Replacing a sewer riser in an apartment: who should pay, stages of work and price

Who should repair the sewer riser?

When purchasing an apartment, its owner, in addition to the rights to it, also receives a number of responsibilities. He pays utility bills monthly. In addition, he is responsible for maintaining all pipes inside the apartment in proper condition. The question arises about inter-building communications passing through the apartments of residents, in particular, the sewer riser.

The article will talk about who is the owner of this pipeline and who is responsible for its condition, as well as who is obliged to replace and repair the sewer riser in the apartment.

removing paint from the pipe to assess damage to the riser

How to solve a problem

Before replacing a riser in a privatized apartment, you must confirm that it is part of the common property of the house. To do this, they call in an expert independent from the management organization who will determine who owns the riser.

If there are leaks, but it has not yet cracked, then you need to invite a housing office employee and demand its replacement. An apartment that has been privatized is not a hindrance to this.

If the management company refuses to replace the riser free of charge, it is recommended to contact Rospotrebnadzor and report a violation in the provision of utility services. Such statements ultimately lead to the deprivation of a license from a company that does not comply with the laws.

In real life, housing office workers often provide such services for a fee. This happens when housing and communal services workers are refused payment for replacing risers in an apartment, and they ask for a meeting of homeowners to resolve the issue. This procedure can take a long time, and during this time the pipe will burst and cause flooding for the residents of the lower apartments. In this case, the property owner pays for the damage caused.

Apartment owners in such situations prefer not to aggravate the conflict situation created by the management company, and pay about two thousand rubles. After all, going to court requires considerable amounts of money to pay fees and a lawyer.

But, nevertheless, only the management company should change the risers, and when filing an application in court, they win the case and seek to carry out the work using the funds collected by the management organization. This is the best option when all utility bills are paid on time, but in any case, asserting your rights is always beneficial.

Communications of most objects on the secondary market are severely damaged, wear exceeds 50%. Replacing the sewer riser in an apartment can be done with your own hands, without the involvement of specialists.

Sometimes it is necessary to replace the sewer riser in an apartment.

Whose property

All communications sooner or later become unusable. Naturally, a situation may arise when the sewer riser begins to leak. And despite the fact that this can happen in any apartment at any time, many residents do not know who owns this communication and who should repair it if necessary.

You can imagine, for example, a situation where the riser rotted and began to leak in a certain apartment. As a result, the toilet was flooded and the neighbors below began to flood. They decided to file a lawsuit to recover funds from their neighbors to compensate for the damage.

But are the culprits in this case the residents living on the floor above? And should they pay damages in this case? And if not, then who is to blame and who should change the sewer riser in the apartment on time to avoid unpleasant situations?

To understand who owns this property, it is necessary to refer to the legislation, namely the Housing Code and the Rules for the maintenance of public property.

Article 36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation states that risers are part of public property, and the above Rules, approved by a government decree, specify that it includes the engineering drainage system in the house, which includes, among other things, risers.

repairing a sewer riser by installing a plastic patch on a cast iron pipe

The owners of public property are state authorities and local governments. It is clear that we are talking about a communal organization that is assigned and serves a particular house.

Therefore, it is they who should be responsible for ensuring that this property is of proper quality. However, there may be other special cases.

What to do if flooded and who is to blame

In the event of flooding or a malfunction in the risers, an application is submitted to the management company. If the situation requires immediate intervention, then call the emergency service to take immediate action and fix the problem.

Recommended reading: Facilities for wastewater treatment of a private home

Specialists from these organizations are required to inspect the flooded premises and draw up a report about it, which must record exactly where the leak occurred, its cause, and describe all the property that was damaged.

visual assessment of damage to the sewer riser

It is necessary to know exactly what is reflected in the document, namely about the party responsible for the incident. If the report states that the flood occurred due to a sewer riser that failed, then the guilty party is the utilities. The fact is that they are the ones who must monitor the wear and tear of this equipment. However, if what happened was due to an unauthorized replacement of the riser or it suffered mechanical damage, then the owner of the apartment will be considered the guilty party.

If the property that was damaged is insured, then residents turn to the insurance company to compensate for the damage. She, in turn, after payment, will present an invoice to the guilty party: the owner of the apartment or the management company.

