Where to complain about the lack of heating in the apartment

The heating season started in Moscow on September 13. It is expected that by the end of this week the heat will reach all apartments in the capital. Residents of some areas are already enjoying hot radiators, while some still have to be content with woolen socks and liters of hot tea. We tell you how Muscovites warm themselves in their homes while waiting for heat, and also where to go if it never arrives in their apartment.

Photo: portal of the mayor and government of Moscow/Maxim Denisov

What the law says

Let's figure out what parameters the heating in the apartment should meet.

Regulatory Requirements

According to the Rules for the provision of public utilities, the heating period must begin if for 5 consecutive days the average daily air temperature outside is less than 8 °C.

At the same time, the air temperature in residential premises should be within 18-24 °C. At night (from 0.00 to 5.00 hours) the temperature is allowed to decrease below the minimum set values ​​by 3 °C.

The maximum permissible deviations from this standard have also been established:

If there are violations of these values, the owner of the premises has the right to demand a reduction in the utility fee by 0.15% for each hour of exceeding the permissible duration of the heating interruption.

Who is responsible

Depending on where the cause of the heating outages occurred, responsibility for cold batteries will be borne by:

• owner - within his apartment. So, if you installed weak batteries or the windows in the apartment let out heat, no one but you will be held responsible;
• Housing office (UK, HOA) - outside the apartment, but within the communal networks of the house;
• resource supply organization - outside the home.

Start of the heating season

Sergei Sobyanin announced the start of the heating season in the capital from Monday, September 13. Earlier, weather forecasters warned Muscovites about the end of Indian summer and a sharp cold snap starting on Tuesday, September 14. It is expected that heat will be provided to the entire residential sector for five days. The mayor noted that the capital's heating system is ready for the start of the new season.

The heat generation is ready, the internal house systems are ready, the main networks are ready, the water supply system, gas supply, everything is prepared for the winter season. So we'll launch. I hope that within five days all objects will be warm. Sergei Sobyanin

mayor of Moscow

In particular, about 74 thousand facilities have been prepared for the new heating season, of which 34.1 thousand residential buildings, 8.8 thousand social facilities, 30.8 thousand economic facilities and fuel and energy infrastructure.

Reserve fuel reserves at the thermal power plant were also formed: we are talking about 378.6 thousand tons of fuel oil, 360.4 thousand tons of coal and 24.9 thousand tons of diesel fuel. It is noted that the city’s energy supply capacity will make it possible to uninterruptedly provide citizens with heat when temperatures reach minus 30 and even minus 40 degrees.

Photo: Moscow 24/Anton Velikzhanin

What to do if it's cold at home

If you are freezing at home, you need to act in the following order:

1. Record the low temperature in the living room. To do this, you need to call the emergency dispatch service of the management company or homeowners association and report the problem. Utility service employees are required to come and verify such a complaint within 2 hours of its receipt. After measuring temperatures, an act on the provision of heat supply services of inadequate quality is drawn up. It is from the time recorded in this act that the time of disruption of the heating supply will be counted. If no one from the management company comes to the call, you can call the neighbors and the person in charge to record the temperature and draw up a report. It is important to follow the rules for measuring temperatures: close all windows before measuring, measure the temperature in the middle of a large room, a meter from the floor. You can also try contacting the emergency dispatch service at the GZHI.
2. Find out who is responsible for the lack of heating. The management company should have such information. If the problem lies in the improper condition of the heating networks of the house, it must be eliminated by the management company. If an accident occurs in heating networks outside the home, you need to call your resource supply organization. When making a call, it is better to turn on the audio recording of the conversation. If the reason for the lack of heating is an accident in the heating networks, you must be told about this, and also be given a time frame for eliminating the problem.
3. Where to go if there is still no heating.
   In this case, you need to complain to the competent government agencies:
   • to the housing inspection;

   to the municipal administration;

4. to Rospotrebnadzor;
5. to the Federal Antimonopoly Service;
6. to the Prosecutor's Office.

We will tell you more about how to make a complaint and send it to the specified structures below.

How and where to complain about the management company or housing and communal services? Step-by-step instruction

How and where to complain about the Russian Pension Fund?

Who is responsible for the cold radiators of the apartment and who should solve the problem?

Where to complain if it’s cold in the apartment? There are several types of management organizations that are responsible for maintaining specified standards and norms of housing conditions. This could be a management company, housing and communal services or HOA . You need to contact these companies.

The most common problem with cold batteries is either poor design or connections that are too old and no longer usable. Less often it concerns the house itself, which has very low thermal stability.

If the problem lies precisely in the above reasons (one or several at once), then it is the management company that must solve it. And they bear all the costs of the work performed.

