or a receipt for its receipt, then the inaction of utility workers will be punished quite harshly.

Regulatory framework

The main documents regulating the issues of hot and cold water supply are Federal Law No. 416-FZ of December 7, 2011 “On Water Supply and Wastewater Disposal” and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 of May 6, 2011 “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings."

Hot water supply

According to the above decree, hot water must be supplied around the clock and uninterruptedly throughout the calendar year. Acceptable cases of violation of this rule:

a supply interruption of eight hours in total or four hours continuously for one month is allowed;
in the event of an accident on the main line, there may be a lack of hot water supply for a day (24 hours);
when performing maintenance and repair work on utility networks, the duration of the break is established by SanPiN 2.1.4.2496-09 and is no more than 14 days (clause 3.1.11).

If a specific situation has nothing to do with the listed cases, then this is a reason to complain about the lack of water, including to the regulatory authorities. The management organization is responsible for the quality of services. The financial penalty consists of reducing the payment for each hour of exceeding the permissible interruption in the supply of a resource by 0.15 percent of the payment established for the same period.

The temperature of the supplied hot water should be between 60 and 75 degrees Celsius. The law allows a deviation from the established norm of three degrees during the day and five degrees at night.

Attention! If the hot water temperature is below 40 degrees Celsius, it is billed as cold water. However, the fact of the decline must be properly recorded.

Cold water supply

The rules for supplying cold water also stipulate its uninterrupted supply to homes throughout the year. Cases when disruption of continuous water supply is allowed:

for eight hours during a calendar month (added in total) or four hours in a row;
if an accident occurs, then according to the rules of SNiP 2.04.02-84, depending on the severity of the incident, the depth of the pipeline and other factors.

In case of violation of established requirements, liability arises, including material liability in the form of a reduction in the amount of payment for poor-quality service.

Rice. 2. Faucet without water. Source: website “punkt-a.info”

Regulatory settlement

The main standards in this area, by complaining about the violation of which you can restore justice, are considered:

Federal Law No. 416;
Decree of the Russian Federation No. 354.

Referring to the standards specified above, we can say that hot water in the water supply should be available around the clock for a whole year. Exceptions are allowed subject to the following rules:

the total break time is no more than 8 hours or 4 hours in a row during the month;
in the event of a resource failure, there may not be a resource on the highway for longer than 24 hours;
during the prevention and repair of utility networks, the break does not exceed 14 days.

If the lack of water has nothing to do with the above situations, this is a reason to contact the regulatory authorities.

Cold water must be constantly supplied to the population. Cases when this rule is allowed to be broken are:

shutdown for a total of 8 hours per month or for 4 hours in a row;
in the event of an accident - based on the scale of the incident.

When can I recalculate hot water?

According to the general norms of legislation (Resolution No. 354), conversion operations for payment of GW can be carried out in a number of situations.

For each hour in which the permissible duration of the supply interruption was exceeded. In this case, the calculation is made in the amount for the estimated time in which the excess occurred. The amount of the fee is subject to reduction by 0.15% of the amount determined for the same period.
For every 3 degrees of temperature error (deviation from the norm). In this case, the payment amount is reduced by 0.1% of the amount determined for this billing period. If the temperature at the point of analysis is below 40 degrees, payment for each hour is made as for cold water.
In case of non-compliance of the composition and properties of HS with the requirements of Russian legislation related to technical regulation. The amount is reduced by the amount of the fee calculated for each day of provision of poor-quality service.
For each hourly period of hot water supply in total during the billing period in which the pressure deviation occurred. If the error is less than 25%, there is a decrease of 0.1% per hour. If it differs by more than 25%, the amount is subject to reduction by the amount of the fee calculated for each day of provision of inadequate quality service.

List of heat supply organizations in Moscow

Andropov Avenue, 36, building 2

Mon-Thu: from 08:00 to 17:00 Fri: from 08:00 to 15:45

Volgogradsky prospect, 42, building 8

Mon-Thu: from 08:00 to 17:00 Fri: from 08:00 to 15:45

Heroev Panfilovtsev Street, 10

Mon-Thu: from 08:00 to 17:00 Fri: from 08:00 to 15:45

Mon-Thu: from 08:00 to 17:00 Fri: from 08:00 to 15:45, break: from 13:00 to 14:00

+7 +7

Voznesensky Lane, 11

Mon-Thu: from 08:00 to 17:00 Fri: from 08:00 to 16:00

What complaints do people write?

Here we will show samples of complaints that residents submit to the mayor for consideration.

The elevator is faulty.

