Complaint about lack of hot water (how to file, sample)

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Published: 09/05/2018

Reading time: 6 min

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.

Laws governing the supply of hot water to apartment buildings and its shutdown

The main law regulating the relationship of a citizen with all communal and other housing services is the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. It is in it that the need for a mandatory conclusion of an agreement between the residents of the house and the Management Company, which can be played directly by the HOA or housing department, is spelled out. The agreement is the main document certifying the rights and obligations of both the residents and the management company. It should contain instructions on the possibility of lack of hot water and the maximum time for its connection. In addition, there are a number of legislative acts that also spell out exactly how public servants should be provided. First of all, these are the Rules and Standards for the Technical Operation of the Housing Stock (approved by Resolution of the State Construction Committee of Russia dated September 27, 2003 N 170). They stipulate that hot water can be turned off as planned, with a warning to residents at least 10 days in advance, for preventive repair work, but no more than 14 days a year. In the event of an emergency, the lack of hot water can last up to one month. Similar instructions are contained in the Hygienic Requirements for Ensuring the Safety of Hot Water Supply Systems (SanPiN 2.1.4.2496-09) and in the Rules for the Provision of Public Utilities to Citizens (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 23, 2006 N 307). According to the law and regulatory documents, residents have the right to recalculate the cost of the service for the period when it was not provided or was not provided in full. Thus, if there was no hot water, they should not charge for it. And if the deadlines or procedure for notifying about preventive shutdowns are violated, the citizen can go to court. However, such treatment is unlikely to return hot water to the taps. It is necessary to file a complaint about the lack of hot water at the same time as going to court, but to other authorities.

What to do if there is no long term?

If there is no hot water for a long time or the water temperature does not meet the standards, then you need to contact the management company or the local housing and communal services department with a written statement.

If there is no result or inaction of the responsible persons, the next step is an application to a higher authority.

The list of institutions for filing complaints about poor quality housing and communal services is established by Art. 13, art. 20 Housing Code of the Russian Federation, clause 124 of Order No. 170.

These are local authorities or government agencies that have the authority to control the provision of quality services to the population:

District or city administration. This is the first instance where you need to contact in case of inaction of the Criminal Code. It is recommended to write a complaint addressed to the head of the district administration.
Housing inspection. This institution controls all issues related to maintaining the good condition of the housing stock. The right to apply sanctions if it is discovered that services are of inadequate quality.
Government services. To submit a complaint remotely, registration on this portal is required, but not all institutions can be contacted.
Rospotrebnadzor. Resolves all problems with organizations that violate consumer rights and provide low-quality services. Has the authority to impose sanctions on the violator.
Prosecutor's office. It is recommended if appeals to all other authorities have not brought results, or there are material claims, for example, a requirement to recalculate payment for services not received
Court. The last authority that decides cases involving violation of rights and material claims, for example, compensation for moral or material damage. The defendant in the claim must be the organization providing the service.

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.

How to file a claim?

There are no uniform requirements for drawing up such a document, but it must be remembered that this is an official document and will be received by an employee of a government agency. The result of the appeal largely depends on how correctly it is compiled.

For this reason, when filing a complaint, you must adhere to certain rules:

the complaint can be written on a regular A4 sheet, since there is no unified form;
The writing style must be formal, polite, you cannot use personal thoughts, threats, or curses;
the situation must be described briefly but clearly, without inventing anything or adding anything on your own;
to confirm information, the numbers of laws, regulations, details of contracts or other documents are indicated;

You will need to provide all available evidence, for which all supporting documents are attached to the complaint.

It is necessary to put forward demands commensurate with the offense that has arisen.

Procedure for filing a written complaint:

At the top right is the full name of the organization to which the complaint is being sent, its address, and details. You can write the full name and position of the head of the organization to send a complaint to him.
Information about the applicant is entered: his passport and contact details. The address to which the response should be sent is required.
A little lower in the middle of the line is the name of the document, for example, “Complaint about lack of hot water.”
What follows is a text that clearly states the essence of the case, the reason for the appeal, with references to violated standards and laws. You should write the address of the house, the time of violations, the dates of appeals to various authorities, indicating the names of these institutions. You can enter a claim for late notification or violation of work deadlines.
There is a requirement to take appropriate measures (eliminate the violation, make a recalculation, organize an inspection, send an order) and bring the perpetrators to justice.

