Redevelopment of an apartment in a panel house in 2021 - what is possible and what is not, how to legalize it

What is special about panel houses?

A panel house is a prefabricated reinforced concrete structure, which is erected from ready-made panel blocks. The length of such blocks is a couple of rooms, and the width is one floor. Panel construction can be compared to an analogue of a children's LEGO construction set. The houses are represented by old Khrushchev buildings and more modern Brezhnev buildings.

Determining which building your apartment is located in is quite simple. To do this, just look at the facade of the building. The external walls are made up of prefabricated curtain panels that are stacked on top of each other. There are seams between the panels, which are subsequently sealed. And on the facade of the building these seams are clearly visible.

The peculiarity of panel houses is that the interior walls are most often load-bearing. They cannot be dismantled. The maximum you can count on is to create an opening in a load-bearing wall and then strengthen it.

Apartment redevelopment 2021 - what is possible and what is not?

Redevelopment of an apartment - what is possible and what is not - Permission from the housing inspection for repairs

What not to do when remodeling an apartment?

The list of activities that are prohibited from being carried out when renovating an apartment and for which it is impossible to obtain appropriate permission is listed in paragraph 10 of Appendix 1 to Moscow Government Decree No. 508. Point 10.

9 from this list also says that redevelopment should not violate SNiPs, SanPiNs, Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation and other regulatory documents.

First, let's look at all the activities that are prohibited by Decree No. 508:

any measures leading to a deterioration in the living conditions of third parties or limiting access to public communications. This, for example, includes the transfer of heating risers, hot and cold water supply, lining these risers with solid boxes without hatches for inspecting the condition of the pipes;
violation of the building's load-bearing capacity. This paragraph says that in no case should you dismantle load-bearing walls or create openings in them without obtaining the appropriate permission for repairs;
insertion of disconnecting or control devices into public communications;
reducing the cross-section or dismantling ventilation ducts. Often, apartment owners do not plan to touch the ventilation ducts themselves, but want to reduce the ventilation shaft, which has a lot of empty space in addition to the pipes themselves. It is very difficult to reconcile this. The area inside the ventilation shaft is not included in the area of the apartment and, therefore, the owner of the apartment did not buy it and it does not belong to him. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, this empty area inside the mine belongs to common property. In accordance with clause 2.5.1.1.1.8 of Appendix 2 of the Resolution of the Moscow City Council No. 508, in order to annex this area, it is necessary to organize a meeting of all owners of premises in an apartment building, at which they will decide to transfer this area for free use or rent. In addition, it is necessary that all apartment owners in the entire building react positively. Organizing such a meeting is in most cases impossible. There is free space inside the mines due to the fact that the architect of the house works out the layout of the apartments when designing the house and takes the areas with a reserve, since he does not know what pipes and what cross-section will be needed to be laid by related engineers designing ventilation, water supply and sewerage, etc. .;
increasing the load on the floors when pouring screed or replacing the partition material with heavier ones. This paragraph applies mainly to houses with wooden floors, in which it is impossible to pour screed into the floor, as well as install Jacuzzis, bathtubs, partitions made of foam blocks without carrying out verification calculations;
transferring a water heating radiator to a balcony or loggia. At the same time, it is possible to install warm electric floors or radiators on the balcony;
installation of water floors from heating or hot water supply systems. Again, no one prohibits the installation of electric heated floors;
affecting or partial dismantling of load-bearing columns, pylons or stiffening diaphragms;
installation of fines in load-bearing walls;
installation of loggias and balconies on all floors except the first;
redevelopment of the attic or technical floor, if they do not belong to your property. Many owners of apartments on the top floors want to partially attach the attic and make a staircase from the apartment to it. Unfortunately, this clause prohibits such redevelopment;
combining a gasified kitchen with a living room without installing tight-fitting sliding partitions between them;
redevelopment in emergency buildings;
any interference with load-bearing walls, including the construction of an opening, without agreement with the organization that designed the building;
combining loggias and balconies with interior spaces;
affecting external walls with weakening of the building’s load-bearing capacity;
installation of mezzanines, the area of which is more than 40% of the area of the entire apartment;
constructing an opening between a kitchen with a gas water heater and a living room without a door with the installation of a grille or a gap between this door and the floor level of at least 0.02 sq.m.

The Housing Inspectorate's refusal to issue permission for redevelopment due to non-compliance with standards.

Is it possible to remodel a panel house?

There are no prohibitions on redevelopment in a panel apartment building. The main thing is that the work is carried out in accordance with construction, sanitary and housing standards.

What does legal redevelopment mean:

Does not violate the integrity of load-bearing structures.
Complies with the standards of SNiP, SanPin, the requirements of Gospozhnadzor, GOST, housing legislation, etc.
Does not violate the rights and legitimate interests of housemates.

It is definitely not possible to completely demolish a load-bearing wall to expand the space. You cannot combine a room with a balcony, install a heated water floor, or move the kitchen into the living room.

And, on the contrary, you can make a dressing room, expand the bathroom through the corridor, or combine the bathroom and toilet. It is even possible to dismantle the wall between the loggia and the room, provided that in its place you install a “French window” in the floor.

In panel "Brezhnevka" buildings it is difficult to coordinate the redevelopment, since almost all the walls of the apartment are load-bearing. Particular difficulties arise when creating openings in supporting walls on the 1st floor. The tension of these structures reaches 80-90%. Because of this, the slightest opening threatens to collapse the entire wall of the building, and this is unacceptable!

Apartment redevelopment project – where to order and how much it costs

Coordination of redevelopment of non-residential premises

Permitted types of work

In the heat of the moment, a lot of things can be re-planned - and not every homeowner is at least the least concerned about the comfort of their neighbors, who after all this may not be particularly pleased to hear in the bedroom at night how someone on the floor above is frying cutlets or singing in bathroom Of course, all such considerations must be taken into account, and in addition, there is also a safety factor - careless redevelopment can lead to dire consequences, including the collapse of a weakened wall.

There are clear rules and restrictions - the redevelopment will need to be approved, and for this it must include only permitted types of work. This is especially true for a panel house, the walls of which are especially vulnerable.

