What to do if you break the seal on the water meter and what are the fines?

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Yulia Kuprina

Certified lawyer. Total work experience in the specialty is 13 years.

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When the meter is put into operation, it is sealed by the inspector of the utility service (UK or Vodokanal). The sealing act and information about the seal number are documents of strict accountability. They are kept by utility companies. In this article we will look at what the fine will be for breaking the seal on a water meter, how it is calculated and whether it can be avoided.

In what cases can a filling break?

The water meter is sealed in the following situations:

before the start of official commissioning during initial installation, replacement or verification;
if a section of a water pipeline with an installed device is dismantled;
to eliminate an emergency situation requiring removal of seals;
randomly.

The seal can be broken accidentally:

during cleaning;
caught in a piece of clothing;
as a result of children's pranks.

Sometimes the consumer is unaware of the absence of a seal when purchasing housing from another owner or renting an apartment. In the latter case, the person renting the property is responsible for the correct operation of the metering devices. Officially, this situation is equivalent to the failure of a water meter.

Separately, it is worth considering cases when the sealing is broken deliberately in order to steal energy resources.

How to seal the meter yourself:

Restoring an antimagnetic filling:

How will the fee be calculated?

Payment for used water will be calculated as follows:

If the seal was lost due to corrosion, its accidental breakdown, and the subscriber informed about this fact. Clause 81(12) of the Rules equates an unsealed meter to a water meter failure. In this case, fees are calculated based on the average expense for a period of no more than 3 months (subparagraph “a” of paragraph 59 of the Rules). Further calculations will be carried out according to the standard.
If the seal is damaged intentionally (torn off and the device is not sealed), then the charge will be made in accordance with the conditions of clause 62 of the Rules: the throughput of the water pipe, multiplied by the number of days of illegal operation of the water meter.

What to do if fillings are accidentally damaged

If the seal is broken or damaged accidentally, or the need to dismantle the meter with a broken seal is related to the elimination of an emergency situation, the homeowner must:

immediately notify the utility organization of this fact;
upon arrival of the inspector, draw up a report describing the circumstances of the violation and confirming the accidental nature of the damage;
submit an application for resealing and provide a water meter to install the seals.

If during the inspection the accidental fact of damage to the seal of the device is confirmed, you should not be afraid of imposing penalties. You will only have to pay the cost of the water meter sealing procedure.

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To eliminate possible complications in the future, a statement reporting damage to the device protection must be submitted in writing. For the entire period of operation of the water meter from the moment of registration of the application to re-sealing, payment is made according to the calculated standards, taking into account the number registered in the apartment.

The fact that the device is sealed is also confirmed by the relevant act, indicating the following information:

personal information of the consumer;
meter numbers;
number of the seal supplied;
dates of work.

The sealing is free of charge only during the initial installation of the water meter. In other cases, the owner will have to pay for the work.

The law establishes a period of 15 days during which the utility organization must send a representative to seal the meter. But in fact, the time required is within 4 - 5 days. If, after the expiration of the period specified by law, the work remains unfulfilled (through no fault of the owner), payment is permitted according to the readings of an unsealed meter.

Dispute Resolution

If you believe that the seal was broken unintentionally and have sufficiently compelling reasons for being right, then you can write a complaint against your management company to the prosecutor’s office or the state housing inspectorate of the Russian Federation. Upon your request, an inspection will be carried out, based on the results of which an objective decision will be made on the legality/illegality of the actions of your management company.

You can also, bypassing the supervisory authorities, file an application with the court. In this case, you have a better chance of defending your rights, especially if you have witnesses.

Punishment for unauthorized violation of seals

If the consumer does not inform the utility company about the fact of violation of the water meter seal, the following sanctions are applied to the violator:

payment of a fine of up to 300 rubles is a standard amount, if no traces of unauthorized interference in the operation of the meter are established;
a five-fold fine in relation to the standard amount - if the intentional nature of the damage to the seal is established;
imposing a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to two years - if there is evidence of water theft.

