What is a housing office and what should it do?

About free housing office services

ZhEK is a decoding, which in practice is used more out of habit than to designate a specific body. And it was replaced by households and management companies. Each resident (regardless of whether he or she has property rights to real estate) can submit an application to the Housing Office to receive free services. These include:

• external repairs of building facades, including cosmetic;
• insulation of walls and protection of the roof from leaks;
• replacement of drain pipes;
• strengthening handrails at entrances;
• repairing glass in shared spaces, equipping them with handles and insulating them;
• cosmetic repairs inside the premises (painting, changing the covering, insulation);
• cleaning;
• elimination of mold and leaks caused by violation of the integrity of the facade, roof, and joint balconies.

If free services are not provided in a timely manner, then there is a need to write a complaint to the head of the management company or to a higher authority. As for cockroaches, they cannot be poisoned. Because it involves the use of poisons in public places, which may harm children or pets.

Main responsibilities of the Housing Office

The terms of reference of the management company are specified in the Housing Code and the contract. This agreement is signed between the management company and the residents of apartment buildings. Employees of the management company receive wages, which are paid in part by residents of multi-storey buildings in the form of utility bills, as well as by municipal authorities. Residents of such houses who have entered into an agreement with the management company have the right to demand that employees strictly fulfill their obligations. These obligations are specified in the contract, and in return for this, residents undertake to make timely payments for utilities.

How public utilities work needs to be looked at in more detail. Housing office services are divided into the following responsibilities:

• Required. This includes a list of work that is permanent or seasonal. Mandatory duties are aimed at maintaining the condition of the house in proper condition, as well as the proper functioning of communications.
• Optional. This is a list of services that can be ordered by home residents on an individual basis. Such services are usually paid separately.

The list of obligations of the Criminal Code is divided into paragraphs and subparagraphs, which are spelled out in detail in Article 154 of the Housing Code. Services classified as optional are those works that are performed only at the individual or collective requests or requests of residents of high-rise buildings.

Many residents of apartment buildings want to know how housing works. The management company or housing office is engaged in replacing wooden frames in entrances with plastic windows, repairing staircases, installing modern heating equipment, etc. All of these works are not specified in the Housing Code, so they are carried out only if there are individual applications from residents.

About paid services of housing office

Paid services are also provided, each of which has an individual price. If residents refuse to pay, the Housing Office has the right to refuse to perform the entrusted functions. Thus, the paid responsibilities of the housing office include:

• changing flooring from one type to another;
• carpentry work;
• changing windows;
• replacement and installation of electrical equipment (wiring, panels, switches);
• scope of activity of a plumber and locksmith (replacement of water taps, replacement of batteries, cutting in locks).

On the replacement of technical equipment by the Housing Office

Housing Office (UK) is an organization that not only controls the cleanliness and comfort of using a house, but also guarantees the safety of using the structure. Therefore, the inspection’s responsibilities include free replacement of some fixtures located inside the apartments. Costs are reimbursed from paid rent and from previously withheld taxes. Thus, citizens can apply for the following assistance:

• 10 years is the period of use of a water tap, therefore, after this period, it must be replaced free of charge;
• 20 years - this period of operation allows you to change the kitchen stove (gas or electric), as well as toilet plumbing (toilet, flush barrel);
• 30 years – the right to replace the bathroom;
• 40 years is the maximum period for using wooden window frames.

Determination of eligibility for such services does not depend on the resident's age, financial status or length of ownership of the apartment. The main thing is to confirm the service life of a particular item and write a letter to the Housing Office to replace it.

Features of payment for housing office services

The costs of maintaining apartment buildings vary significantly, despite the fact that almost all of them are built according to standard designs. The amount of utility bills is approved by the residents of the houses once a year at a general meeting. At this meeting, a decision is made on what the amount of utility bills will be for the next year. At such a meeting, a member of the management committee with whom negotiations are being conducted is present.