List of permitted works:

Demolition or movement of partitions, except load-bearing ones.
Installation of new doorways (prohibited in load-bearing walls).
Expansion of living space by including the territory originally allocated for a corridor, pantry, loggia.
Increasing the area of a bathroom or toilet by including the territory of non-residential premises.
Combining two rooms reserved for a bathroom.
Combination of living room and kitchen (but may require refurbishment).
Equipment for an additional bathroom or kitchen - but it is required that they are located neither above nor below the living room.
Transfer of engineering structures.
And even the combination of several apartments.

All of the above actions are united by the fact that they should not affect supporting structures. This, however, does not mean that the law will prohibit touching them at all - in order to carry out a redevelopment that includes changing them, a technical conclusion will be needed, from which it will follow that this does not pose any security threat.

Redevelopment options

There are a lot of architectural and design solutions on how you can change the layout of an apartment in a panel house. Let's consider the most relevant ones.

Kitchen

Khrushchev apartments do not have a large kitchen area. Some owners are trying to expand the space. But in 90% of cases, the walls between the kitchen and the room in Khrushchev-era buildings are load-bearing. They cannot be demolished. And if there is a gas stove in the kitchen, there are serious requirements for creating an opening.

Examples of redevelopment:

If you install an electric stove instead of a gas stove, you can combine the kitchen with the living room. To do this, you will have to demolish the partition (if it is not load-bearing).
“Move” the kitchen into the corridor, and equip another room in its place.
If the kitchen has a gas stove, this option will not work. You will have to change the plan, as an option - make an opening in the wall, and in its place install a sliding door (for example, made of glass).

Bathroom and toilet

Most often they try to combine or separate rooms. For example, when combined, additional space appears in the bathroom - you can put a washing machine there, hang a boiler, or make shelves for household supplies.

Examples:

Connect the bathroom to the toilet. Partitions are rarely load-bearing and can be painlessly removed. In this case, it will be necessary to re-install the waterproofing.
To separate two rooms - in this case, a partition is erected.
If you live on the 1st floor, you can expand the bathroom through the corridor and even living rooms. In other cases, it is allowed to increase the area only through the corridor.

Living room

There are fewer options in a one-room apartment, but a 2- and 3-room apartment can be equipped according to your own design. At the same time, remember that by law you cannot combine a living room with a balcony (unless there is a floor-to-ceiling window).

Example:

If you have a two-room apartment and you want to arrange a third room, you can erect a partition, creating a nursery or a study.
Combining the corridor and living room - this will create a large hall.
Convert the walk-through room into an isolated room. For example, by moving the boundaries of the corridor and creating new doorways.

Corridor

Most often the corridor is reduced, but sometimes increased.

Example:

You can dismantle the built-in wardrobes and use the freed-up space as a hallway. Or equip a dressing room in a new place.
Connect the corridor to the living room in a two-room apartment or a three-room apartment.
“Capture” part of the corridor to expand the bathroom or kitchen.

In a word, there are a lot of ideas. The main thing is not to forget about the legal requirements for changing the configuration of the apartment.

Are you tired of reading? We’ll tell you over the phone and answer your questions.

Kitchen

For one-room panel houses, renovating an apartment with remodeling the kitchen is almost impossible. In some rare cases, the kitchen may be equipped with electric stoves, which simplifies the task. Or the design of the balcony allows you to connect it with a kitchen. But most options assume a gas stove or the presence of communications in the adjacent interior partition. This circumstance cannot be ignored.

According to the law, connecting living quarters with a kitchen, if a gas stove is installed, will require:

installing a sliding partition to replace a demolished wall,
mounting a doorway.

It is not allowed to move the wet area from the kitchen in a remodeled apartment, even if the waterproofing rules are followed, if the neighbors below have living rooms. This is due to the greater risk of flooding for apartments located below.

How to make and approve redevelopment in a panel house

Now let’s figure out how the procedure for approving future changes in local governments takes place. Any major redevelopment must be approved.

Where to contact

At different stages of approving the redevelopment of an apartment, you will have to contact:

In the BTI (Bureau of Technical Inventory) - issues a floor plan, explication, an extract from the technical passport before redevelopment, and also in the BTI they prepare a technical plan for the apartment after renovation work;
To government agencies (UK, OGPN, SES) - for intermediate approval of redevelopment (obtaining permits).
To the design organization or to the author of the house - for the preparation of a project for future work and a technical report (TOR), without which you will not be approved for redevelopment by the local administration.
At the MFC “My Documents” or MVK (Interdepartmental Commission) - at the MFC you will receive a package of documents, and at the MVK they will review them and issue a permit (or refusal to redevelop).

Below we will consider what stages the procedure consists of and what their features are.

Snezhana Pogontseva

Practicing lawyer. 11 years of experience. Specialist in the field of civil and family law.

The procedure for approving redevelopment

So, if you want to remodel an apartment in a panel house, here is the algorithm of actions:

Consider possible changes. To do this, you can contact a designer to draw up a sketch - based on this sketch, the design office will draw up a project for remodeling your apartment.
Contact the BTI and issue a registration certificate. In fact, you need a floor plan and an explication - drawings of your apartment before renovation work. They show where the load-bearing interior walls are, what the area of the kitchen is, what the living room is adjacent to, etc.
Order a project and technical report. The project can only be developed by specialized companies with SRO approval. It is compiled in paper form and consists of several sections. If the project is electronic, an enhanced qualified signature of the company engineer will be required. A technical opinion is needed in case of impact on load-bearing structures, for example, if you decide to make an opening in the main wall. In Moscow, the development of technical specifications is carried out by JSC MNIITEP or the State Budgetary Institution “Expert Center”.
Submit documents for approval to the administration. The administration does not accept documents directly; you must apply through the MFC. And, for example, in Moscow, documents are submitted to the Moscow Housing Inspectorate only in electronic form through the service on the Moscow Mayor’s portal.
Obtain permission to redevelop the apartment. The answer will come in writing: the administration will either give permission or refuse repair work. The refusal, by the way, can be appealed in court.
Carry out repairs in accordance with the project. At this stage, construction work begins. They are carried out by an organization that has permission from the SRO to carry out construction work. The designer who prepared the project monitors the compliance of the repair with the original plan.
Hand over the work to a special commission, they will sign a certificate of completion of the redevelopment of the apartment. After the redevelopment is completed, you need to contact the MFC again and invite representatives of the IBC. Specialists will come to the site and make sure that the repairs are done exactly as designed. If there are no discrepancies, the chairman of the Intercontinental Committee will draw up an act on the completed redevelopment. In case of non-compliance with the project, the defects will be eliminated.
Invite a measurer from BTI, order a new registration certificate. The engineer will record the new interior of the apartment and transmit the information to the BTI. There they will prepare two documents: a technical passport and a plan.
Submit documents for entering information into the Unified State Register. The technical plan is submitted to the MFC so that changes can be made to the Rosreestr database on its basis. After this, you will be given an updated extract with the legalized redevelopment of the apartment.

