If there are problems with the supply of heat, they must be addressed immediately, especially in the winter. The first thing to determine is the temperature in the apartment. It depends on where to go if there is no heating.
For an emergency solution to the problem, you need to call the management company, as well as the dispatch service of the service provider. If in this way it is not possible to solve the problem, it is worth resorting to more radical methods, which we will discuss in our material.
Identify Heat Issues
While the specialist is traveling, you can find out the reason yourself. For measurements, you need a regular room thermometer. The measurement error will be high, but it is only necessary to determine the approximate temperature difference in the rooms. If the temperature is below normal, then you need to understand the reasons and understand how to get rid of the problem.
To determine the approximate temperature values, you need to put your hand to the riser and the register, which is located in the next room. This method is suitable for private homes. If a heating problem occurs in a house with many apartments, then you need to interview your nearest neighbors.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Reasons for pepeboys with the supply of heat to the heating system
Delay due to system emergency
Obsolete or clogged equipment
Errors during the installation of new devices
Prohibited conversion
Violation of heat supply rules
Errors in building insulation
Suddenly overdue emergency
If the riser is hot, and the heating appliances are not encouraging with heat, most likely air has entered the system. In this case, the problem will be resolved within a few hours. In addition to gas contamination, the cause may be an imbalance in the system or a failure of the radiator. If the neighbors do not have such problems, then the reason is the condition of the pipes and appliances in the apartment.
If the temperature values are the same, this indicates problems with the supply of thermal energy throughout the house. In this case, it is necessary to clarify with the neighbors whether they have similar problems. Most often, equal temperature readings confirm the presence of malfunctions in the general communications.
Do not count on an early resolution of the problem. It is better to connect an electric heater, and not wait for the temperature to drop to critical levels. And how to choose a good heater for the home, read the following article.
No later than two hours after the call to the dispatch service, a specialist must arrive. In addition to determining a malfunction in the heat supply system, he is obliged to take readings, and record in writing the absence of heating.
His responsibilities include drawing up an act. This document is prepared in two identical copies, one intended for the owner.
According to the legislation, the management company is responsible for the common house property, to which the heating registers and interior pipes do not belong. Responsibility for their condition lies with the owner of the apartment. In this case, you will have to make repairs at your own expense
What is an act for?
The document confirms the low-quality provision of services, and is the basis for the appeal of the thermal energy consumer to the court, supervisory authorities, as well as receiving recalculation.
For an act to have legal force, it is necessary to comply with the requirements:
- Avoid artificial increase in temperature in the apartment under study.
- Convene a commission.
- Notify your housing representative and service provider.
Immediately on the day the act is drawn up, all heating devices must be turned off. When preparing a document, the absence of heating supply services is recorded, therefore, factors affecting the measurements should be excluded.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Call commission for temperature measurement
Temperature measurement and act
Disconnecting appliances before measuring
If public utilities do not respond to a client’s request
The commission should take measurements of the room temperature and compare with the standards, taking into account the temperature fluctuations of the environment. The air in the room must be warmed up to 18 degrees Celsius. Minor deviations are allowed in the range of 2 degrees up or down.
Heat Standards
In the GOST text, the norms and permissible deviations from it are indicated when supplying heat to different types of rooms.
Measurements of the temperature background are necessary not only in living rooms. In a restroom located separately from the bathroom, the thermometer should not show less than 18 degrees Celsius. On the landing, the temperature should not be much lower than 16 degrees Celsius
Throughout the season, when heating is supplied, heat must be supplied to consumers uninterruptedly.
Government Decision N 354 established the following possible interruptions in the supply of heating to residential buildings:
- Lowering the temperature regime cannot total more than 24 hours per month.
- Lowering the room temperature to 8-10 degrees should not exceed 4 hours (at a time).
- Lowering the temperature in the room to 10 -12 degrees should not exceed 8 hours (at a time).
- Lowering the room temperature to 13-16 degrees should not exceed 12 hours (at a time).
If the service provider does not comply with these standards, he is liable to consumers. For each hour of delay beyond the permissible period indicated in the decree, the service fee is reduced by 0.15%.