Any person, in the event of damage to his property, can hope for compensation. Let the injured party not be embarrassed by the fact that the management company may be the culprit, and in most cases this is exactly what happens. In any case, the property owner has the legal right to hold her employees accountable.

You will have to prove the guilt of the management organization.

Application to housing and communal services

If the owner of the apartment has come to the conclusion that his riser is in unusable condition, then he can contact the management organization to have the pipes replaced. A statement about this is written in free form to the relevant organization. It must contain information about the following:

in the upper right corner the number of the housing and communal organization and the name of its head;
evidence of regular payments and absence of debt, you can attach copies of paid receipts for recent months;
a specific request to replace the sewer riser;
Place a signature and number below.

It is advisable to draw up an application in two copies, one of which will remain in the housing complex, and the other, with the signature of the responsible person, will be given to the applicant.

Workers from the housing and communal services organization will be required to come and inspect the sewer riser. Based on the results of this, a report is drawn up that will reflect information about the condition of the pipeline, on the basis of which a decision will be made whether to replace the riser or not.

Repair

The procedure for repairing a sewer riser depends entirely on the type of damage. It can come down to either installing a patch or coupling, or installing new equipment. Of course, for the ideal operation of the sewer system in an apartment building, it is advisable to completely change the entire riser from the basement to the drain pipe, through which ventilation and pressure equalization in the system are carried out. However, in practice this is extremely rarely possible, since it is difficult to coordinate the actions of all neighbors.

So, the pipe can crack, burst, clogs or leaks may appear in it, how can they be eliminated?

If a leak occurs, the procedure is as follows:

Temporarily turn off the sewer system in your apartment;
To dry the joint, use a hair dryer or ordinary rags, clean the surface of debris and cement;
To eliminate leaks, use a polycement compound or a special sealant;
If you used a polycement compound, you will have to wait a day until it dries completely. If a sealant is used, the sewer can be used within five hours.

Cracks in old cast iron pipes are also a common occurrence; to resolve problems of this kind, the following manipulations must be performed:

A wooden wedge of the required size is driven in at the place where the defect has formed;
The area with the crack is wrapped with gauze soaked in epoxy glue;
This area is wrapped in several layers with an elastic bandage, after which it is additionally secured with wire;
In addition, this design can be replaced with a rubber patch, securing it with a special clamp.

Please note that all these measures are only temporary. In order for the sewer system to work properly for a long period of time, it is necessary to replace the entire riser. Usually cast iron pipes are replaced with modern plastic ones.

Work on the sewer riser

Property owners are required to monitor all communications inside the apartment. The owner also has the right to change all pipes located inside the apartment himself.

Recommended reading: DIY sewerage system in a bathhouse

He can install more modern plastic pipes. new faucets, change the number of plumbing fixtures and so on. However, when it comes to boners, opinions vary. Who should repair the sewer riser in an apartment, replace it and generally monitor it?

The owner is obliged to maintain his property in order and pay for its maintenance (hot and cold water, gas, sewerage, etc.).

old cast iron sewer pipe

However, in terms of common property, these responsibilities fall on the shoulders of the management organization. Residents pay a certain amount to the management company every month (it doesn’t matter whether they entered into a separate agreement on this or not) to solve general technical problems.

The management organization uses this money to maintain sewerage, water supply, heating and other technical equipment in good condition.

The basis for the work is:

appropriate plan;
inspection report with a conclusion on the need for repair or replacement to prevent an accident;
leak or other problem.

The housing and communal services organization is required to consider the submitted application and give a reasoned positive or negative response.

If they try to force residents to pay for work or materials, or to contact a private office, this is illegal, because such types of work have already been paid for by the homeowners.

Each payment bill contains the item “maintenance and repair of housing.” It is with these funds that the work should be carried out. There are special standards that include all types of such work, in particular:

maintenance of common property;
communications maintenance;
carrying out emergency work;
ongoing repair work.

Thus, the housing and communal services organization is obliged not only to carry out work on repairing and replacing the riser, but also to do it free of charge.

However, if repairs are carried out without permission, as a result of which damage is caused to common building communications or structural changes are made to them, due to which neighbors suffer, the damage must be compensated.

If a housing and communal organization tries to deviate from replacing the riser, then its position should be defended, referring to the following documents:

methodological recommendations MDK 2-04.2004;
rules for maintaining common property of the house.