Required documents

The list of documents may vary depending on the nature of the redevelopment and the region of residence.

List of documents:

passport - needed when applying to the MFC;
sketch or project for redevelopment of an apartment in a panel building;
technical conclusion - if load-bearing interior walls or ceilings will be affected;
extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate;
registration certificate or extract from the registration certificate;
An application for approval of redevelopment is drawn up at the MFC together with a specialist, and if documents are submitted online, then you need to fill out an electronic application.

If the apartment has a mortgage, you will also need to attach permission for redevelopment from the bank. Along with it, a similar consent from the insurance company. Permissions may also be required from various authorities - Rospotrebnadzor, Fire Inspectorate, Management Company, Architectural Protection Authority, etc.

Deadlines

How long will it take to approve the redevelopment:

Preparation of design documentation – from 3 days to a month, depending on the complexity of architectural solutions;
Obtaining permits from OGPN, SES and other authorities - about 30-45 days;
Registration of documents in the BTI - within 10 days;
Waiting for the decision of the Interdepartmental Commission – 45 days + time for sending documents from the MFC and back;
Coordination with the bank and insurance – from 7 to 15 days;
Cadastral registration of changes in Rosreestr – up to 10 days.

Deadlines are not final. For example, if you need a technical opinion from the author of the house, add another 30 days to the deadline.

Price

There are no standard prices, everything is individual. The cost is influenced by the region of residence, prices for design work, the composition and scope of work, the service life of the panel house, and other factors.

Coordination with the Administration is free.

The most expensive item of expenditure is considered to be project documentation. If a regular sketch will cost you 5,000 rubles, then a full-fledged project will cost at least 15,000 rubles. Complex projects with an inspection by an engineer cost from 50,000 rubles and above, not counting the payment for expensive technical specifications. The amounts can exceed 100,000 rubles.

Demolition of a wall in an apartment: how to do it right

Owners often begin global renovation work with redevelopment, seeing only advantages in such an opportunity. Such an update allows you to expand the space and use it most efficiently.

Redevelopment can be accompanied by dangerous and difficult stages - one of these is the demolition of walls, which has become very popular in recent years. With its help, you can create, for example, a combined kitchen and living room of a larger area, giving your home a more modern look. Knowing the nuances of this procedure will minimize the number of difficulties.

What is needed to remodel an apartment

An inexperienced person may think that there are only two stages when demolishing walls:

• registration of necessary documents and permits; • directly the process of “useful” destruction.

In essence, this is really enough, but there are so many pitfalls and obstacles! The principle of “breaking - don’t build” turns out to be too primitive when it comes to demolishing walls and partitions. You should prepare for long and scrupulous work, requiring not only monetary costs.

Planning a future apartment project cannot be completely free and without restrictions: it is important to understand which walls can be demolished and which are strictly prohibited!

Walls in dwellings can be of only two types: load-bearing and partitions. The first ones cannot be touched - they are the main frame, the entire ceiling is supported on them.

In fact, such a violation in one apartment will endanger the lives of not only its owners, but also its neighbors. Therefore, you can only think about demolishing the partitions.

Their function is to divide the total area into separate zones, so lightweight materials are used for their construction, because they are not intended to retain heat.

It is possible to demolish such walls - they do not act as a support, but you cannot act without special permission. Based on the differences in the demolition method, they can be divided as follows:

• concrete;• brick;• stone;

• wooden.

The degree of difficulty of demolition varies greatly: for example, wooden ones are much easier to break than any other. This applies to all aspects: price, hassle of garbage removal and effort in general.

If you are not sure about the possibility of demolishing the wall, it is better to discuss this issue with professionals. They will draw up a detailed project of an apartment or house, taking into account the wishes of customers, guided by strict established rules.

It will be useful to read:
Redevelopment in new buildings: what is possible and what is not

Start of the process

Preparation for the demolition process begins with creating safe conditions - you need to turn off all communications. You can check using the following list:

• gas pipeline,• heating,• sewerage,• water supply,• electricity,• television,

• Internet.

As for the necessary tools, it’s unlikely that you can get by with just a hammer and an ax. Depending on the type of wall, the following assistants may be needed:

• Jackhammer and regular hammer – used for demolishing brick walls. • A sledgehammer and steel wedges - will be needed as “heavy artillery”. • A hammer drill and an angle grinder - will be useful for concrete walls, in the middle of which you will often have to get rid of the reinforcement.

• A chainsaw and a hacksaw are suitable for wooden walls - you don't need a lot of brute force.

Usually you have to combine tools, so it is better to have both items from each item on the list. When communications are turned off and a tool is selected, it’s time to start the main thing - demolishing the wall.

The wall needs to be demolished from above! Otherwise, after the lower part is destroyed, the upper part will fall on the workers’ heads.

First of all, you need to get rid of finishing materials, if there is plasterboard on the wall - both it and its frame. For brick walls there is a different rule: knock out one brick at a time. If a door is cut into the wall, you need to start from there.

During this process, there may be an impulse to thrift: to collect seemingly intact material to use to build something less significant. The idea is definitely not the best: a brick that has lain for decades at certain angles with a heavy load will no longer be strong and reliable.

