Pravozhil.com > Housing and communal services issues > Utilities > Housing and communal services problems > What to do if the water meter verification period has expired - a guide for the violator
Meters are verified after a certain time after operation. Citizens, forgetting about deadlines, often discover that the water meter verification period has expired, which is why they are forced to pay for water use in accordance with generally accepted standards.
It is necessary to get out of the current situation exactly according to the established standards.
What is an overdue flow meter control?
Delay is a violation by the owner of the water meter of the deadline for verifying its compliance with metrological parameters.
The water meter passport always indicates the date when its initial verification was carried out.
A single calibration interval is established for cold and hot water meters.
It is 6 years. Reference. The date of verification of the flow meter is indicated in receipts for utility bills. It is written next to the column where the owner writes the current water meter readings.
What to do if the water meter verification period has expired
In order not to violate the established order, it is recommended to adhere to the following algorithm of actions:
- Find an officially licensed organization that verifies meters. Advice: to be sure of the legal activities of an organization, you can check the information about the company you are interested in on the official website of the accreditation service
- Organize the verification procedure. It is necessary to fill out an application, after which a specialist arrives at the specified address with equipment and carries out the measuring operation. He must issue a certificate on a form that the enumerators have completed the necessary procedures. If it turns out to be faulty, a document is issued indicating that the water meters have been replaced.
- Submit an application to the company that deals with the re-registration of meters. This is a service organization. Information can be found on the receipt. The specialist checks the integrity of the seals and whether the rules for installing meters were followed. Upon completion, a certificate is generated indicating the commissioning of the devices.
- Submit the completed report to the accounting department to recalculate the amount of water used. Starting next month, charges will be made based on actual meter readings, which will save money on the volume of water used.
Important: as soon as the verification period ends, the citizen has three months to correct the situation and call a specialist to take readings, or replace faulty water meters.
Possible consequences and penalties
The main consequence of delay is an increase in utility bills for water. At first, payments for the supplied resource will be calculated by payment centers based on its average consumption over the last six months.
In the future, the amount of payments for water will increase, since the calculations will begin to take into account the standard along with an increasing coefficient.
There are no penalties for delaying the verification procedure .
The consumer may incur a large debt as a result of recalculation for the entire period when the flow meter was not verified. Such a debt can be challenged in court. Fines can only be imposed when the consumer has damaged the seal on the water meter or torn it off.
Consequences of failure to complete verification on time
Based on current legislation, every citizen is obliged to check meters after a certain period of time for malfunctions and the accuracy of the readings taken.
If the owner of an apartment or private house does not have time to complete the procedure within the established time frame, then during the first three months bills for water use will be received in accordance with the general established tariffs (which significantly increases the price).
If there is a delay, no additional penalties are imposed. However, the citizen suffers financial losses, since he will overpay for the water supply until he carries out verification.
Licensed organizations conduct these events in person, filling out all the paperwork for the accounting department of the management company. Therefore, all that remains is to go to the HOA, make copies of the documents and send them to the desired department.
Important: you cannot give the original act and certificate of verification to the HOA and other organizations. They must remain with the owner of the house.
Service organizations are asked to fill out an application for recalculation, while others carry out the procedure after receiving a package of documents. Information can be clarified by calling the helpline.
What is the penalty for checking a water meter?
Sometimes situations occur when a citizen receives a fine from the HOA due to untimely verification of meters.
What to do if you missed the control deadline?
In this case, it is recommended to proceed according to the following plan:
- Contact the management company that maintains the house.
This is done orally or in writing. The consumer can choose the company that will carry out the verification work. To do this, he personally goes to the selected organization and enters into an agreement with it. It is important to check whether such companies have accreditation certificates. Only the presence of this document confirms their right to conduct such operations. The validity of the certificate is checked through the website of the Federal Agency for Accreditation. 
Wait for a specialist from the management company or another selected organization to carry out verification work.- Based on the results of the measurements taken, obtain a certificate from a specialist.
It will confirm the successful completion of the verification procedure. If the verification fails, the specialist issues an order to the consumer regarding the need to replace the flow meter. - Receive a water meter verification report from a specialist and sign it in 2 copies.
- Send one copy of the act to the resource supplying organization. He will confirm the successful completion of the procedure.
- If the water meter needs to be replaced based on the results of verification activities, then a specialist from the management company is additionally invited to dismantle the old device and install a new one. After this, the specialist seals it and draws up a report. It must be signed by both the specialist and the consumer. One copy of the act is sent to the resource supply company.
After completing the verification work, it is necessary to draw up an application for recalculation. It is written in free form.
It records the following information:
- The management company where the document is sent, its location;
- Full name and address of the person applying;
- explanation of the reason for the delay in verification;
- an indication that the procedure was carried out (the organization and the date of the verification are written);
- please recalculate with reference to clause 61 of the Government Decree dated May 6, 2011, number 354.