Copies of paid receipts for recent months can be attached to the application. In case of poor technical condition of the sewer pipe, specialists of the management company are obliged to replace the general building communications.

sewer pipe in need of repair

Riser repair: how it happens

In case of minor damage to the sewer riser, it is enough to replace a separate section or patch the pipe. But even then the idea should take root that the hour is not far off when it will need to be replaced.

Recommended reading: Self-installation of sewerage in a private house

Risers can be cast iron or plastic. The former can only be found in old houses where pipes have not been replaced for a very long time. As a rule, it is cast iron sewer risers that are the most dangerous. Often plumbers do not even undertake repairs, citing the fact that cast iron pipes are already too old to last even longer.

However, repairs can be avoided if:

a crack has appeared on the pipe from which water comes out;
the leak occurred at the junction with the adapter, cross, coupling or tee;
In some place the riser has rotted.

Replacement will become the only option only when the riser literally falls apart.

Both plastic and cast iron pipes may require repairs.

In the first case, it is much easier to implement. If the causes are cheap, low-quality pipes, poor rubber gaskets or defective pipes and a leak appears at the joint, the O-ring is replaced. To do this, the connection where the leak appeared is disassembled, the seal is removed, the place is cleaned and a new one is inserted. If the crack occurs in the riser itself, then the surface is cleaned and degreased, and then treated with a sealant.

In the case of a cast iron pipe, temporary repairs are also possible. If the cause of the problem is a small fistula, then the damaged area is cleaned, treated with sandpaper, and then this area is lubricated with cement. Use only dry solution, without diluting it. If the leak is larger, the hole is closed with a clamp that matches the diameter of the riser. A tape is cut out of rubber for it. They wrap the pipe with it, and put a clamp on top of it and tighten it slightly. A gasket is pulled under it and then closed completely. Another option here is cold welding. However, a clamp will be a more durable and reliable option.

We found out what to do when the sewer riser is leaking, who should repair it and replace it if necessary, and who is generally responsible for this communication. This should be done by the management organization, and free of charge. Although the last statement is conditional, since this type of work is carried out at the expense of funds paid by homeowners monthly according to their receipts. It turns out that this work has already been paid for. Therefore, demanding payment for this particular work is illegal. At the same time, it is prohibited to repair, let alone change, the sewer riser without permission. All city apartment owners should know about this.

Vodakanazer.ru » Sewerage » What to do in case of a sewerage accident and flooding?

Who should replace the risers of an apartment building?

You should not think that if apartment owners use common risers, that they are responsible for any types of repairs. Because of this, additional expenses often arise that could have been protected from.

Information

Every month, residents receive special receipts. One of the lines in them is devoted to the maintenance of various communications and their repair. Money received from residents will become the basis for repair and preventive work.

Therefore, the housing office is obliged to respond immediately, without additional fees or requirements.

What to do in case of an accident and sewer flooding?

If a sewer pipe bursts in an apartment or the basement of an apartment building, then you will have to spend a certain amount of time and money to eliminate the consequences. This can happen both in a private house and in an apartment building. However, if a sewer breaks in a private house, the situation is not so difficult, since you will not flood your neighbors below, and all responsibility for the condition of the sewer system lies with you. Therefore, the monetary costs of eliminating the consequences will not be as significant as in the case of a multi-story building in the city. In any situation, it is necessary to find the culprits and determine the cause of the breakthrough.

Search for the culprits

As for the reasons that could cause an emergency, there may be several of them

If a sewer pipe bursts in a private house, then there is no point in looking for who is to blame, because only you are responsible for the installation and operation of your sewer system. The same can be said about the pipes running through your site.

A completely different matter is a sewerage break in an apartment in an apartment building. If an accident occurs with a pipeline running in an apartment, then only the owner of the home is to blame. If the sewerage system breaks in the basement or in a common riser, then the housing office is responsible for these networks.