If there are multiple violations, the provider may incur administrative or criminal liability, depending on the severity of the consequences. More details about the parameters of a comfortable microclimate in residential premises can be found in this article.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Temperature norms in the apartment
The temperature in the corner room
The temperature in the bedroom
Temperature for water treatments
If the specialist has not arrived
The fact that the representative of the heat supply provider did not appear on call should not go unnoticed. It is necessary to repeat the call to the dispatch service and say about the violation of the procedure for the provision of services. Ask for clarifications and express your intention to write complaints to bodies and higher authorities that control their activities.
Clarification should be requested on the basis of the delay. It is necessary to insist on the immediate dispatch of a specialist to inspect communications and recall his obligation to draw up an act.
It will not be superfluous to record a conversation with the dispatcher, you can not warn him that recording is being made. These notes will serve as evidence in court.
After talking with the dispatcher, you need to dial the number of the chief engineer or director and summarize the essence of the situation, clearly indicating the address and the reason for the accumulated claims. Report on the lack of response to the application addressed to the dispatching service, mention their intentions to file complaints with the organization with the supervisory authorities.
It is necessary to demand that the problem be fixed in the near future and that a specialist travel to inspect the heating system. It is necessary to mention the preparation of a collective complaint, if the problem with the supply of heating is present in all residents of the house. In most cases, this will be enough to attract the attention of utilities.
You will also be interested to know what to do and where to call if the power is turned off.
What to do if they did not give heating?
After the arrival of a specialist and receipt of the certificate, it is necessary to make copies of the document. They are needed by the number of planned calls.
Next, you need to take a sample, and prepare the text of the claim. The content should reflect the essence of the problem, a summary of the situation and a proposal to resolve the issue in pretrial order. If during the period of heating shutdown there were health problems, this fact should be indicated
In addition, you can write that in addition to recalculation, payment of legal costs and compensation for non-pecuniary damage, you will require a penalty. Write that you plan to rent an apartment and through the court you will demand compensation for rental costs.
It is unprofitable for a private company to bring the dispute to court. For this reason, claims are often satisfied out of court. Two copies of the claims must be prepared.
Copies of documents must be attached to the claim:
- The act of lack of heating.
- A copy of the service agreement.
- Copies of receipts for timely payment of utilities.
- Certificate from a medical institution.
The specified package of documents must be sent to the service provider by mail. This must be done by registered mail with notification. When the letter is delivered, the sender will receive a notification of receipt of the letter by the addressee.
If there is no time for postage, then the documents must be personally brought to the utility provider. It is necessary to come to the reception to the head and file a complaint, talk and come to an agreement
It is important to ensure that both copies of the claim are marked and registered as incoming documentation. This must be done no matter what agreement has been reached.
An answer must be received in writing within 2-3 days. If the heating supply has not been resumed, proceed to the next step.
Where to write complaints if there is no heating?
No need to wait for the expiration of a three-day period. The issue of heating must be solved in all available ways. One of them is to file administrative complaints with regulatory authorities, including by telephone. The first step is to prepare the text of the complaint. They can be sent by mail or online.
Here is a list of organizations where to call about heating:
- Territorial Division of Housing Inspection.
- Rospotrebnadzor.
If you file a complaint by mail, you must attach to the application copies of documents that confirm the illegality of the actions of the management company or service provider. It is necessary to attach a copy of the act on the lack of heating and an appeal to the organization, which remained unanswered.
Option number 1 - appeal to the housing inspection
Utility workers are afraid of citizens appealing to the housing inspectorate, so before submitting a request for verification, call the head of the management company. Offer to reconsider your claim by pre-naming the registration number, maybe the problem will be resolved already at this stage.
If there is no reaction, then you must write a statement to the housing inspectorate on this sample. It must be supplemented with personal data, write the address of residence, as well as the location of the management company. You must send a complaint by registered mail with a notification
If you send a complaint via the Internet, first you need to go to the website of the housing inspectorate, which geographically refers to the location of the management company.
Further, the process will be described by the example of the GZH of the city of Moscow.
On the site you need to find the section where citizens receive applications. It is located on the main page. Next, you need to click on the section “Citizens' Appeals” and select “Electronic Reception” in the list that opens.
