Cold water comes instead of hot water: sample complaint and appeal algorithm

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Published: 09/05/2018

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In Russia, there are two documents that regulate the supply of hot and cold water. These are Federal Law No. 416-FZ of December 7, 2011 “On water supply and sanitation” 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.”

• Grounds for filing a complaint about lack of water to the Management Company or Vodokanal
• To the housing inspection and Rospotrebnadzor
• To the Municipal Administration
• To the Prosecutor's Office
• To court

Based on these regulations, hot water must be supplied around the clock, regardless of the time of year. In some cases, a temporary lack of water is allowed:

• over the course of a month, hot water may be unavailable for 8 hours (this figure is the total amount; the law allows a one-time shutdown for no more than 4 hours);
• in the event of an accident on the main line, the absence of water for 24 hours is allowed;
• during repair and maintenance work, the duration of the break is established by SanPin standards ; this break cannot be more than two weeks.

If the water temperature is below +40 degrees, it should be paid for as cold. However, this fact will need to be recorded.

Complaint about lack of hot water

A number of regulations at the federal level regulate the process of supplying hot water, its quality and the relationship between the parties.

Arbitrage practice

Article No. 7.23 of Law No. 195/FZ (Administrative Code) as amended on May 1, 2020 indicates liability for failure to comply with the standards for providing citizens with quality public services.

The judge has the right to impose a fine on the guilty party in the amount of:

• 500/1000 rubles per individual in office;
• 5000/10000 rub. to the organization.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. The saying also applies in the opposite direction - if the owner understands the documents and regulations, he will be able to defend his rights. In other cases, when there is no hot water in the apartment, and the RSO and the Criminal Code are inactive, it is better to contact a lawyer.

Watch the video: “How resource supply organizations steal from the provision of hot water supply services.”

Complaint about low temperature

The standards for hot water temperature within 60-75 degrees were not invented by chance, but correspond to sanitary safety rules. Such water will serve as an additional source of disinfection, preventing the proliferation of pathogenic microflora. However, it is difficult to check this parameter by eye. In such a situation, filing a complaint follows the following algorithm:

1. Hot water is passed through for 5 minutes and collected into any container, into which a household thermometer is then lowered.
2. They contact the housing and communal services control room or the HOA with a request to send a representative to draw up a report.
3. If the representative does not appear within two hours, then the act can be drawn up independently, certified by the signatures of three witnesses.
4. Drawing up a complaint to the service organization with a copy of the report attached.

Every 3 degrees of temperature non-compliance with the standard reduces the fee by 0.1% every hour. If the water temperature is 40 degrees or lower, then you are required to recalculate according to tariffs for cold water.

Emergency telephone numbers

First of all, you need to call the management company office; the phone number is indicated on the back of the payment receipt or on the information stand at the entrance.

Number 112 is also available to complain about water emergencies. Every region, district or town has an emergency response office. It can be found on the city administration website or at a stand in the house.

In Moscow and the region, obtain information about the reasons for the lack of hot water supply through the following contacts:
Table 1.

Quality complaint

After scheduled work or eliminating the consequences of an accident, hot but rusty water may flow from the tap. As a rule, when contacting the control room, the applicant will be informed of the reason and assured that quality will be restored within a few hours. If this does not happen, then you need to perform the following steps:

• call representatives of the service organization - the call is always recorded in a log with a registration number assigned and the date and time indicated;
• drawing up an act;
• filing a claim with the management company for recalculation.

Who is responsible for the long-term lack of water in general?

If there is no hot water coming from the tap and the reason does not fall under any of the legal grounds, this is definitely a reason to file a complaint. Responsibility for the absence and inadequate quality of resources lies with management companies.

When the hot heating supply is turned off, the first thing you need to do is check the payment of your water utility bills. If the organization supplying hot water supply has not received payments for services provided for more than 180 days, the RSO has the right to unilaterally stop supplying the resource to the apartment. In such a situation, responsibility for disconnection lies entirely with the owner/tenant of the property.

Where should complaints be filed?

