Utility bills: what is included in them, what are the costs and services

What do utility bills consist of?

The state's housing policy is aimed at creating the most favorable conditions for people to live in houses of any form of ownership, providing them with all the necessary benefits. The supply of resources to housing and non-residential premises is accompanied by monetary costs for the extraction of these resources, processing and high-quality delivery of them to the consumer. Each citizen who is provided with the necessary service, which includes the following types, shares in these costs:

1. Payment for the maintenance and operation of housing stock.
2. Payment for utilities.

The obligation to bear expenses for these items is given to citizens on the basis of Article 153 of the RF Housing Code[2]. The amount of payments is determined based on the square meters of housing used and the readings of meters installed on utilities in the housing. In the absence of meters for metering consumed resources, calculations are made according to standards calculated according to state methods in each region separately.

The procedure for providing housing services

All basic housing services can be provided to residents based on payment for such services:

• For proper maintenance and timely repair of common property of residents and service equipment.
• Contribution of funds for current and major repairs.
• Tracking timely cash receipts from tenants of non-residential and residential premises.

All rules for the provision of appropriate services are stipulated in the RF Housing Code and the RF PP dated 13.08. 2006 No. 491.

What does housing maintenance include?

This part of the payment in the bills is the most incomprehensible, since, including a large list of works, it is contained in the concept of “content” without revealing the essence of the issue. According to the Rules for the provision of housing and communal services[3], the maintenance of a residential building is as follows:

• maintenance of the common property of the apartment building. It includes premises that are not apartments, that is, stairwells, landings, attics and basements;
• current repairs of load-bearing structures of the building and roof;
• maintenance of utility pipes and electrical wiring running outside apartments;
• maintenance of the ventilation and smoke removal system for combustion products in the presence of gas water heaters in the apartment;
• deratization and disinsection of basements and common areas of the first floors;
• payments for electricity in stairwells and basements;
• cleaning the local area and entrances;
• maintenance of sports and children's equipment in the local area;
• for homeowners – contributions for major repairs;
• for persons living in a municipal apartment - deductions for rental housing.

High-quality maintenance of housing extends the normal functioning of the entire house. Each part developed in the list for the maintenance of housing stock has its own frequency of implementation and recommended volume. To comply with all specified periods and fulfill the prescribed volumes, 100% payment for housing services is required. Therefore, this expense item can be presented as a feasible contribution to the safety of the housing stock and maintaining comfort in the home.

List of housing services

Attention
The main task of the management company in the provision of housing services is to maintain control over the reliability of housekeeping services and to achieve complete safety in the area of ​​sanitary conditions in the common areas of residents.

To achieve these goals, the management company carries out a number of mandatory activities:

• Periodic disinsection and deratization of areas (treatment with pesticides) where garbage accumulates to prevent the appearance of rodents, cockroaches and insects that can carry dangerous infectious diseases.
• Proper maintenance of the courtyard area clean, including timely emptying of trash cans.
• Arrangement of children's and sports grounds with safe equipment necessary for the development of children: slides, walls, developmental structures.
• Maintaining all public utilities in proper working order: control over utility networks that ensure comfortable living, general meters for resource consumption, elevators, without which a high-rise apartment building cannot exist.
• Housing services include maintaining the house in proper architectural condition, established by urban planning requirements.

If we summarize the above, we can distinguish several types of mandatory work of the housing service at home:

• Regular inspections of the common property of residents together with company representatives and apartment owners to identify violations in the sanitary condition of the house that affect the health and threaten the lives of residents.
• Proper maintenance of communal life support systems: checking the condition of water supply, drainage, electrical, and elevator equipment systems.
• Timely cleaning of non-residential common areas: entrances, attics and basements.
• Disposal of solid household waste, arrangement of a special area for garbage cans, containers for fluorescent lighting devices. Maintain control over removal, that is, monitoring the correct loading of garbage containers by companies specializing in this area.
• Pruning trees and shrubs, planting flowers and laying out flower beds, caring for them in the summer.
• In winter - snow removal, clearing paths of ice, treating them with reagents.

This list of housing services provided may not be complete, but this does not mean that the housing service of the building will be responsible for all breakdowns and shortcomings. She is obliged to repair free of charge everything that belongs to the common household:

• Any communications - risers and channels of water supply, gas pipelines, sewerage.
• Sewage equipment and drainage pipelines.
• Public resource consumption counters.

Additional information
Housing services also include insulation of entrances in the winter, repair of windows and common entrance doors, and many other essential works for each residential building, based on the current specific situation.

But all faulty equipment located in the apartment by right of private ownership is obliged to be repaired by the owner.

This includes:

• Radiator batteries.
• Household stoves with gas or electric heating.
• Individual metering devices.
• Electrical wiring cables.
• Plumbing equipment.

What does payment of utilities include?

These services combined the use of natural resources in the form of the following provision:

1. Uninterrupted supply of cold water of appropriate quality in accordance with the requirements of SanPin 2.1.4.1074.1[4], as well as drainage for the purpose of removing wastewater from the apartment.
2. 24-hour electricity supply within the framework of specifications for the supply of energy to apartments.
3. Gasified houses are supplied with natural gas.
4. Use of thermal energy to heat an apartment and produce hot water in houses with centralized hot water supply.
5. Removal of solid household waste.

Tariffs for each service are calculated according to the developed methodological instructions of the Government of the Russian Federation, but taking into account the specifics of the region. Each federal district participates in the formation of reasonable tariffs for the population, taking into account the realities of life.