At meetings of this kind, decisions are made not only on the size of utility bills, but also planned repairs, innovations and modernizations are discussed. All these points must be recorded in an agreement, which is signed by representatives of the house management and the housing office.

About maintenance

The application to the housing office is drawn up according to the sample, but for their part, the office specialists must independently take the initiative to check the operating status of technical equipment and utilities. Thus, the administration of the body must monitor the following checks:

• heating operation (central heating only), starting from the serviceability and quality of the pipes and ending with heat transfer (interruptions in the water supply through the pipes must be eliminated);
• serviceability of the sewer system;
• checking the supply of cold and hot water (the serviceability of the heated towel rail and independently replaced pipes in the apartment does not count);
• monitoring the health of lighting.

Before calling a plumber from the housing office or another specialist to your home, you need to clarify whether the assistance is paid and how payment for the services will be made.

Who is "ZhEK"?

ZhEK is an abbreviation that stands for housing and communal services, or rather a housing maintenance office. It’s clear how housing office stands for, now it remains to find out what kind of organization it is that is engaged in servicing apartment buildings.

The housing office is an institution that ensures the operation of public utilities and is also responsible for ensuring that apartment buildings are maintained in good condition. In different cities of the Russian Federation, this institution could previously be called differently, but the most common name remained the abbreviation ZhEK.

Housing offices originated during the Soviet Union and existed for more than 55 years until the Housing Code was adopted. This code was adopted in 2005, after which new utility departments appeared instead of housing offices.

About maintenance: heating and sewerage

You can call a specialist to your home to perform free and paid functions. Thus, the housing office cannot refuse to call an employee if there is a risk of harm to property or the health of residents due to the possibility of an accident (for example, the risk of flooding of neighbors).

Thus, when installing water and heating pipes, a specialist is authorized to carry out the following activities:

• dismantling of mixers and taps, as well as installation of new equipment;
• repair of heating columns;
• removing blockages;
• carrying out welding work with pipes.

When repairing heating, the following nuances must be taken into account:

• correct elimination of leakage;
• guarantee of no blockages;
• repair of air valves.

The specialist bears appropriate responsibility for the quality of work performed. If the work is performed poorly, then you need to complain to the housing office administration.

About emergency services: power supply and emergency response

An application for a call from the housing department of the foreman is made in writing or orally by telephone. There is another way to call an electrician to your house from the housing office, ask for the specialist’s phone number in order to negotiate with him personally. The electrician carries out the following work:

• troubleshooting wiring, but only in common areas;
• replacing the shield or only part of the faulty parts;
• changing devices that control electricity consumption and fluctuations;
• changing light bulbs and damaged lampshades in entrances.

Emergency situations in the housing and communal services sector may include:

• flooding of basements;
• basement collapse;
• pipe break;
• riser failure.

If a breakdown is identified that requires surgical intervention, specialists are called urgently and immediately begin to repair the breakdown.

General concepts

Maintenance of utilities in an apartment building must be carried out by a special organization. As a rule, this is a management company, a housing office. But it is important to note that these types of institutions, as a rule, have many different varieties.

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But in general, the list of their responsibilities is standard. It is not allowed to violate the work regulations. It is also important to remember that information about the service organization must be available. Moreover, such a requirement is determined by law.

Accordingly, public information should be presented on the Internet. Therefore, there are many different sites that have the necessary information.

Each management company and housing office are required to have their own resource. Which will provide detailed, accurate information on this matter. All the main nuances and subtleties will need to be worked out in advance.

What it is

The abbreviation ZhEK stands for quite simply - it is a housing maintenance company, an office that maintains a house or a number of apartment buildings. This company format for working with housing stock was developed back in the distant USSR. Today there are quite a lot of different alternative names.

The most common today are the following:

In the field of public utilities, the name that is easiest to understand and remember is increasingly being used - CC. It stands for management company. It will be necessary to remember that this type of institution has obligations to residents.