With concrete walls, the demolition situation is more complicated: you cannot do without a chipper, grinder or hammer drill. To divide the wall into several areas, using the last two, grooves are drilled, observing a certain order (at the same distance from each other). The grinder will cut through the reinforcement, while the chipper, due to its enormous impact force, will speed up this process.

Sometimes the walls do not give in even to such severe pressure. There is no need to despair - it is better to turn to a professional. He will use diamond equipment to crush the wall into small pieces. The temptation to do this on your own is dangerous, because the work requires knowledge and skill.

Forecasts

As practice shows, demolition of walls is most often done in the kitchen and bathroom. However, an “extra” corner of the room that cannot be used in any way can also be demolished, but the corridor can be expanded.

However, there will be no fundamental changes: there will be no increase in the total area.

Unless the walls are demolished and new work sites are zoned using alternative methods: using a multi-level ceiling or plasterboard elements (columns, arches).

Carrying out a radical redevelopment without much thought is fraught with disappointment. Therefore, it is better to contact designers, study various resources, and only then take decisive action. We cannot ignore the issue of disposal after completion of work: not every passenger car can handle the removal of construction waste.

Also read on the same topic:

Overhaul: problems and solutions

Neighbors and renovation: how to deal with illegal redevelopment

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What happens if you don’t approve the redevelopment of an apartment in a panel Khrushchev building

Unauthorized redevelopment can hit the owner’s pocket hard and lead to unpleasant consequences:

The fine for unauthorized redevelopment of an apartment in a panel house is 2,500 rubles - by virtue of Part 2 of Art. 7.21 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
If the repairs were carried out with violations, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will order the apartment to be returned to its original condition. As, for example, this happened in the Khabarovsk Territory, where the defendants destroyed part of the load-bearing wall of the house and added part of the common property in the entrance to the apartment. By decision No. 2-396/2020 2-396/2020~M-380/2020 M-380/2020 dated July 30, 2021, the court ordered the violators to restore the living quarters to their previous condition.
If the redevelopment does not have any deviations, they may meet halfway and allow it to be legalized. A recent example from judicial practice, where the court allowed the plaintiff to keep the apartment in its redesigned form - the absence of violations was evidenced by the conclusion of forensic experts (Decision No. 2-948/2020 2-948/2020~M-680/2020 M-680/2020 dated July 29 2021).

If the property is refused to be returned to its original condition, the court may order the apartment to be sold at auction. This is the worst case scenario for the owner. It’s better not to let this happen!

The concept of redevelopment

This is the name for such a modification of the housing configuration, as a result of which it is necessary to change its passport. It may include various modifications:

moving or dismantling partitions and doorways;
change in living space - either expansion by including non-residential premises, or, conversely, allocation of part of it for auxiliary premises;
consolidation or disaggregation of rooms;
increasing the number of bathrooms or kitchens;
remodeling entrances to rooms to eliminate adjacency;
changing the layout of vestibules or creating new ones;
other similar changes.

Flights of fancy can be very different, and there are still quite a lot of redevelopment options - from demolishing several walls to turn the apartment into a newfangled studio, to running sewer and water pipes along the ceiling.

However, not everything is permitted; future redevelopment must be agreed in advance with local authorities. If it can lead to problems in the operation of engineering systems, malfunctions of equipment, or, even more so, is fraught with a decrease in the strength of structures, then it will not be allowed.

How to legalize redevelopment if it has already been done

The first step is to seek advice from designers. They will tell you whether it is realistic to legalize the already completed redevelopment. It happens that repairs go against SNiP, SanPiN or fire requirements. In this case, you first need to eliminate the violations and then submit for approval.

In short, first a BTI technical passport is ordered, then a project and a technical report are prepared, and at the very end the documents are submitted for approval to the Intercontinental Inspectorate. From there a refusal may come, as in most regions. Then you will have to file a claim with a request to preserve the apartment in its redesigned state. And if the court allows, to make changes to the BTI and the Unified State Register - by virtue of clause 4 of Art. 29 Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

How to move a wall in an apartment with your own hands?

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The first step is to decide whether moving the wall is the right solution for you. In some cases, completely demolishing the wall and installing a partition will save money and time. Make your choice based on professional advice.

Reason for moving the wall

There was a need to move the wall between the bathroom and toilet. The washing machine in our apartment always stood in the hallway, obstructing the passage.

Finally, the decision was made to put it in the bathroom, and for this we needed additional space. An architect friend advised me to move the wall between the bathroom and toilet.

Planning

There is no way to do this without the work of a professional architect. This is the only way you can be sure that the load-bearing capacity of the building and the property of third parties will not be damaged.

After studying the apartment plan and all possible pitfalls, the specialist will select the option that suits you.

Documents receiving

The process requires a lot of time and repeated visits to various authorities. First, you will need to find an apartment project and take it to the architect’s office, where they will create a unique plan taking into account all your wishes and construction standards.

You also need to obtain an extract from the cadastral passport and, together with all the listed documents, go to the department of architecture and urban planning.

Here it is necessary to carry out coordination, that is, write an application for redevelopment (moving a specific wall), to which attach a copy of the passport and confirmation of ownership of the apartment where changes are proposed.

Permission for redevelopment

You will be given a certificate with which you apply to the utility services, from which consent is also required. This way you can finally get permission for official redevelopment.

Progress

A group of builders arrives, gets acquainted with the work plan and the premises itself.
First of all, the mortar on which it is held is knocked out along the perimeter of the wall, thus freeing it from fixation.
Wooden linings are placed below, for which you can use strong bars or boards. This is done to make it easier to move the wall.
As a rule, above the switch at the very top there is a junction box in which the wires are connected.

Important! Check that all wires are disconnected to avoid broken wires or short circuits while moving the wall.

If work is carried out in the bathroom, then it is necessary to disconnect the heated towel rail from the general system.
A special machine is selected (in our case, a circulation saw), which cuts all metal embedded parts.
The most crucial moment begins. The slab is slipped onto pre-installed pins (devices designed for a fixed connection)

Note! This procedure is performed slowly and carefully. Using a crowbar, the plate moves to the specified position. Haste will lead to the material breaking.

After moving the wall into position, use clamps on both sides to prevent the slab from collapsing before it is finally secured in place.
All structures must be welded together using embedded fittings.