On the page that opens, you need to linger and study the rules for submitting electronic circulation. After reading the rules of submission, you must click on the link under the rules.
After that, the form that needs to be filled in will open.
At the bottom of the form, you need to attach scanned documents, as well as write the text of the appeal. Text cannot exceed 4,000 characters. The size of the attached file cannot exceed 50 Mb. Acceptable photo attachment
Be sure to specify the method of receiving a response from the GLC. The result of the appeal will be sent by e-mail, if indicated in the application. An answer is available by registered mail, but in this case it will take much longer to wait for the result. On average, it takes 2 to 5 days to process one complaint.
After processing the application, GZHI will check the activities of the management company. If the violations are confirmed, then GZHI may withdraw the license issued by the management company. Without it, the organization will not be able to continue operations. .
Option No. 2 - complaint to Rospotrebnadzor
You can write the appeal using the text that was compiled for the complaint to the GLC. It is necessary to make small corrections, indicating a violation of consumer rights, since the management company is not fulfilling its duties.
In the text of the complaint, it is necessary to reflect the request for verification. Next, attach copies of documents to the complaint text and send by registered mail.
You can also write to Rospotrebnadzor on its official website or through the portal of public services. The complaint process will be shown using the second method. To do this, you need to have registration on the corresponding portal.
You need to go to your personal account and click on the "Service Catalog" tab. From the list that opens, you must select the section "Authorities". This tab contains the necessary supervisory authority
In the list of services that opens, select the fifth item from the top. After that, there will be a transition to the tab with information about the service, where at the bottom there will be a link to go to the organization’s website. On the site you need to find an electronic reception, and then select the territorial department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare. The system will transfer to the desired site where you need to fill out the form.
Option number 3 - lawsuit
Another effective way to force the management company to fulfill its duties is to go to court with an administrative statement of claim. To do this, you need to use the services of a lawyer who has experience in the courts with management companies. It is very important to find a specialist who understands housing law.
He needs to show all receipts, documents, requests and records of conversations. Together with a lawyer, it is necessary to draw up a lawsuit in which all claims against the company will be stipulated. In addition, the text of the document should contain requirements for reimbursement of expenses that the consumer incurred due to lack of heating.
The approximate text of the statement of claim is as follows. The lawsuit must be accompanied by a list of documents confirming material costs. If exacerbations of chronic diseases occurred during the shutdown period, a certificate from a medical institution should be attached
If problems with heat supply occurred in an apartment building, then you need to attract neighbors and write a collective statement. Claims of owners and responsible tenants with a high degree of probability will be satisfied by the court. The defendant will be required to comply with the judgment.
Option No. 4 - application to the local prosecutor’s office
If the heating situation has not returned to normal, you must contact the prosecutor. In addition to the management company, inspections will also take place on appeals that have remained unanswered in supervisory authorities.
You can only file an application with the prosecutor in person. To do this, you need to find out the address and come with ready documents. You need to write a statement about an urgent audit in the management company. Copies of unanswered requests must be attached to the application.
Option number 5 - appeal to the reception of the president
If there is no reaction from the prosecutor’s office, write to the president’s office. This can be done on the site by filling out an electronic form. After a complaint is received, it will be examined and a decision will be made on the appointment of inspections by sending it to the appropriate supervisory authorities.
You can write a collective appeal. To make a complaint, you can use an existing sample or write it in any form. You need to attach photos and copies of supporting documents, this will reduce the time to receive a response.
Interview with the head of the GLC:
The video tells how to return money for heat not received:
The following video briefly shows how the temperature in residential buildings is monitored:
Problems that arise with the supply of heat to residential buildings should be resolved by the management company in a regular manner. If an organization ignores its direct responsibilities, it can be forced.
Utility consumers rarely bring a case to court, although this encourages the management company to comply with its responsibilities. In addition to cost recovery, you may want to check the validity of the accrued rent. If violations are found, then the recalculation will be obligated to be done by court order.
Do you have any questions while studying the material? Found inaccuracies or is there valuable information that you can share with site visitors? Leave your comments, ask questions in the block below.