Article 19.2

It must be borne in mind that the amount of penalties is determined during the judicial review of the case, and not by the utility company. Vodokanal has the right to calculate payments according to standards from the moment of the last official reading from the device.

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And given that the meters are checked by representatives of the utility company every few years, the consumer will receive a bill for a decent amount, since the estimated payment amount significantly exceeds the amount according to water meters.

The essence of the violation

The seal is needed to protect against interference with the device mechanism. That is, so that the owner does not “hack” it, does not try to manually lower the readings or slow down the rotation of the impeller.

Based on clause 81 of the Rules for the provision of utility services..., approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules), the safety of the metering device is entrusted to the owner of the home.

In accordance with clause 81(11) of the Rules, the water meter must be protected from outside interference. It is for this purpose that control seals and indicators are affixed to it, recording the fact of intrusion.

Subclause “d” of clause 35 of the same Rules determines that the subscriber does not have the right to arbitrarily violate the indicators on water meters and in places where the seal wire passes through the drain holes technologically designed for this purpose.

The most common intervention is the installation (presentation) of special magnets, which can significantly slow down or completely stop the operation of the water meter. Utility companies that supply the resource can seal meters with antimagnetic seals. At the same time, they are obliged to report what the consequences of the failure will be.

A representative of the utility service has the right to place such a seal on the meter. Initial installation is free.

The main purpose of an antimagnetic seal is to inform about the application of a magnet to the metering device. Reaction of filling to magnet:

Disappearance of the signal inscription.
Rupture of the special signal indicator.
The appearance of an inscription informing about the intervention.

Usually the seal is attached to the water meter using fishing line, wire or thread. Sometimes the fastening is fragile, and the element may fall off without any mechanical impact on it.

There are two types of situations when you can get a fine for a meter without a seal:

When the seal was broken (damaged) unintentionally as a result of some careless actions or due to wear and tear. It is necessary to immediately inform the utility companies about the breakdown, without waiting for the inspectors to visit. Payment for water will be calculated as if there was no meter (clause 59 of the Rules), based on average consumption.
When the indicator was damaged (torn off) intentionally in order to distort the water meter readings. Failure to report the damage to the property management company will be an aggravating factor. We will talk about illegal interference in the operation of the device and unaccounted for water consumption. The amount of the fee will be calculated according to a special formula.

It is important to understand that the current legislation defines only one type of fine - for accidentally breaking a seal, when the subscriber independently informs about this.

In all other situations, we will talk about unaccounted consumption, and the charge for water consumed during this period will not be a fine in essence. But due to the rather large amount of the amount billed for payment, many citizens can qualify it as a fine.

At what point does the calculation of deadlines begin?

The calculation of the period for payment of the fine begins from the date the court makes the relevant decision, formalized by the decree. Any administrative fine, including that imposed for breaking a seal, must be paid within 60 calendar days.

If the resource supplier assigns an amount as compensation for water consumption without appropriate meter control, these charges are added to the next utility bill.

According to the established rules, the invoice must be paid in the following month, before the 10th of the month.

Scope of application

Anti-magnetic stickers serve as the main or additional protective device. The following sealing tapes are used:

metering devices;
special equipment;
metal, plastic and wooden boxes;
cabinets and safes;
packages with documents, etc.

This is not a complete list of objects to which antimagnetic tape is applied. The sticker has special notches, a sensitive indicator and other security features. They will help determine an attempt of unauthorized intrusion not only in the case of metering devices, but also other objects that are subject to sealing.