The formation of the tariff includes the costs of extracting the resource, its processing and delivery to the consumer, taking into account the production and overhead costs of the supplier. At the same time, the quality of the service is controlled at the state level and must be in accordance with existing standards.

Benefits for the provision of housing services

It is worth noting that the list of benefit categories for persons is established at the regional level; the list of beneficiaries may include low-income and large families, single pensioners and other categories of citizens.

Also, the provision of benefits is regulated by Federal laws on social support for disabled people, mothers raising their children alone, WWII veterans and military personnel.

Registration of benefits is based on an application submitted by the applicant to the management company, with the obligatory support of evidentiary documentation about the existence of the right to preferential payment.

Factors influencing the calculation of utility bills

The following data influences the amount to be paid for utilities:

• total area of ​​housing - to pay for housing maintenance and heating;
• the number of persons registered in the apartment - for payment for services provided according to the standard in the absence of metering devices;
• housing category - payment in an elite apartment building differs from the costs of maintaining a hostel;
• the amount of resources consumed according to meter readings;
• other special conditions under the agreement between the owner of the premises and the production service.

The amount of utility bills can be changed downward in cases provided for by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. They consist of the following:

1. State assistance in the form of benefits and subsidies for utility bills.
2. Poor quality provision of services by performers must be compensated in recalculations for payments made. But for this it is necessary to show personal initiative and exercise control over the quality of the service provided.

The consumer receives receipts for payment in a ready-made form indicating the tariffs and the total cost to be paid, but it is better to keep a home record of utility bills and meter readings to control your own costs and the correctness of charges by the executive companies. By performing such accounting, you can always reconcile accruals and payments in the created city E&R Centers, intended for the convenience of citizens.

Who provides housing services?

Different organizations can provide housing services - it depends on the form of house management adopted by the residents:

• The company managing an apartment building can independently provide the entire range of housing services required by residents, or, through its mediation, a third-party organization will do this for a separate monetary remuneration. But she will be the one responsible for any violations committed.
• Homeowners' Association. If the house is managed by an HOA, then a commercial firm or management company hired by the owners, specializing in this field of activity, can perform the duties of providing services. Here the Partnership will be directly responsible for all services provided, and the organization hired under a special contract will be responsible to it.
• A special company hired under a contract, if a form of direct management is adopted, here the commercial structure hired by the residents of the apartment building assumes all responsibility, therefore, all responsibility for maintenance, repair and control is assigned to it.

But whatever organization is engaged in housing services at home, it is obliged to organize:

• Work of the dispatch service on complaints from property owners and establish contacts with the city emergency service.
• Storage and maintenance of technical documentation for the entire residential building.
• Maintain technical control over all public utilities of the building, timely conclude relevant contracts and agreements with city services to ensure repair and emergency work.
• Preparation of special proposals for the implementation of upcoming work related to the maintenance of common property in proper condition, approval of the timing of current and major repairs.
• Calculation and collection of fees for the provision of housing services to owners and tenants of residential and non-residential premises of the house.
• Collection of accumulated debts by all legal means.
• Upon first request, immediately provide residents with all financial and other information regarding the services agreed upon in the contract.

In a privatized apartment

Most people living in a privatized apartment have no idea what repairs of communications they should do at their own expense and what services the housing and communal services provide them. Residents' ignorance plays into the hands of utility workers, and they assign additional bills for services that have already been paid by apartment owners in the monthly payment receipt.

The management company is a commercial organization that is chosen by the residents of the apartment complex themselves. This is necessary to maintain the condition of the house and common property. The agreement on repair and construction work is secured by an agreement between the company and the home owners. This document is a guarantee of compliance by housing and communal services with the clauses of the agreement.

Every month, when paying utilities, the apartment owner has the right to demand repairs from the management company. All common property and property inside apartments are subject to free repairs. Free repairs apply to all types of communications. Let's consider the list of free housing and communal services in a privatized apartment.

What utilities are required to repair, and what equipment belongs to common property:

1. Heating system. This includes repairs:

• cold and hot water supply branches to the point of connection to the central pipeline;
• drains and their branches (fittings, couplings, fittings) to the point of connection with the outlet pipes;
• branches to the connection point of the outlet pipes.
• Gas supply. The repair extends to the shut-off valve near the stove in the kitchen area.
• Metering devices. To the connection point with a disconnect device or shut-off valve.

Repair of the listed supply systems is considered free housing and communal services in a privatized apartment. Equipment, machinery and devices that are the property of the owner are repaired by him independently from his personal funds.

Owners of apartments and tenants of public housing themselves repair:

• water supply system to the shut-off valve;
• electrical devices;
• gas stove;
• heating radiators;
• personally installed meters without registration;
• chandeliers and sockets, switch, sockets, additional electricity cable;
• plumbing equipment, except pipes.

Calculations are carried out according to the consumed resources recorded by metering devices. If they are not established, the payment includes the norms established by law.

Why can you file a complaint against housing and communal services?

Most often, residents are concerned about the following types of violations of the Criminal Code of the house:

• Untimely repair of communication lines, delays in carrying out urgent repairs that affect the supply of vital resources.
• Negligence when performing repairs at various levels is the dishonesty of contractors performing direct repair work.
• Inclusion in payment receipts of payment for unfulfilled mandatory work on improvement of the house and surrounding area.
• Providing those paid services that are not specified in the maintenance agreement for an apartment building.
• Exceeding established powers, both by the company's management and individual employees, resulting in a violation of the housing rights and freedoms of the residents living in the house.