When purchasing housing on the top floors, people are often faced with the fact that the roof leaks when it rains. If you find yourself in such a situation, you should not sit idly by or try to resolve the issue yourself, but you should immediately contact the housing and communal services department by writing an application for roof repair and compensation for damage caused.
Being a homeowner is more than just owning real estate. Today, anyone who has square meters simply must be legally literate, understand the intricacies of housing legislation, follow innovations and be able to apply them in practice, but this is ideal. In reality, many have no idea what the owner should know and what he has the right to. You can find and download a completed application form, find out what documents are required and all other necessary information in this article.
Causes of leakage and its consequences
An apartment on the top floor is a priori at risk, since even with a slight violation of the roof's tightness, a leak may occur, which will first appear on the ceiling of the home. If the leak is small, then only wet spots begin to appear, but every day they can become larger, and as a result the situation can become emergency.
The management company must react immediately to such a situation and take appropriate measures. Delay in this matter is fraught with certain consequences:
- If stains appear only in wet weather, then over time they will turn the repair into an obscene appearance, as a result of which measures to update it will be required.
- With the appearance of stains, the humidity in the apartment will rise to a maximum level, which can lead to the appearance of fungus on the walls and ceiling, and in extreme cases, even on the furniture.
Important! There is no point in carrying out finishing work until the cause of the leak has been eliminated, that is, the roof's tightness has not been restored.
Activities for capital repairs of apartment buildings
During the overhaul, the intra-house communications, which make up the UI of the MKD, are restored or completely changed. Namely: water supply and sewerage systems, electrical wiring, gas equipment, heat supply system. A complete list of overhaul works is indicated in Art. 166 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.
Elevators must be replaced if they have been in use for more than 25 years. If the elevator was installed less than 25 years ago, the cabin and lifting equipment are repaired. If necessary, elevator shafts are also repaired.
Roof overhaul involves replacing the roof covering, repairing or replacing the supporting structure of the roof, restoring the thermal insulation and water resistance of the roof, and painting the roof if necessary.
The foundation is being repaired taking into account the location of the supporting structures of the first floor and the diagram of utility networks. During a major overhaul of the façade of an apartment building, the tightness of the seams, plaster and facing tiles are restored, and the flashings and drainpipes are changed.
The order of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation dated February 15, 2017 No. 98/pr lists the types of major repair work that can increase the energy efficiency of apartment buildings. This list includes work on sealing interpanel seams, cracks and additional thermal insulation of the walls of the house. In addition, the order recommends installing communal meters for the consumption of utility resources, modernizing heating units by installing heating points. Regarding electrical energy, the Order proposes to install LED lamps and ODPU in the entrances to prevent unmetered electricity consumption.
Actions of the responsible person
The written application is considered within 14 days, after which a commission is sent to the apartment to assess the nature of the damage and the damage caused.
Advice! In order for the owner to have evidence on hand, at the time of the commission’s visit, it is necessary to call the neighbors and take several photos, which the commission members must endorse.
After assessing and analyzing the damage, the technician calculates the necessary repair work and draws up a cost estimate.
If no action has been taken from the management company after 14 days, then you need to contact higher organizations, for example, the head of housing and communal services of a district or city. The application is written to him in the same form as to the management company. For this purpose, an application is also written addressed to the head of the relevant department. The complaint must be submitted, as in the previous case, in two copies. It is necessary to attach documents such as the applicant’s passport, a certificate of ownership of the apartment or an agreement according to which the apartment is considered rented. The administrative apparatus will consider this application within 30 days and send a written response to the applicant.
If in this case, the apartment residents cannot wait for the results, then the only and most reliable way out will be to go to court against the management company. You can go to court, either at your place of residence, or in a district or regional court. The same documents are attached to the statement of claim; in the same way, you need to receive your copy in hand with a signature and date from the authority.
What to write in an application for roof repair?
The application form is standard: in the upper right corner there is a “header” in which the details of the management company, address and full name of the property owner/tenant are indicated. Next, in the middle of the sheet, write the word “Statement” and below – the actual text of the claim.
Application for roof repair - sample
:
To the Head of Housing Office No. 74
Ponomarev E.N.
Copy: to the head of housing and communal services
Sovetsky district of Lipetsk
From a resident of house No. 8,
Be sure to read: Defective sheet for roof repair: draw up according to the sample
managed by Housing Office No. 74
Samartseva V.I.
Lipetsk, Sovetsky district, st. Polevaya 8. sq. 36
House. tel. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Statement
I ask you to take urgent measures to repair the roof in house No. 8 on Polevaya Street due to the fact that it has multiple damages. The destruction of the roofing resulted in numerous leaks in apartment 36, which is located on the top floor.
I would like to note that the roof in our house has not been repaired since 1993 and it has become completely unusable; residents have repeatedly drawn the attention of housing office representatives to this fact.
My family and I have been living at the address indicated since 1992; I have attached documents on the right to use the apartment. I have no debts for utilities.
After prolonged rains in my apartment, located on the 9th floor, as a result of leaks, the plaster covering of the ceiling in one of the rooms and the kitchen was damaged, the wallpaper became wet and came off the walls. The leaking water not only caused serious damage to the repairs, but also caused a short circuit in the socket, resulting in the TV being damaged.
In connection with what was written above, I ask you to form a commission that will inspect the damaged roofing, determine the scope of repair work and eliminate the cause of the leaks. These actions are provided for by Decree of the State Committee of Russia on Housing and Communal Services of March 9, 2004 No. 314.
Attached: certificate of absence of debt F-3.
Sincerely
(signature) Applicant Samartsev V.I.
Day month Year
The example provided will help you correctly structure the text of the application.