The stability of the wall is checked and the perimeter is again filled with mortar.

Some tips:

Lay several layers of polyethylene and fabric on top of the flooring in your apartment. This way you will save money on repairing the floor after materials fall on the floor.
If in your case it is not possible to remove all the pieces of furniture from the room, you can pack it in a thick layer of construction film.
If you carry out the entire procedure yourself, then carefully study the work plan and make markings.
Prepare all the necessary tools: crowbar, chisel, perforator, hammer in advance.

After completion of work

Next comes the equally important stage of formalizing the changes in your apartment. First you need to invite a commission from the housing policy department. After a thorough inspection, which does not reveal any violations, you will be issued a certificate of completion of the reconstruction.

With this document, you will again need to go through a number of already familiar organizations: the fire department, cold and hot water supply suppliers (HCW), the sanitary and epidemiological station. As soon as you agree on the procedure with the above organizations, you will have to contact the BTI again for final registration of changes in the cadastral passport.

Having provided all the documents confirming the legality of the work and paid the fee, you can consider the reconstruction completed!

From my personal experience, you can understand that moving a wall in a residential apartment requires effort. If you are serious about reconstruction, then follow the detailed instructions described above.

Repair with moving walls: from approval to acceptance

Moving walls is not only labor-intensive, but also requires a lot of paperwork. How to do it as quickly as possible and how does this procedure differ in different types of houses?

When renovating, moving walls is a fairly common practice. The procedure involves demolishing the old partition and building a new one, made of brick or plasterboard.

This is done to expand the space of some rooms at the expense of others; turning walk-through rooms into separate ones; combining several rooms into one or, conversely, dividing a room into several. Moving walls makes the interior special and allows you to realize design ideas that cannot be implemented in standard layouts.

Therefore, during a major renovation of an apartment, designers often include this type of work in the project. But we must also remember that redevelopment is not always possible and requires approval.

What can and cannot be demolished?

Before approving remodeling repairs, make sure that supporting structures will not be affected.

Dismantling them is dangerous not only because you may have problems with the BTI and housing inspection: you put the entire house and the people living in it at risk.

Only a specialist can definitely answer the question of whether a wall is load-bearing, but in some cases you can determine this yourself:

In “Khrushchev” apartments of all series, only the external walls are capital, and all internal interior walls are partitions.
In houses made of concrete slabs, partitions can be identified visually by their relative position with the ceiling slabs: if the wall is located along them, then this is a partition, since the floor slabs lie on the main walls with their edges.
In houses made of bricks and foam blocks, it is difficult to determine the load-bearing structures, and it would be better if a specialist does this.

We coordinate the redevelopment

Redevelopment is any action that results in a change in the configuration of the floor and walls, loggias, risers. Some changes do not require approval. These include:

Arrangement of doorways in partitions
Glazing, insulation of a loggia or balcony
Installation and dismantling of built-in furniture

All other actions, including demolishing walls and erecting new ones, will require you to collect a set of documents. Some of them will incur costs.

Here's what the procedure will be:

Write an application to the housing inspectorate
Collect a package of documents (application, certificate of ownership, extract from the house register, project documents, certificate from the BTI, sanitary certificates, permission to carry out work).
Approve the planning project in the architectural and planning department of the city
Submit the completed package of documents to the housing inspectorate and obtain permission.
Carry out all redevelopment work
Take the admissions committee report from the housing inspectorate
Contact the BTI and ZhKO to make changes to the apartment plan.

So, on the way to a new look for your apartment, a lot of paperwork awaits you. But the work of moving the walls itself is no less troublesome - unless you decide to entrust this task to a team of experienced builders.

DIY demolition

Unless you have extensive experience in dismantling and erecting walls, this job is unlikely to seem easy to you.

In addition to the main task, you will also have to protect the remaining rooms from construction dust and take care of collecting and removing garbage. The partitions in Khrushchev buildings are made of brick and can be demolished quite easily.

Be careful during this work: falling large pieces of building materials are dangerous. Constructions made of foam blocks and plasterboard are also easy to remove.

Reinforced concrete walls (in panel houses) are more difficult to disassemble, because they are a complete concrete monolith. It can be carefully cut out piece by piece with a hacksaw, broken with a jackhammer, or cut out using a laser cutter.

The last method is the most expensive, but at the same time fast and with a minimum of construction waste and dust. Demolition is also carried out using a hammer drill: they drill holes nearby and knock out pieces of the wall with a sledgehammer.

The construction of new walls is entirely at your discretion. You can lay brickwork or install plasterboard construction on any type of frame. The type of new wall depends on how you plan to use it: if there is hanging furniture on it, it is better to use more durable materials and provide sufficient thickness.

How to move a wall in an apartment legally

Redevelopment in an apartment - how to move walls

Recently, apartment redevelopment has become fashionable. And in fact, why not rebuild and redraw the square meters of your living space? Make your life comfortable. This idea is very correct. But what needs to be taken into account during such redevelopments? Let's discuss.

So, you have decided to make a small redevelopment. Yes, that was the hardest part! Do you know which walls you will clean? It would be a good idea to clarify this issue first.

In general, in standard apartments of brick houses there are three types of walls - solid and partitions of half a brick and a quarter of a brick. Which ones can be removed? Ceiling slabs are laid on the main walls. The remaining walls are just partitions that could be anywhere else.

You may be surprised, but you can dismantle any! Not all in a row, but any. First, it is important to consult with a specialist.

How are main walls removed?

It looks like this. First, the wall that is stopping us is to be chipped under the ceiling on both sides to the depth of the I-channel. Its parameters are determined by a civil engineer.

When channels are inserted on both sides under the ceiling, holes are drilled through. Then the connection occurs - both I-beams are connected to each other, strengthening the remaining part of the wall.

These elements are connected with studs and screwed onto nuts.

Lawyer's answers to private questions

Is it possible to redevelop an apartment if the panel house is being demolished as emergency housing?

No, in emergency houses only reconstruction is allowed in order to improve the technical characteristics of the house. Redevelopment in a prefabricated prefabricated house is prohibited by law.

Is it possible to do without an apartment redevelopment project?