Attention. The application must be signed. It must also contain the date on which it was compiled. It is recommended to attach documents confirming the fact that the flow meter has been verified. These are copies of the certificate and the certificate of completion of the procedure.
Who is obliged to change electric meters in apartments and at whose expense?
Unfortunately, today there is still a rule according to which property owners are obliged, at their own expense, to provide resource suppliers with the accuracy of their meter readings. In other words, the owners of apartments equipped with electric meters must independently monitor the timeliness of their verification and replace them at their own expense if the meters fail.
However, from July 1, 2021, this rule will finally cease to apply and the obligation to purchase and install electric meters will completely transfer to energy supply organizations (Federal Law dated December 27, 2018 No. 522-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with with the development of electrical energy (power) metering systems in the Russian Federation).
Of course, the replacement of meters will not be carried out simultaneously: first, meters that are out of order, with expired service life will be replaced, or they will be installed initially if there is no meter in the apartment. Therefore, resource supply organizations, in order to somehow reduce the upcoming costs of carrying out this campaign, are today trying to actively encourage citizens to replace old meters with new ones at their own expense.
Does it matter when the delay was noticed?
The moment the verification delay is discovered determines how much the consumer will ultimately overpay for water.
If it is identified immediately, the owner of the device will pay for the supplied resource at an average value for a short time, after which payments will begin to accrue to him based on actual consumption.
If the delay was detected after some time, then the amount of accrued utility bills for water will increase over time.
Important! Prolonged disregard for overdue payments leads to the fact that settlement centers recalculate according to the standard, taking into account the increasing coefficient. As a result, the consumer may receive a receipt with a multi-thousand dollar debt for water.
Checking or purchasing a new water meter?
In different regions, verification activities may take place at different times. But the legal requirements remain the same everywhere. It was said above that only organizations whose license has not expired can carry out such work. And, of course, you do not have the right to do this yourself. Regardless of whether the verification action is expired or not.
Your measuring instrument must have a lid and seal. After verification work is completed, you are issued documents that contain the signatures and seals of the department that carried them out. The answer to the question posed about checking or purchasing a new device is quite obvious.
If you have not done or are overdue for diagnostics, then the established IPU waters are perceived by law as missing. And you will have to purchase them again. Isn’t it better to dial the phone number of the city center for accounting and saving resources so that you can have your equipment checked quickly and efficiently?
Do you have questions about checking meters? Write! We'll call you back
Calculation of fees for a resource, taking into account the delay
If the consumer does not take care of checking the water meter in time, then if the period has expired, the device will be considered faulty.
If the procedure was not carried out on time, then the consumer will be charged utility bills for water over a 3-month period based on average monthly consumption . This rule is fixed in paragraphs. “a” clause 59 of the government decree of May 6, 2011 number 354.
If during the specified period the consumer does not take care of checking the flow meter, then after the period has expired, payment for water will be carried out according to the standard. In this case, a multiplying factor will be applied.
Why do they do verification?
Monthly payment for used hot and cold water is carried out based on the recorded indicators of installed meters.
Each device must have a technical passport, which displays the year and information about the expiration date.
How long does it take to check water meters?
The correct calculation of payment depends on the accuracy of the readings taken. During long-term use, its technical properties may change.
If it is proven that it is not working correctly, then the water meter is dismantled and installed.
How to determine when to carry out verification
It is important to remember that the verification interval is calculated from the date of initial verification (initial verification is carried out at the manufacturer) of the water meter or repeated (at your home using a portable verification unit or in a laboratory using a stationary one), and not from the date of commissioning of the device.
For example: the initial verification of the water meter was carried out in February 2021. You decided to install it in May 2021. The calibration interval will be counted from February 2021, and not from May, when the water meter was put into operation.
Remember: the verification interval is counted from the date of initial verification (production date) or re-verification.
You can always look at the date when you need to carry out verification in the receipt for water (usually the verification period is indicated), or in your documents for water meters (passport, verification certificate, commissioning certificate).
Sample application for recalculation of water after verification of meters
To carry out a recalculation, the owner of the home, if the period for checking water meters has expired, must submit an application to the management company. The current legislation does not provide for a standard form of this document, but its form and content must meet all the requirements of business document flow.
In the upper right part of the sheet it is necessary to indicate the position of the addressee; the application should be written to the head of the management company. Next, indicate the full name of the author of the application and the address of the apartment at which it is necessary to recalculate water costs. The text of the petition should indicate the reason why the owner was unable to use the services of the accreditation service in time to conduct a performance check.
It is also necessary to indicate the fact of successful testing of the water meter, the name of the organization that carried out the test, and the request for recalculation. The document ends with the date of preparation and the signature of the applicant.