Previously, the housing and communal services sector was extremely corrupt. Which led to service interruptions and other problems. Today, many regulatory legislative documents have been adopted. Which strictly regulate the process of operation of enterprises of this kind.

You need to familiarize yourself in advance with all the nuances and subtleties of the operating process of such enterprises. First of all, it will be necessary to take into account that providing public information about the list of serviced houses is the responsibility of the management company. Accordingly, it will not be difficult to find a company that is responsible for maintaining public utilities.

Who does it apply to?

Moreover, all citizens, without exception, have the right to receive information about the enterprise. And this concerns not only property owners and tenants. Data about the management company that is involved in a specific house is public. Moreover, information must be published not only about the enterprise itself, but also about its work.

Today it is mandatory for all management companies to have their own websites, which indicate the tariffs within which the work takes place. And also many other facts.

Accordingly, failure to comply with such requirements established by federal law is grounds for the imposition of a fairly large fine. Relatively recently, there were many problems in the housing and communal services sector.

Today, in every city there is a special body that monitors management companies. There are hotlines where you can leave a complaint about any management company if there are problems with management.

That is why it is important to familiarize yourself in advance with all the subtleties and nuances of interaction with the management company. If problems arise, you should immediately contact the competent authorities.

Most often, such information is required:

1. Real estate owners.
2. For tenants.
3. Potential owners.

It is necessary to familiarize yourself in advance with information about which management company is engaged in servicing the house. Since the management company is responsible for many organizational issues. This applies to garbage removal and troubleshooting various problems directly in the utility networks of the house. This issue will need to be worked out in advance.

The housing and communal services control room at a house address in Moscow can be easily located. To do this, it will be enough to use the Internet.

Procedure for contacting the Housing Office

As practice shows, citizens are not always able to complain to the office about detected violations and breakdowns. This is due to ignorance of the procedure for filing applications and the rules for their execution. Currently, the following methods of contact are provided:

1. By phone. Each department has a contact telephone number designated for receiving requests from residents. You can view it on housing and communal services payment receipts. When calling, it is important to find out the name and position of the person with whom the applicant is speaking. After a detailed description of the problem, the dispatcher will inform you when a specialist will arrive at the specified address and how his services should be paid.
2. Personal appeal. If the office is located close to home (usually in a densely populated residential area), then you can go there yourself and report your problem. The appeal is recorded in the journal without drawing up an accompanying statement. Here you also need to clarify the details of the employee accepting the application.
3. Online. Almost every department’s website has a feedback form where you can outline the essence of the problem. This option has a number of disadvantages. The applicant cannot be sure whether anyone reads such communications and, if so, what the frequency of viewing the correspondence is. If there is no response to the appeal, it is difficult to identify the responsible employee who ignored the petition.

In addition to a personal letter, you can prepare a collective appeal. As a rule, on the basis of each house there is a self-government acting on behalf of all residents.

Making a complaint

There are several authorities where to complain about the actions of the housing office. Thus, statements can be written:

1. To the management of a specific inspection. The head of the institution carries out supervisory functions, so you should immediately turn to him to protect your personal interests. There are two days to respond to the complaint, after which the injured party appeals to a higher authority.
2. District office. The complaint can be sent in person, by mail, or by email (the address is on the official website and is individual for each region).
3. Consumer Protection Service. Submitting an application to this authority is possible only in cooperation with commercial organizations. As for state-owned companies, the only form of influence on them is a fine.
4. The court is the last resort. Appeal to the courts is advisable if material damage has been caused by the actions or inaction of the housing office.

Recently, there has been an increase in the popularity of management companies - private management companies. For residents, the advantage is that these are commercial organizations, and therefore the requirements for them are more stringent. Management companies, unlike housing offices, must fully perform their functions and do this on a paid basis.

For their part, apartment owners can protect their rights in the prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies, and the Consumer Rights Protection Service is authorized to liquidate companies against which complaints are received.