The solution period is limited to a week, the only exception being the occurrence of a certain number of problems during repairs (discovery of the complete unsuitability of not only a secondary, but also one of the central branches of communications).

If the problem with cold batteries lies in the batteries themselves, then they will need to be replaced by the owner of the apartment. Work can only be carried out after obtaining the appropriate permission from the management service. But in winter this will be possible only in exceptional cases (small child, paralyzed family member). After all, turning off the riser in the house will become a problem for other residents, which is why it is prohibited by the state.

Where to go for heating in an apartment

Let's consider how and where you can contact us regarding the lack of heating in your apartment.

Solving the heating problem does not require delay, so we advise you to contact all possible authorities immediately in order to achieve the fastest response from the authorities. Publicity in the media will also help speed up the solution to the problem.

Where to complain about the lack of heating in Moscow

For Muscovites, the same procedure for filing complaints about poor-quality utility services applies as in other regions. Let's look at which authorities in the capital accept complaints about heating, as well as what services exist for filing complaints:

• Department of Housing and Communal Services of Moscow. You can promptly report a heating problem by calling: +. You can also write to the department through the electronic reception desk.
• PJSC "MOEK" is an energy company that supplies heat to Moscow residents. The organization's emergency dispatch service can be contacted by phone: +.
• Moszhilinspektsiya. You can file a complaint about poor-quality utility services to the territorial division of your district or through the electronic reception.
• Through the Moscow State Services mobile application.
• On the portal "Our City".

Is it worth paying for heat that didn’t actually exist?

If there has been no heating for a long time, the residents of the house are not required to pay for it.

But where to go if there is no heating to recalculate the amount of payment for services?

Of course, to the utility service. She will recalculate for all the times when there was no heating in the apartment. But it should be noted that utility companies will not reduce debt on their own initiative. Therefore, the initiative regarding recalculation should come from the apartment residents.

To do this, you should send a written application to the home maintenance organization. Such a document is drawn up similarly to a complaint. The only thing is that at the end another requirement should be stated, which concerns the recalculation of the amount of payment for the heating provided.

How to file a complaint

In order for a complaint to be considered and accepted for verification, it must be compiled correctly.
Heating problems, as a rule, arise not in one apartment, but in the entire house or even a residential complex. Therefore, it is better to file a collective complaint about heating, which has greater weight in consideration. We have already written about how to correctly draw up a collective complaint here.

The law establishes the following requirements for written applications to government agencies:

• the name of the authority to which the complaint is being sent must be indicated;
• The full name and return address of the applicant (postal or electronic) must be indicated: anonymous complaints are not considered by the authorities;
• the essence of the complaint is stated in clear language, with justification and evidence. In particular, it is better to provide the following information:
• address of a residential premises in which there is no heating;
• date of heating limitation or shutdown;
• when the applicant contacted the emergency dispatch service, was a report drawn up;
• who services heating networks and supplies heat;
• where else did the applicant apply;
• what rules of law were violated;
• The applicant must personally sign and date it.

All documents referred to by the applicant in the text are attached to the complaint:

• act on measuring temperatures in residential premises;
• copies of claims, complaints and other appeals on this issue, as well as responses to them.

Sample complaint

Complaint to the prosecutor's office

The prosecutor's office is the supervisory authority for compliance with the law. An application to the government agency is submitted if utility services partially or completely fail to fulfill their duties.

Attention! A complaint to the prosecutor's office will be justified only if other services continue to be inactive, despite claims from the property owner.

A complaint can be submitted to government officials in the following ways:

• personal appeal;
• by registered mail;
• through the Internet reception;
• through the State Services website.

The complaint should briefly outline the essence of the problem and the citizen’s demands. To write an application, you can look at the 2020 sample, but there is no clearly established form in the legislation. The requirements for the document are specified in Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006. Applications written with obscene language will not be considered. The response to the claim is sent to the applicant in writing or electronically within 30 days. In some cases, the period may be extended to 2 months.

The document is accompanied by evidence that the utility service does not comply with the terms of the agreement concluded with the consumer. As confirmation, a written appeal to the management company and the organization’s response should be provided. Documents can be attached to the application via the online reception if their size does not exceed 5 MB.

Download a sample complaint to the prosecutor's office against housing and communal services (management company)

How to get money back for bad heating

If during the heating season the temperature in the room does not meet the established standards, the owner of the premises has the right to demand a reduction in the payment for the current period by 0.15% for each hour of absence of normal heating. In other words, in this case you can demand recalculation for heating. This right can be exercised only after a violation has been detected.

For example, if the heating was turned off on October 1, and the temperature measurement report was drawn up only on October 3, the right to recalculate the cost of heating arises only from October 3.