. It is best if the application contains a very detailed description of the damage caused and the consequences of constant leaks. It is important to indicate the consequences - both immediate and long-term bleak prospects. If possible, you should take photographs and attach them to your application. An assessment of the material damage caused will increase the weight of the appeal - the results of an officially conducted examination, receipts for finishing work performed in the apartment or damaged household appliances.
At the end of the application, you must provide a list of attached documents (certificates, photographs, receipts, etc.).
Awaiting roof repair
After submitting the application (with its mandatory registration), you should expect a visit from a technical worker who must inspect the roof for damage and draw up an appropriate report. Identified defects are eliminated by a team of workers sent by the management company.
Be sure to read: Roof acceptance certificate: review in detail
To ensure that the wait for real action does not drag on indefinitely, it is recommended to systematically call housing and communal services representatives. In this case, the applicant will have an idea of the actions that the organization is taking to resolve his issue.
Compensation for damage in case of leakage
Situations also arise when an application has been submitted to the management company, but no action has yet been taken, and the residents of the apartments below are already complaining about a leak. In this case, residents have the right to demand compensation from the management company for the property that was damaged as a result of its inaction.
To do this, you need to submit an application to the court at your place of residence, indicating the details of the problem and citing facts about the damage. It would also be a good idea to indicate in the application what damage was caused to the property by the management company.
It is very difficult to independently prove the fact of damage caused by a leak, so it is better to conduct an independent examination. But it is worth remembering that the costs of carrying it out will fall on the shoulders of the owner. If the court confirms the fact of damage as a result of the management company’s inaction, then it will have to pay the applicant the requested amount of monetary compensation.
Also, since the company charges rent every month, and the repairs were not carried out on time, residents have the right to demand that the management company recalculate the rent for a certain period of time. For the money that the residents transfer every month, a scheduled inspection of the roof should be carried out, but since such a misunderstanding occurred, as a result of which someone else’s property was damaged, the management company did not fulfill its obligations to the residents.
Which authorities to contact?
Those who are faced with such a problem always have a question - which housing or utility authority should contact. You can contact the Housing Office by phone and tell them about the problem, making a demand to fix it. In this case, you should write down the name and position of the employee who accepted the complaint, as well as record the date and time of filing the application. Typically, in such cases, the utility authority rarely responds properly to the problem, as opposed to submitting a written application.
Attention! According to housing and communal services standards, inspection of the condition of roofs of apartment buildings should occur twice a year, before the rainy season and after the snow melts, and all deficiencies identified during inspections should be eliminated in a timely manner.
Residents of the top floor can themselves remind the management company or housing office employees to carry out a roof inspection in order to protect their home from leaks.
The entire apartment building, and therefore its roof, general communications and other publicly accessible facilities, is at the disposal of the management company, which must be responsible for its integrity and performance.
What to do if the roof is leaking and where to go, as well as other important nuances of this problem are covered in the video:
The regional operator is responsible for the work of contractors
The apartment building was undergoing major renovations, and the regional operator brought in a contractor. The contractor cheated, and during the rain the apartment of one owner was flooded. A pouring act was drawn up.
Soon after this, the apartment was flooded again, a second act was needed, and the owner’s patience ran out. She appealed to the district court with a demand to recover material damage from the Capital Repair Fund.
The defendant from the regional operator said that the Fund would not pay for anything. The contractor performed the work poorly, and so is the demand. The contractor did not deny his guilt, but noted that he considered the amount of material damage to be overestimated.
The district court listened carefully to both sides and decided that the regional capital improvement operator was at fault. The re-operator carries out major repairs of common property in the apartment building in the amount and within the time frames provided for by the regional capital repair program, and finances major repairs.
If there is not enough money in the capital repair fund, the operator uses funds received from payments from owners of premises in other apartment buildings, from subsidies received from the budget of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or the local budget (Part 1 of Article 182 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).
The regional operator is obliged to ensure the preparation of the task for major repairs and, if necessary, approve the design documentation, and then bear responsibility for its quality and compliance with the requirements of the standards (Clause 2, Part 2, Article 182 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).
In addition, the regional operator is responsible to the owners of apartment building premises for the consequences of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of obligations to carry out major repairs by contractors (clause 6 of Article 182 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).
It turns out that the regional operator is responsible for improperly performed major repairs.
The district court also refuted the registrar’s arguments that he was liable within the limits of the amounts contributed by the owners for major repairs (clause 5 of Article 178 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). Clause 7 art. 182 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation establishes that reimbursement to the reoperator of funds spent on major repairs is carried out at the expense of subsequent contributions for major repairs by the owners of premises in this building.
And then there was an appeal, which sided with the regional operator. The owner was not at a loss and appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
Rights and responsibilities of a regional capital repair operator
Losses are reimbursed in the amount of contributions made for major repairs
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated that the regional court was wrong and upheld the decision of the district court. The regional operator is responsible to the owners of premises in the apartment building for:
- failure to perform or improper performance of one’s duties (Part 5 of Article 178 and Part 1 of Article 188 of the RF Housing Code);
- actions of contractors hired to carry out work (Part 6 of Article 182 of the RF Housing Code).
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation explained that the law does not establish a limitation on the liability of a regional operator for the consequences of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of obligations to carry out major repairs by contractors (Part 6 of Article 182 of the RF Housing Code). Therefore, the reoperator is responsible to the owners for the actions of the contractor with the principle of full compensation for losses.
Also, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation explained the provisions of Part 5 of Art. 178 Housing Code of the Russian Federation. It states that the regional operator will reimburse the losses of the owners in the amount of contributions made for major repairs in accordance with civil law. But we are talking not only about contributions from a specific owner, but about payments from all owners of all premises of all houses.
Pensioners and contributions for major repairs