Yes, if repair work can be carried out:

According to the sketch - this is a drawing based on the floor plan and explication from the BTI;
According to a standard redevelopment project from the author of the house, one of the standard templates from the catalog of JSC MNIITEP is taken as a basis. The redevelopment will be standard, there should be no deviations from the project - otherwise approval for the alterations will be refused.

In these two cases, you can do without a project and a technical report.
How to coordinate the redevelopment of an apartment in a panel house if it is under mortgage?

If your home is mortgaged, then to approve the redevelopment you need two permissions: one from the lender (bank), the second from the insurance company where your property is insured. The first step is to evaluate the apartment taking into account future changes. Based on this assessment, the insurer will issue a permit. Then you contact the bank and get a second permit. Both documents should be attached to the package for approval of the redevelopment with the administration through the MFC.

Is it possible to trench walls in a Khrushchev building?

Walls in a panel house need to be tapped extremely carefully. This applies to partitions; load-bearing walls cannot be touched. The grooves can only be vertical; they cannot be made horizontally or diagonally - otherwise engineering communications may be disrupted. Subsequent restoration of the wall will cost a large sum.

Prohibitions and restrictions

Some rules for redevelopment in a panel house are adjusted by decisions of local authorities. The following examples and recommendations are given taking into account the regulatory documents that apply in St. Petersburg.

It is prohibited to create living rooms:

without heating devices and window openings;
with a width of less than 225 cm and an area of up to 8 square meters. m;
located under the bathroom or kitchen on the top floor;
combined with a kitchen with a gas stove;
with access to the toilet, bathroom.

An exception has been made for the last item in the list. It is allowed to create an entrance from the room to the toilet if there is a second bathroom in the apartment.

You must not infringe on the rights of other residents:

install shut-off valves in water supply pipes;
disrupt the functional state of ventilation, sewerage, and other utilities;
connect the heated floor (additional radiators on the balcony) to centralized heating networks.

Without a detailed explanation, it is not difficult to understand the ban on expanding the hallway or living room at the expense of a common vestibule (corridor). The planned loads on the floor slabs must not be exceeded and the integrity (reduce strength) of load-bearing structures must not be violated.

Demolition of walls and partitions in an apartment - basic rules

Changing the layout of the room involves demolishing the floors. In a private house, the owner can demolish any wall without asking permission from neighbors or the relevant authorities. Dismantling walls in apartment buildings must be carried out with the consent of certain authorities.

Features of dismantling walls in an apartment

A significant percentage of residents of high-rise buildings are trying to change the layout of their apartments to expand their functionality. The main reason is the inconvenience and the configuration of the premises that has lost its relevance, because most of them were built during the Soviet Union.

Almost everyone tried to remodel their apartment without taking into account some architectural aspects.

In this regard, many emergency situations were created that could cause irreparable harm to human health and the integrity of objects.

Because of these fears, a government decree appeared, which obligated BTI employees to inspect residential premises in apartment buildings for unauthorized dismantling of walls and partitions.

If the walls are demolished without supporting documents, then in the future there will be:

Difficulty in re-issuing documents;
During privatization;
Refusal to issue a mortgage.

If the repairs carried out did not create an emergency situation, the owner of the apartment faces only a fine followed by obtaining a permit issued retroactively. In the event of an emergency, the owner pays a fine and returns the premises to its original condition.

The main reason for changing the layout is the inconvenience and configuration of the premises that has lost its relevance.

Dismantling a wall in an apartment without an accompanying document can be done if it does not bear the main load and then, in most cases, this document is necessary.

This moment is determined by the parameters of the partition. For a panel house, the thickness of the main floor is 12–20 centimeters, the partition – 8-10 centimeters.

In brick houses, the thickness of the partitions ranges from 8 to 12 centimeters, the main one - from 38 to 64 centimeters.

Dismantling a wall in an apartment without an accompanying document can be done if it does not bear the main load and then, in most cases, this document is necessary.

In a panel house

When demolishing walls in a panel house, in order to avoid the collapse of the entire reinforced concrete structure, beams are installed for support. First, holes are made. Then the concrete layer is cleared. Metal rods are cut with a grinder. Dismantling of concrete walls is carried out in stages, in small intervals.

When demolishing walls in a panel house, in order to avoid the collapse of the entire reinforced concrete structure, beams are installed for support.

In Khrushchev

During the reign of Nikita Khrushchev, apartments were built according to a specific project. They had three vertical walls and several horizontal partitions. Demolition of the wall between the kitchen and the room in Khrushchev is the most common type of dismantling. This is done to increase the usable area. This move was permitted, but to be sure, it is advisable to measure the thickness of the wall before demolition.

Demolition of the wall between the kitchen and the room in Khrushchev is the most common type of dismantling.

Which walls can and cannot be dismantled?

Most often, reconstruction occurs in connection with an expansion of the area or a change in its functional value. A large percentage of alterations occur on the ground floors, in which it is planned to open a store or beauty salon in the future, and so on. Here the wall may be part of the foundation, therefore a full inspection of the structure by specialists is required, followed by permission.

A large percentage of alterations occur on the ground floors, in which it is planned to open a store or beauty salon in the future, and so on.

Window and other openings. It is important to determine the nature of the surface, based on which the further appearance of the building’s façade will be designed. Reducing light openings in high-rise buildings is quite problematic. You can increase them.

Dismantling a wall in a panel house is a more affordable option, but only for external surfaces. The reason is that during the construction of a building, the entire load is “taken” by solid or prefabricated modules made of iron and concrete. However, the main wall can still be dismantled. In its place, supports are installed to strengthen the structure. The supports are subsequently decorated to match the interior of the room.

Dismantling a wall in a panel house is a more affordable option, but only for external surfaces.

Preparatory work before demolition of walls

Preliminary work is carried out before demolition. All things and furniture are removed. The general heating system, water supply, electricity, gas, TV antenna and radio point should be turned off.

You also need to prepare bags for garbage disposal. If the volume of waste is large, then you should take care of the dumping site in advance. It is necessary to know the regulations for carrying out repair work in high-rise buildings. On weekdays this is from 9 am to 7 pm. On weekends, silence should be maintained, and you should not use devices or units that create vibration.