Types of Magnetic Stickers

There are five types of magnetic seals for a water meter:

Anti-vandal. Has a capsule containing a chemical that is sensitive to a magnet. When the water meter is exposed to more than 100 mT, the particles inside begin to increase in size and fill the entire space inside. In this case, the color of the substance remains forever;
Anti-vandal-2. It works exactly the same as the previous option. The only difference in appearance is that there is a rectangular indicator inside instead of a round one;
Anti-magnetic stickers. They are a strip of dark middle and light colors along the edges. When exposed to a magnet of 100 mT or more, the entire strip becomes dark;
Antimagnetic stickers-2. Exactly the same tape as the previous one. The only difference is the colors. It has alternating black and green stripes. When exposed to magnetism, the entire surface is covered with a dark color. Moreover, if the induction force is large, the color becomes more saturated;
Sticker indicator. It already has a capsule with a substance that reacts sharply even to short-term magnetic influence. There is also tamper evident protection.

Manufacturers are constantly improving this technology. Therefore, it is possible that the number of types of antimagnetic fillings will increase.

Restore

If you inadvertently broke the seal from the meter, immediately report the fact to Vodokanal, the energy supply organization, taking into account which meter was damaged.

Calls for inspection and refilling are paid. Provided that you have been paying your bills regularly, there is no reason to worry. The inspector will check the readings with the latest receipt and, if the difference is small, the integrity of the seal will simply be restored.

If there are suspicions of unauthorized intervention and unauthorized sealing, problems and proceedings cannot be avoided.

If you need to dismantle the meter or construction work is underway, during which there is a high probability of breaking the integrity of the seal or you need to move the meter to another location, contact the appropriate services in a timely manner. The meter to be sealed during repairs must be registered, readings taken from it, and a report drawn up.

The electric meter is sealed by electricians, the water consumption meter is sealed by representatives of the water utility. In your application, you write the time and date that suits you. It is necessary to agree on the time of arrival of the inspector so that a situation does not arise that, having called the service representatives, the owner will not be at home. Specialists will seal the metering device at home.

You should be very careful about the integrity of the seal on the meter, but it is not always possible to avoid trouble. If the seal is damaged, it is important to promptly notify the resource supplier about this case. In this case, you will get rid of many problems and be able to get out of the situation with minimal losses.

Plumber Portal

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But some work can be done independently, for example, dismantling an old pipeline, plumbing equipment, or developing an interior design for a bathroom or toilet to save a considerable amount by refusing the services of a professional. But in order not to “break” even more “wood”, this work must be done correctly, armed with knowledge in advance.

How can a consumer find out about a penalty and who is authorized to decide on its imposition?

Employees of the organization supplying the resources have the right to determine the fact of damage to metering devices, including broken seals. Such structures include management companies or the water utility itself.

Inspections are carried out by inspectors authorized to perform these works by the management of these organizations.

The decision to impose a fine is made by the court based on the results of consideration of the claim filed by the resource provider. After the decision is adopted, the defendant officially familiarizes himself with the document.

Anti-magnetic seal: appearance and principle of operation

Essentially an anti-magnetic seal

is a small element or sticker on a self-adhesive base, equipped with a special indicator on the front side. The indicator can be very different, but most often it is made in the form of a small sealed capsule with a magnetically sensitive substance that reacts and, accordingly, is triggered as a result of exposure to a magnetic field.

Depending on the type of antimagnetic filling, it may:

change shape or color;
there is an increase in the size of the capsule;
any inscription appears, etc.

All these effects will indicate that the seal was affected, and, accordingly, the operation of the meter cannot be considered reliable.

Despite the variety of antimagnetic fillings, the following types are mainly used:

anti-vandal specimens, which are presented in several varieties, depending on the substance used and the shape of the capsule;
conventional anti-magnetic fillings. They are also presented in several varieties, but all use sectoral capsules, which, after being exposed to a magnet, change their color and sometimes shape. Between themselves, they differ in sensitivity: some are able to respond to minimal exposure to a magnetic field, while others can even show the degree of such influence, signaling the intensity of the changed color.