The appeal procedure rarely ends with the filing of a single petition. As a rule, restoration of justice involves sequential submission of applications to a number of authorities :

• the head of the HOA, management company, housing department;
• housing inspection;
• Rospotrebnadzor;
• prosecutor's office

When applying to the next authority, the text of the petition will need to set out the history of interaction with previous officials, attaching, if necessary, copies of correspondence.

Time limits for consideration of a complaint

The supplier is given a certain period of time to consider the complaint filed by the consumer. It may be specified in an agreement concluded between the parties or indicated in a consumer complaint.

If such a period is not provided for in the contract and is not specified in the complaint, then a 30-day period for response is usually accepted.

Instead of a complaint, the consumer can file a claim of similar content with a requirement to change the terms of the contract or terminate it.

In this case, two weeks are allotted for consideration of the claim. If the document was sent by mail, the time required for postal document circulation should be taken into account.

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.

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.

and familiarize yourself with a sample complaint about a discrepancy in hot water temperature.

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.

sample complaint 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.

How to request a recalculation

After the consumer has received a report confirming violations in the hot water supply, he applies for a recalculation. He submits such a document to the management company if it collects payments or to the heat supply organization if the payment goes directly to them.

Remember! The period for which recalculation must be made is determined from the date of documentary confirmation of the fact of the violation and ends on the day when such violation was eliminated.

Paragraph 112 of Government Resolution No. 354 determines the day for eliminating the identified violation as follows:

• the date when the consumer reported to the dispatch service that there were no more problems with the hot water supply;
• the date of the final inspection, based on the results of which a report was drawn up with the signature of the consumer stating that hot water is supplied at the required temperature.

Until the consumer reports that the problem has been corrected, or a re-inspection is performed and a report is drawn up, the period for providing low-quality service cannot be completed. Therefore, the consumer has the right to demand further recalculation.

The management company, housing office or heat supply organization do not have the right to refuse the consumer to measure the temperature of the supplied water. Moreover, they do not have the right to refuse recalculation if cold water was supplied instead of hot water.

If they do this, the consumer has the right to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office, the housing inspectorate, or file a lawsuit in court.

How many degrees should there be in an apartment, office and entrance?

The temperature in apartments should be no less than 18–20 degrees Celsius, in offices - no lower than 20, and in school classrooms - no less than 18. In the premises of kindergarten groups, thermometers should not fall below 22 degrees, in bedrooms - below 19 degrees . There are also rules for entrances. During the heating season it should not be below 16 degrees.

Measurements will be more accurate if you follow a number of simple rules. First of all, you should close all windows and doors, and keep the thermometer a meter from the floor in the center of the room. You should also make sure that you are at least half a meter from the battery and the outer wall.

Submitting a heating claim

Before filing a claim in court, the utility consumer must prepare evidence in the civil case. And one of them will be a claim and a document confirming the fact of its delivery to the proper person.

To do this, a written claim must be submitted directly to the housing organization - against the signature of an official with a transcript. Require the organization's seal. If for some reason you cannot serve the claim in person, send the documents by registered mail with a list of the attachments. Be sure to keep your shipping receipt.

If the claim remains unanswered, the only way to protect rights in the housing and communal services sector is to go to court. The basis of the claim will be the text of the heating claim, and consumers are exempt from paying state duty.

Claim to a judicial authority

If the legislation does not impose any requirements regarding the content of the document for drawing up a complaint and claim, then the statement of claim must comply with Article 131 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

Otherwise, the court has every reason to refuse to accept the claim or leave it without consideration.

Therefore, the statement of claim must contain the following information:

• the name of the court where the claim is filed;
• name of the locality, name of the street, number of the building where the court is located;
• last name, first name, patronymic of the plaintiff, his place of residence, means of communication with him in the form of a landline or mobile phone number, email address;
• the full name of the defendant, its organizational and legal type of ownership, legal address, contact details, if known;
• price of claims;
• title of the document “Statement of Claim”;
• when and on what terms the contract for hot water supply was concluded between the parties;
• what obligations did the parties undertake;
• liability provided for by contract or law for violation of assumed obligations;
• when and under what circumstances a violation of obligations on the part of the defendant was recorded, what it consisted of and what evidence was confirmed;
• compliance with pre-trial dispute resolution procedures;
• legal grounds for seeking judicial protection;
• stated requirements;
• Attached documents;
• date, signature, surname and initials of the plaintiff.