As for the reasons that could cause the emergency, there may be several of them:

In order for a sewer pipe to burst in a basement or apartment, cracks and holes must form in the pipe, which will be small at first, but gradually this process will affect neighboring areas, causing weakening of the walls of the pipeline. Thus, it becomes clear that this is not a momentary process. Typically, cracks and holes are caused by pipe deformation or rust. As a result, the contents of the pipes begin to flow out through the holes and cause flooding of the apartment or basement. Moreover, this process will be accompanied by an unpleasant odor.
Often a breakthrough can be caused by the use of low-quality pipes or disruptions during their installation. Therefore, the sewage system in the apartment should be done by professionals so that you do not have big problems in the future.
If cast iron pipes were used to drain the sewer system in a basement or apartment, the sealing gaskets may wear out over time. In principle, this happens with old sewer systems that have not been changed or repaired for a long time.

Your actions in the event of a breakout in an apartment

If you are flooded due to a water supply or sewerage break in your apartment, then call an emergency response

If you are flooded due to a water supply or sewerage break in your apartment, and you don’t know where to turn, then your actions depend on the time of day and day of the week:

If the accident happened during the day on a working day, then you need to call the housing office or management company. They should send out a professional plumber to fix the break. You will clean up the consequences of an accident in the apartment yourself.
If the accident happened at night, on holidays or weekends, then there is no point in calling the management company or housing office, since no one will be there. The answer to the question of where to call in this case is clear - you need an emergency gang. You must call the water utility's emergency service. They are obliged to send a team of emergency workers to you on any day and at any time of the day, who will quickly eliminate the sewer leak.

While you wait for the brigade to arrive, you should not sit idly by. There are also things you can do to minimize damage from a flood. So, you can do the following:

First of all, do not pour any liquid down the drain, do not flush the toilet, or use the sewer system at all.
If the breakthrough occurred in an open section of the pipeline, then you can put a clamp on the damaged area. This product is in the form of a tin ring with a rubber sealing gasket. After putting the clamp on, use screws to tighten its two ends tightly. This will prevent waste from leaking out.
If the damaged area is small, then before the repairmen arrive, you can plug the hole with plasticine or use cold welding. This will allow you to create a temporary barrier and reduce the leak until the emergency crew arrives.

Important: if a breakthrough occurs in an apartment, then you do not have to pay anything to call a brigade. But if an emergency situation occurs in a private house, where only you are responsible for the autonomous sewage system, then you should contact the city emergency services. However, their services for private sector residents will be paid.

About payment for replacement

Government Decree No. 491 of 2006 contains a detailed answer to the question of how payment is made in this direction. The document defines several main concepts:

Common property, what does it include?
Who is responsible for the maintenance of such objects?
Payment for repairs and replacements.

The repairs and maintenance of all house communications are paid for by the apartment owners themselves; existing rules speak about this separately. Article 158 of the Housing Code provides the same information. Housing and communal services then pay the performers for services from the funds that they managed to collect from the residents.

Your actions in case of a breakthrough in the basement

If you discover a sewer pipe break in the basement of an apartment building, then the first thing you need to do is shut off the risers

If you discover a broken sewer pipe in the basement of an apartment building, then the first thing you need to do is shut off the risers and warn all residents not to use the sewer. Since the housing office or management company is responsible for the condition and serviceability of all internal public water supply and sewer systems, the housing office or management company should be called there first. They are obliged to send a team of emergency workers as soon as possible and eliminate the break in the sewer pipeline.

To minimize the consequences of a flood before the crew arrives, you can do the same as in the event of an accident inside the apartment. That is, you need to try to eliminate the leak in the basement using a clamp, cold welding, or a plug.

If you decide to complain

Of course, if the sewer pipeline burst in the basement, then the whole house needs to write a complaint

Of course, if a sewer pipeline breaks in the basement, then the whole house needs to file a complaint. But in the case of an emergency in an apartment, the situation is completely different, because it is your fault that the neighbors below suffered. Before you complain, you need to understand the following:

The housing office or management company is responsible for the pipeline from the riser to the shut-off valves on the pipe going into the apartment. The same applies to sewerage; the management company and housing office are responsible only for those parts of the pipes that are not included in your apartment.
All plumbing and sewerage installations inside the apartment are entirely your responsibility. Therefore, its condition must be monitored and repairs and replacement carried out in a timely manner.
With the heating system the situation is different. If you did not change the elements of this system inside the apartment, then the management company or housing office is responsible for everything.

Important: if damage is caused to you and other residents in the event of a break in sewer, heating or water supply networks that are maintained by the housing office or management company, you can demand compensation and complain. If the accident happened in your apartment, then you can only complain if the heating system breaks down. You are responsible for all other pipes in your home.