If the original appearance of the antimagnetic sticker has changed, then we can unmistakably assume that the water meter was subject to a deliberate or accidental impact with a force of at least 100 mT, and the source of such influence was located no further than 5 cm.

Anti-vandal seals

are very protected elements of water meters. They have a unique number assigned by the manufacturer, and their release is accompanied by special documentation, which, in addition to the serial number, also contains information about the manufacturer, date of manufacture, and operating rules for this small device. It is important to know that when installing an anti-vandal seal, a specialist must open the coupon in the presence of the user and paste it into a special inspection log.

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Water meters with antimagnetic protection

Of course, an applied anti-magnetic seal in the form of a sticker glued to the body is a very vulnerable thing; anything can happen to it. It can be damaged accidentally or as a result of the actions of a not very conscientious inspector who inspects the device without control from the owner of the water meter. Therefore, the market has responded to such a request and offers models of water meters in which anti-magnetic protection is an additional option built into the device. Such a water meter greatly simplifies the life of conscientious consumers, since they have no fear that the seal may be damaged.

The built-in device, which is anti-magnetic protection, is a small bushing with a neodymium element, which is designed to protect against the effects of a magnetic field. However, some experts believe that built-in antimagnetic protection is not always effective, since it is not able to withstand the rather large effects of a magnetic field. Therefore, in some cases, resource supply organizations may initiate the installation of additional protection.

How does a filling work?

The antimagnetic seal on the water meter looks like adhesive tape, which is applied to durable tape. Outside is a waterproof small capsule, inside is an indicator. It is he who instantly reacts to the magnetic field.

The operating principle of an antimagnetic seal is simple. When a magnetic field acts on the water meter, the capsule inside the sticker begins to deform. At the same time, the indicator changes color. In the same way, the capsule reacts to heat and strong cooling.

It is also impossible to peel off the anti-magnetic tape without it being noticeable. Its operating principle is such that the very first verification of the device will reveal a violation of integrity.

If the inspector finds signs of deliberate tampering with the glued tape, he makes a corresponding note in the verification log. In this case, the owner faces legal proceedings and administrative sanctions.

Who can avoid installing water meters?

If the subscriber lives in a room in which installation of a water meter is impossible for technical reasons, then he has the right to refuse installation of the device. This includes the following cases:

house in disrepair;
old pipeline requiring major repairs and complete replacement of the water supply system;
there are no conditions for correct installation of the meter.

All these cases allow the consumer not to install a water meter. Then the calculation of the consumption of cubic meters will be carried out using standard data regulated by the water utility.

Is it necessary to seal the water meter?

The procedure for sealing a water meter is considered mandatory and regulated by law. If there is a seal, this guarantees the correct installation and use of the device. A water utility inspector will not put a seal on a faulty meter: water meters that are not marked with a seal are not allowed for use by apartment residents.

Indicators taken from faulty and unsealed water meters are not taken into account. Tariffs for water consumption are set according to a regulatory table, but this tariff is considered unprofitable for users. Therefore, most residents install meters in their apartments.

According to regulatory data, there are 6.9 cubic meters of cold water and 4.7 cubic meters of hot water per person.

Such consumption is considered inappropriate, exceeding real indicators, therefore, from an economic point of view, installing water meters will be more profitable.

What is the fine for breaking the seal on an electric meter?

Only consumers themselves are responsible for the integrity and safety of the electricity meter, since this device is their property. If the seal was broken due to the fault of the owner, the law provides for serious liability. But there are no clear legal mechanisms for situations where the apartment owners have nothing to do with what happened. Therefore, every problem requires an integrated approach. When there is a suspicion that the consumer is to blame, it is necessary to prove the fact of his guilt. Separately noted is the fact that the meter readings have decreased. In practice, utility services rarely try to understand the essence of what happened. If there is a problem, it means the consumers are to blame. But a differentiated approach is required, which needs to be more clearly reflected in legislative acts.

24 Dec 2021 marketur 4089

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