It would seem that 0.15% is very little. But this is not so: let's look at it with an example.

Let's say the heating season began on October 1, and the heating was turned on only on October 21, i.e. The delay in providing the service was 20 days. The fee reduction is calculated for each hour of delay, i.e. for a day without heating, the fee should be reduced by:

0.15% x 24 = 3.6%.

Thus, for 20 days of delay, the payment for October should be reduced by 3.6% x 20 = 72%. Those. in fact, the heat energy consumer does not have to pay for the period when the heating service was provided improperly.

The heat supplier is required to make the recalculation. If he refuses to do this voluntarily, he will have to go to court.

Complaint to the Management Company or Homeowners Association

A complaint is sent to the Criminal Code if the radiators are cold during the heating season.
The owner of the apartment can submit an application by phone. Within 24 hours, a technician or engineer should arrive from the utility service to take control temperature measurements. Based on the results of the survey, a report is drawn up in two copies. One of them is issued to the owner of the premises, the other is left with the utility service employee. If the temperature is below the established minimum, then representatives of the management company must take measures to correct the problem.

If the utility service is inactive, then a written statement is issued . It can be from one owner or from several residents of an apartment building. Collective complaints are considered first.

The document must contain the following information:

• name of the management company;
• information about the owner;
• data on the temperature conditions in the room, the timing of problems;
• demands to correct the situation.

The claim must indicate the timely payment of utility bills. The Management Company must send a written response to the complaint. If it contains a refusal to eliminate violations, the apartment owner has the right to appeal to a higher authority.

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.

Complaint to Rospotrebnadzor

Before writing an application to Rospotrebnadzor, you need to make sure that the reason for poor heating is inadequate quality of service.
The government agency considers claims in accordance with Law No. 2300-1 of 02/07/1992 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”. The legislation does not establish a uniform template for a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor. The document is written to the head of the service in the region. The application must be written in a business style. It indicates the essence of the problem and the requirements for eliminating it.

Evidence of poor quality services may include:

• inspection reports;
• complaints to housing and communal services;
• written responses to complaints from utility services.

The official website of Rospotrebnadzor has a section for citizens to apply. If the complaint involves an unscheduled inspection, the user must log in through the ESIA. The period for consideration of the application is 5 days. In cases where additional information or verification is required, it may be extended up to 10 working days. The response to the appeal is given in the manner specified in the application (in writing or electronically).

Arbitrage practice

1. The court did not satisfy the request for recalculation of heating fees, since the plaintiff did not provide temperature measurements in the residential premises. But since the defendant did not comply with the plaintiff’s demands to restore heating in a pre-trial manner, compensation for moral damage and a consumer fine were awarded in favor of the plaintiff (Decision No. 2-1285 of July 16, 2020 in case No. 2-1285/2019).
2. The resource supplying organization was obliged to recalculate heating costs, since the temperature in the living space was below normal. At the same time, compensation for moral damage of 30,000 rubles and a consumer fine of 15,000 rubles were awarded in favor of the owner of the premises (Decision No. 2-1935/2019 of July 6, 2020 in case No. 2-1935/2019).
3. If residents draw up acts on low temperatures on their own, they must be signed by the chairman of the house. The court considered acts signed only by the residents of the house to be unacceptable evidence (Decision No. 2-436/2020 of September 28, 2021 in case No. 2-94/2020).

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Reasons for lack of heat in the house

There are several reasons why batteries do not heat or produce insufficient heat.

• One of the good reasons is an accident on the highway or in the thermal power plant itself . Equipment may fail, or a pipe with hot coolant may burst. In such cases, the entire house or even several buildings or an entire neighborhood are usually switched off. Such problems are detected immediately and, as a rule, the responsible authorities quickly take measures to eliminate the accident. Heating problems last for some time, depending on the severity of the network damage.
• Even if the reason is an emergency, you still need to complain to both the management company and the state housing inspection.
• to call GZHI if the heating in the house is turned off ahead of schedule.
• In the case when in some apartments the radiators are very hot, and in others slightly warm, we may be talking about an incorrect design of the thermal system .
• If the battery is cold only from the bottom, it may be clogged with scale and rust, in which case you need to wash it several times under pressure.

Low temperature in a separate room or in the entire apartment may be associated with the appearance of air locks in the entire system. Such problems arise after the coolant is introduced into the heating pipeline.

To correct the situation, sometimes it is enough to drain some water on the upper floors using the Mayevsky tap, then the normal movement of hot water through the pipes is restored.

Poor heating may also be associated with the reconstruction of the pipeline in individual apartments. Major home repairs are often associated with redevelopment, reinstallation of radiators, a separate pipe; builders can perform this work in violation of the design of the heating system .