At the bottom there is a signature with a transcript, date, and a list of attached documents . If this is a collective complaint, then all residents of the building must sign it.

It is imperative to indicate what kind of water supply disruption is occurring and how long it has been going on.

You will need to make 3-4 copies of the document, since its copies must be sent to regulatory authorities. One copy remains in the hands of the applicant with a note that the complaint has been accepted for consideration, indicating the date and signature of the person who accepted the complaint.

The complaint can be submitted in person or sent by mail with acknowledgment of receipt.
Mailing is effective if any agency refuses to accept the application. However, this method of handling will require a lot of time.

Complaint to the prosecutor's office

The main task of the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation is to oversee the observance of the rights and interests of citizens, as well as the implementation of the norms of current legislation. Persons who are homeowners in apartment buildings have the right to contact this body with a complaint against the management company if there is a violation on its part, including when the issue concerns the supply of low-temperature hot water.

The inaction of service companies is expressed in failure to comply with the requirements of the law, namely the norms specified in Decree of the State Construction Committee No. 170 and Art. 161 Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

When contacting the prosecutor's office, it is important to clearly indicate what violations of rights have been recorded. Not only oral arguments are important, but also the presence of significant evidence, on the basis of which the prosecutor’s office can organize an investigation.

It is necessary to approach writing a complaint responsibly, since it is not so much the fact of its acceptance that is important, but the result of the consideration.

Options for filing a complaint:

by visiting the territorial department in person;
sending documents by mail;
leaving an electronic appeal through the department's electronic reception.

Evidence base

When turning off hot water, the first thing you need to do is record the fact and time of the shutdown.

To do this, you need to contact the utility services, report the lack of water, and find out the reason.

The utility employee usually specifies the reasons or time frame required to identify the causes of the lack of water and correct the problem.

It is advisable to obtain information in writing. This will become an important argument when protecting your interests. To do this, you must submit a written claim.

What else can you do to prove the lack of hot water:

If there is no accident at the site , but cold water flows from the tap, the applicant has the right to independently measure the temperature. If it is below the norm established by law, which is 40°, then an application is also submitted to the dispatch service to record the non-compliance with the standards.
The applicant has the right to call a specialist to take measurements and record the violation. By law, the master must arrive no later than two hours from the moment the application is submitted. Based on the results of the inspection, a report is drawn up, one copy of which remains with the applicant.
If there is no hot water supply all the time , a specialist needs to be called several times. Having several acts in hand, you can contact the management company, where they write an application demanding recalculation and restoration of the standard water temperature.

If the inspection shows compliance with the standards, but the owner of the apartment does not agree with this, an independent examination can be carried out, based on the results of which a report is also drawn up.

The management company must be notified in advance of the date of the examination. You can install a meter equipped with a temperature sensor, but management companies are reluctant to agree to register such devices.

In addition, according to the law, payments are calculated based on the number of cubic meters of water received, and not the amount of heat. Therefore, it is very difficult to use temperature sensor data as evidence in the event of disputes with the management company.

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.

When can I expect results?

The deadline for responding to citizens' appeals regarding poor-quality provision of utility services according to the law is no more than 3 days.

This is stated in paragraphs. “k” clause 31 of the Rules for the provision of public services (Resolution No. 354).

Consideration of an application requesting recalculation of the cost of services provided takes no more than 10 days (Article 31 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights)

The response from the prosecutor's office will need to wait no more than 15 days , after which the applicant will receive written notification of the results of the prosecutor's inspection or the imposition of administrative penalties. Sometimes the period for consideration of an application is extended to 30 days.

After receiving the statement of claim, the court conducts a pre-trial inspection within 5 days. After this, the case will be put in a queue for consideration, a date will be set, and the plaintiff and defendant will be invited to the hearing. The result will be a court decision that comes into force one month after its adoption.

Complaint about low temperature

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