Remember! The following can be used as an attachment to the statement of claim:

• a copy of the complaint or written message that the apartment is supplied with hot water that does not meet the stated requirements;
• act of measuring the temperature of the supplied hot water;
• a copy of the complaint and the response to it;
• other documents at the discretion of the plaintiff, for example, a copy of the power of attorney addressed to the representative, if the interests of the plaintiff are represented by this person.

The price of the claim will determine which court will consider the application. Thus, if the amount of the stated claims is up to 50 thousand, the case is under the jurisdiction of the magistrate, and if the stated claims exceed the specified figure - to the district court.

Filing a claim on the basis of the Federal Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights exempts the plaintiff from paying state fees. However, if, as a result of consideration of the claim, the defendant’s guilt is confirmed, the court will collect the appropriate amount of state duty from him.

Civil procedural legislation determines that claims of this category are filed with the court according to:

• place of legal registration of the defendant;
• place of conclusion of the contract.

If, when filing a statement of claim, the court comes to the conclusion that its content does not meet the requirements set out in Article 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, or the rules of jurisdiction are not followed, the plaintiff will be given time to correct the errors. Otherwise, the claim will be considered not filed and will be returned to the initiator with all documents.

ATTENTION! View the completed sample statement of claim for recalculation of utility bills:

What to do if the sewage system in a high-rise building is clogged?

What to do if you bought an apartment with housing and communal services debts, read here.

How to submit a collective complaint to the Prosecutor's Office, read the link:

Actions for the future: meter with temperature sensor

Hot water meter with a temperature sensor
There is an effective way not to pay for cold water that is drained at the price of hot water: purchase and install a hot water meter with a temperature sensor. It measures the volume of water divided by tariff and temperature. Water with a temperature above 50o C is paid at the full rate. Water with a temperature below 40°C is charged at the cold water supply tariff. The advantages of installing a multi-tariff meter with a temperature sensor include:

• reducing the cost of paying for hot water;
• encouraging the supplier to eliminate violations.

The disadvantage of such a metering device: high cost. The purchase will be justified only if there are constant problems with hot water supply standards. If the Criminal Code refuses to seal the meter with a temperature sensor, the issue will have to be resolved in court.

How to pay less for hot water. Part 1. Multi-tariff hot water meter “Archimedes” in Russia.

Application to the State Property Committee

An effective way to resolve the issue of hot water supply would be a complaint addressed to the state housing inspectorate. At the same time, what is stated in the document must be supported by references to the requirements of SNiP and SanPin, measurement reports drawn up by specialists or invited experts.

The redneck should be concise and as informative as possible. Do not contain insults or obscene statements.

Please note! As required details, the document must contain:

• surname and initials of the head of the state housing inspection;
• address of the location of the institution;
• last name, first name, patronymic and address of residence of the consumer of hot water supply services;
• if the complaint is collective, then the details of all residents who initiated and signed the document are indicated;
• title of the document “Complaint” or “Collective Complaint”;
• the essence of the violation, when, by whom it was recorded, what standards were violated;
• what measures were taken to resolve the conflict peacefully;
• reaction of the heat supply organization;
• legal grounds for filing a complaint with the housing inspectorate;
• requirements;
• copies of the attached documents;
• date, signature and transcript of the names of those who applied.

Do I need to sue utility companies because of poor heating?

You need to go to court when utility workers voluntarily do not comply with the requirements of the owner of the residential premises. So, in a statement of claim you can demand:

• restore heating to the required volume;
• compensate for damage caused to residential premises. For example, due to prolonged low temperatures, fungus appeared on the walls of the apartment, which required repairs;
• a fine for failure to comply with consumer requirements in the amount of 50% of the amount satisfied by the court;
• compensation for moral damage.

A statement of claim can be drawn up and filed in order to protect consumer rights. You can read about how to do this here.