Uncleaned entrance.

Who to complain to about the management company

If you contacted the management company about the lack of water in the taps, and the problem repeats itself, more than once, then you need to complain to Rospotrebnadzor. They recalculate receipts even during a planned preventive shutdown, when the deadlines were longer than expected.

There are other bodies that control management companies. In addition to the above-mentioned organization, this is the local parliament and administration. They have public utility commissions.

Besides this, there are other options for resolving the issue. Before elections to the Duma, local authorities, and city hall, you need to contact large party cells. This way you will receive help at a fairly significant level. When a conflict situation arises with the management company, you can risk contacting the media.

Where to complain?

Claims against housing and communal services
It should be noted that in all of the above cases, third parties are responsible for the lack of heat in the apartment - management companies, city utilities, employees of thermal power plants. But reporting a problem is the responsibility of the tenant or apartment owner. And if the housing and communal services does not receive a claim, then in the next receipt for payment of utilities you will be billed for all “cold” days.

Therefore, it is possible and necessary to complain about the lack of heating in the apartment. But the addressee of the complaint must correspond to the problem. After all, a “home” management company cannot solve the problems of a thermal power plant. Therefore, further in the text we will consider two situations - private problems in an apartment and a global failure in the highway.

Problems in the apartment

In a particular case - if there is a problem with the “apartment” heating network - you need to contact the following authorities:

Telephone call from utility company

To the directorate of the management company engaged in servicing your home.
A housing association that has undertaken to solve the communal problems of apartment owners in a particular building.
To the directorate of the building maintenance service, which has undertaken to service your home.

And all it takes is a phone call to get started. Conscientious utility workers solve such a minor problem in the shortest possible time. And according to service standards, the technician must arrive at the problem area the very next day.

If you are ignored, it’s time for the “heavy artillery” - a written complaint sent, preferably by registered mail with return receipt requested, to the management company (HOA, DEZ) will be used. However, a personal visit to utility workers is also possible. Only in this case should you be informed of the registration number of your complaint, which is stamped on a copy of the appeal - it will be useful for legal proceedings.

You can find a typical sample of a complaint to housing and communal services about heating on the Internet without much hassle. However, it is usually compiled in any form, describing the essence of the problem (your radiators remain cold from such and such a date, but everything is fine with your neighbors). Moreover, if you have already called the management company’s management about this, please indicate in your complaint that you are contacting them a second time.

After receiving and registering a written request, your management company has 72 hours to resolve the problem you stated. Moreover, during this time they are required to draw up a report on checking the heating system for operability and eliminate all faults.

And remember: until you sign a malfunction elimination certificate, the problem concerns only the management company. Therefore, do not sign any papers until the temperature in the apartment rises to acceptable levels.

Problems with the main line or CHP

Problems with the heating main
In this case, you need to contact both the management company and the City Housing Inspectorate. At the same time, you need to understand that utility workers are given from three to seven days to eliminate major breakdowns. But a complaint describing the problematic situation must be kept in the accounting department of the management company - otherwise you may be required to pay for “cold” days.

If after seven days the problem has not been resolved or your management company ignores all requests, then completely different complaints will be used, sent to more serious authorities.

Nuances of action

Do not rush to immediately file a complaint and call higher authorities. Turning off hot water is a common procedure in apartment buildings.
The first one who is responsible for non-provision or poor quality of services is the management company. It can be influenced by higher authorities.
If actions to disconnect the hot water supply are illegal, it is necessary to file a complaint, make a recalculation and demand compensation for losses from the guilty party, as well as the imposition of an administrative fine on it.

Algorithm of actions

Immediately after the first negative emotions, the question arises of where to complain about such violations and where to turn for help if there is no water in the apartment. It is best to immediately call the management company that maintains the house. Perhaps officials know about the lack of hot water supply and will tell you exactly where to call.

You can also find out the information in the utility bill; it contains coordinates for contacting in the absence of supplied resources. They will probably tell you information in the control room, the numbers of which should be kept in the telephone directory. Such information is often available on the notice board at the entrance.

In addition to verbal appeals, you should complain about the lack of water via the Internet. This can be done on the websites of the housing inspectorate, Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor's office. A sample application is available online. There are other platforms where you can leave complaints about problematic situations in the housing and communal services sector.

In order to have evidence for subsequent appeals to the courts, complaints must be submitted in writing. In this case, the secretary must put the date and incoming complaint number on the second sample application. If you refuse this, send a registered letter with a notification to the Housing Office, this will be proof of your appeal to the governing bodies.