If the volume of waste is large, then you should take care of the dumping site in advance.

Necessary tools for dismantling walls

The choice of tools depends on the type of wall to be demolished. To dismantle brick walls you will need a pick, a crowbar, a jackhammer, in some cases a sledgehammer, and metal wedges.

Concrete walls are destroyed using a hammer drill, grinder and jackhammer. For demolition of wooden floors - a chainsaw.

The choice of tools depends on the type of wall to be demolished.

How to dismantle walls in an apartment

Dismantling is carried out in only two ways. The ceiling can be completely destroyed or partially dismantled. The first method is optimal for partitions made of stone, the second - for walls made of plasterboard and sometimes brick.

The ceiling can be completely destroyed or partially dismantled.

Carrier

If a load-bearing wall is dismantled, a new project diagram must be drawn up, which must be agreed upon and obtained permission from the relevant authorities. Here it is better to involve a specialist who will make the correct calculations with the distribution of the existing load on the wall and distribute the subsequent one.

Demolition of a load-bearing wall in an apartment requires a number of preliminary actions. Before starting work, you must have a plan from the BTI, a conclusion for the demolition of the wall, and a permit from the housing inspection. A load-bearing wall cannot be destroyed immediately. It is being taken apart piece by piece.

A load-bearing wall cannot be destroyed immediately. It is being taken apart piece by piece.

Non-load-bearing

It is also impossible to demolish a non-load-bearing wall without the approval of the BTI; a number of similar difficulties may arise with the subsequent re-registration of the apartment. However, the labor costs here are much less. For example, demolition does not require erection of support beams. But again, it all depends on the area of the wall. Otherwise, the demolition technique must correspond to the material from which the ceiling is made.

During demolition, erection of support beams is not required.

Brick

Here, as in the main actions, you can immediately completely destroy the wall using a sledgehammer. Or you can, using a crowbar, a pickaxe and a sledgehammer, disassemble the wall brick by brick, which can later be used in the construction of a new facility. The second method is relevant if the bricks were laid on lime or a thin cement layer.

You can use a crowbar, a pickaxe and a sledgehammer to dismantle the wall brick by brick.

Concrete

To protect the flooring from concrete blocks, it should be covered with boards. Marks are made on the wall to determine the phased dismantling of the floor. As a rule, markings are placed in the form of squares.

A series of holes are drilled on each line at a uniform distance from each other. Next, a square is cut out using a circular saw. Using a percussion tool, the square is knocked out. Taking into account cement dust, it is advisable to carry out work in special clothing.

Taking into account cement dust, it is advisable to carry out work in special clothing.

Removing the wall between the kitchen and the room

Demolition of the wall between the kitchen and the room cannot be carried out by cutting out the entire area. In fact, this can be done, but the question will arise about the weight of the entire slab, as well as the method of pushing it out.

The best option is to break the wall into small pieces that can be easily picked up and thrown away. The wall can be disassembled completely or partially. The demolition between these two rooms is more due to the expansion of space. You can leave small sections of the partition to zone the room into a living and kitchen area. This is true for studio apartments.

You can leave small sections of the partition to zone the room into a living and kitchen area.

Disassemble the main or non-load-bearing wall in an apartment building without approval and obtaining a conclusion. You also need to think about your neighbors, whom it is advisable to warn in advance about the nature of the work, because many have children who need a nap during the day.

Approval procedure

There are several main stages that are necessary to coordinate the redevelopment of a panel house if the load-bearing structures are affected during the repair:

First, an engineering survey is ordered from the developers of the house project.
Next, standard redevelopment options are determined, which allows you not to apply for an individual project, saving time and money.
If the second option is chosen, then the project is developed by a specialized organization with access to an SRO.
Documents are submitted to the Housing Inspectorate along with the project.
If a positive decision is made, the citizen receives permission to carry out repairs.
Next, you need to hire builders who have access to SRO.
After the finished object is handed over, a certificate of completed redevelopment is signed.
At the BTI, the citizen must issue a new technical passport, reflecting all the changes that have occurred in the apartment.

Important aspects

When carrying out redevelopment, during which a two-room or four-room property is changed, it is necessary to prepare the relevant documents. One of the important stages is the development of a project, as well as a technical report.

Required papers

In order to coordinate the redevelopment, a certain package of documents will be required.

Among the required papers are:

application for redevelopment;
title documents for the apartment and an extract from the house register;
permission issued by each owner of the residential premises to carry out redevelopment;
technical passport, floor plan and explication issued by the Bureau of Technical Inventory;
a project or drawing that reflects upcoming changes;
agreement for the provision of services to the organization that issued the project;
decision and conclusion issued by authorized bodies;
technical documentation that confirms the safety and admissibility of redevelopment.

These documents are mandatory. If any paper from the list is missing, the authority conducting the approval may require it individually. After accepting the documents, the citizen receives a receipt confirming receipt of each of them.

If the legalization of redevelopment is carried out in court, the list of documents may change.

In this case, you will need to provide:

statement of claim;
receipt of payment of state duty;
title papers;
technical passport, explication and floor plan in the house where the one-room, two-room or three-room apartment is located, issued by the BTI;
drawing or project with modifications;
conclusion of the regulatory authority;
designer's agreement to carry out work;
other papers.

After submitting the documents, the applicant must wait for a hearing date to be set.

After reviewing the necessary documents, you can learn how to obtain a sample consent from the owners to redevelop an apartment. Read about how to sell an apartment with remodeling.

Development of a technical report

A technical report is a document that notes the condition of the redevelopment object and the entire building for construction and technical safety.

It is important to check not only the apartment itself, but also the rooms located nearby, above and below it. This stage is especially important if a building of the last century is being assessed, for example a Brezhnevka or Khrushchev building.

When defects are identified, a special report is created. It reflects the points that need to be addressed.

The technical report must contain information about the condition of the building and its structures, as well as an assessment of the possibility or impossibility of redevelopment of the apartment located in it.

In addition to the property itself, it is necessary to study all the documents that were previously issued in relation to this property.

The technical specifications reflect:

home series;
year of construction;
nuances associated with operation;
the floor where the redevelopment object is located;
the quality of load-bearing structures in the premises closest to the apartment.

A technical report can be issued in two cases. In the first, it is necessary to assess the possibilities of reconstruction and redevelopment in the future. The second option involves issuing a document as confirmation of the safety of work already carried out when legitimizing the repair.

Based on the technical conclusion, a redevelopment act is drawn up. The BTI also issues a new passport with all legal changes.

Sample of filling out the consent of all family members for redevelopment

Project based on technical specifications

The project must be formalized when carrying out some work.

These include:

changes to load-bearing structures;
innovations introduced into unloading partitions;
transfer or change of utilities;
changes in the layered structure of the floor.

The project has several main parts:

content describing the installation data about the object;
act-obligation of both parties;
signature and assessment of the manager who is responsible for the project regarding its compliance with legal requirements and standards;
general information (regulatory and legal acts);
architectural and construction decisions (proposed changes in the design of residential premises);
fire-fighting measures (organizational issues and responsible persons);
site plan before work (in accordance with the technical passport and photo of the building);
redevelopment plan (red marks on the plan indicating dismantling, and green marks in places of new structures);
floor plans and their explication;
layout of the premises after the work;
location of the bathroom;
water supply and sewerage system;
strengthening of structures where the opening has been increased;
the organization has access to the SRO;
contract for designer's supervision;
scheme for changing plasterboard floors;
some repair instructions.

It is also possible to draw up a standard redevelopment in accordance with the available documentation.

Sample technical passport of an apartment:

Redevelopment in an apartment - how to move walls

So, you have decided to make a small redevelopment. Yes, that was the hardest part! Do you know which walls you will clean? It would be a good idea to clarify this issue first.

In general, in standard apartments of brick houses there are three types of walls - solid walls and partitions of half a brick and a quarter of a brick. Which ones can be removed? Ceiling slabs are laid on the main walls. The remaining walls are just partitions that could be anywhere else.

You may be surprised, but you can dismantle any! Not all in a row, but any. First, it is important to consult with a specialist.

Broken partitions? What about your floor?

The developer usually does not try very hard to level the floor plane throughout the apartment. They make the screed in each room separately, then somehow connect it in the corridor. In general, how will it turn out. It seems that all this is unnoticed, but when there is no partition, then it immediately becomes clearly visible what needs to be corrected.

Do you see that the floor between rooms is at different levels? Yes, this happens most often. If you have dismantled one partition, then you can still try to fix it somehow.

And if not one, but a couple or three, nothing can be fixed, you also need to dismantle the screed and just throw it away. A new one is required.

Or, if the height of the ceilings allows, then pour a new screed directly on top of the one that already existed. Let's save labor costs.

New walls

When all this is done, it's time to build new walls. In those places, of course, that you have chosen in advance. What material will we choose? The simplest are structures made of gypsum fiber board or gypsum plasterboard. Easy and fast. A frame of profiles is mounted, sound insulation in the form of mineral wool is laid, and the whole thing is covered with plasterboard on both sides.

It is important not to forget to put the electrical wire inside before everything is fixed.

But some are fundamentally against plasterboard partitions, believing that this option is not very reliable. You can no longer hang cabinets on the wall or anything like that. If you have such concerns, then this is not such a big problem.

When installing the partition, you can take into account where such parts need to be attached in the future.

And this will make it possible to lay wooden anchors, which will be a good option for attaching something heavy to this wall in the future.

But if this is not your version, then a good material that will most likely suit you is tongue-and-groove blocks.

Wonderful thing! The blocks are cast from gypsum. They have characteristic protrusions and grooves. A kind of constructor. They are assembled by inserting a ridge into a groove and fastened with tile adhesive.

A big plus is that plastering of the walls is not required, as with brickwork. The blocks are already perfectly smooth and the wall made of them has no seams, like a brick one. A miracle, not a material! Assembling such a wall yourself is even easier than using plasterboard.

The main thing is not to forget about the level, use this tool more often.

Well, actually, you now know the basic principles of redevelopment and what you will have to face. And after all this, it will also be important to legitimize your redevelopment. What did you want? In Moscow, for example, even a hole in the wall for communications from an air conditioner requires permission. Also, you know, it is considered a redevelopment.

Design Features

As already noted, the preparation of the project must be ordered either from the responsible government body, most often this is the architectural service of the local administration, or from private architects. In order for a project prepared by a private architect to have sufficient power to obtain a permit, it must have a certificate issued by the relevant SRO. Features of the design are as follows:

the drawn up plan must comply with construction and other standards established by law for panel-type apartment buildings;
the admissibility of certain changes may be affected by the dilapidation of the building and the general technical condition of the walls;
the load on each load-bearing structure is taken into account: the construction of openings in the same place on different floors should not be allowed;
due to the lower load, it is possible that changes in redevelopment in apartments on the upper floors are made much easier than in apartments on the lower floors of a panel house.

Thus, you should take into account a lot of features of each house and each apartment separately. Since the building connects the property of several owners, it is worth first coordinating actions with the neighbors.

In addition, depending on the nature of the changes, the following difficulties may arise:

You cannot expand the kitchen at the expense of the bathroom. Expansion of the kitchen area is allowed only at the expense of adjacent residential premises. So, if the wall between them is not load-bearing, then it can simply be demolished. It is allowed to make openings in a load-bearing wall only if they are additionally reinforced.
If there is ventilation in the wall affected by the redevelopment, then it is better to leave this wall alone. After all, touching the ventilation in an apartment building is strictly prohibited, regardless of the type of building.
The easiest way is to redesign the bathroom. This does not even require coordination with the administration. However, if the redevelopment of the bathroom affects load-bearing walls, it is necessary to act within the general framework of the procedure.
The corridor is a spare area and is usually not separated from other rooms by load-bearing walls. However, it all depends on the features of the original layout. In any case, changes in the corridor must be agreed upon with the administration, since the living area changes, and, accordingly, the cost of the object.

Redevelopment should increase the comfort of the apartment, and not worsen living conditions. So you have to think about the feasibility of redevelopment first of all. After all, this process is quite expensive both in terms of money and time.