If you decide to write a complaint, then you need to do the following:

Once the cause of the flood has been eliminated, photographs or video must be taken to document the aftermath of the accident.
Based on these photos or videos, you can demand compensation for damages from the management company. If they refuse to do this, then you can safely go to court. However, to do this you need to collect all the necessary documents.

To collect all the necessary papers, you can do this:

First, you can try calling the management company or housing office and ask them to send an employee who will draw up a flood report

To begin with, you can try to call the management company or housing office and ask them to send an employee who will draw up a flood report.
If there is no response to your request, then you need to come to one of these organizations and write a statement addressed to the head of the office. In this application, it is necessary to outline the essence of the problem and ask to draw up an act that will confirm the fact of flooding.

Advice: you should not agree to a routine inspection of the apartment by an employee of the management company. Require the drawing up of an act that will be the basis for going to court.

After writing an application or verbal request, employees of the service organization must send a commission to your home. It should include the chief engineer of the housing office, a site foreman, a representative of the management company and a plumber. They will inspect the apartment and draw up a flood report. This document should contain the following information:

The essence of the problem is described and its causes are indicated.
The document must be dated and the address of the apartment must be indicated.
The act is signed by all members of the commission. The document must list their positions and surnames.
A defect sheet is filled out, which lists all damaged items.
Possible hidden damage should also be listed, since water leaking into the structure of the house may not make itself felt immediately.

After drawing up the report, it is necessary to assess the damage caused. To do this, you need to contact a specialized company. This service is paid. The company's employees will assess the cost of damage and draw up a report on the amount of damage. Price lists and receipts must be attached to these documents.

Advice: if the upstairs neighbors are to blame for everything, then before going to court you can try to come to an agreement again.

When going to court, you must have the following documents on hand:

A photocopy of the certificate stating that the ownership of this property belongs to you. Instead, you can attach a copy of the rental agreement.
Statement of claim.
The flood report, which was drawn up by the Housing Office commission.
The appraiser's conclusion on the amount of damage.
Accurate estimate for restoration work.
Receipt for payment of court fee.

About replacing sewer risers

Sewage risers also belong to common property. Partial passability of the route in a particular apartment does not matter. The general rules confirm that the category of the rest of the sewage system is the same.

This means that the repair and installation of such systems remain the responsibility of the Management Companies. Apartment residents pay only an additional fee, which is spent on purchasing consumables and the repair work itself. For this purpose, a separate column is provided in receipts.

If the owner previously carried out similar actions on his own, then he does not pay for the past time. Only transactions that occur in the future need to be compensated.

The resident must go through several steps before the restoration work actually begins.

Visiting the management company, drawing up applications with a request to replace emergency elements.
A special act is drawn up with the representative of the performers, which describes the current state of the elements of the sewer system. If necessary, attach a photo to it.
The date and time when the problem will be solved are discussed separately.
Additionally, they are determined by the material of construction and some other nuances.

An act of acceptance of work is drawn up between the management company and the craftsmen when the process is completed. It is recommended that the owners keep a copy of this act.

Pipe replacement

All those communications that are located inside the apartment and which only its owner and residents can use do not raise questions about their ownership. This is private property. And the owner can do whatever he sees fit with them. Of course, if this does not lead to damage to the property of his neighbors or their other rights and interests.

The owner of the apartment has the right:

replace old metal pipes with more modern ones;
install new mixers, counters;
increase or decrease the number of plumbing fixtures;
change batteries, etc.

He does all this of his own free will and at his own expense. This does not raise any surprise or doubt about the legality of such actions. Ownership includes the ability to make such changes and improvements.

But when it comes to replacing risers, that is, those thick pipes that connect all floors and apartments into a single whole, opinions differ.

Residents believe that the management company is responsible for the common property, but that company says that since this is the common property of the apartment owners, everything related to the replacement or repair of pipes is their responsibility. Let's try to figure out who is right.

Who should change risers in a privatized apartment

It is worth remembering that in addition to the right of ownership, there is also the so-called owner’s burden, which consists of the need to maintain one’s property in good condition and pay for its maintenance.

And here the question arises: who is the owner of those pipes and their branches that are no longer located inside each private apartment, but connect it with utilities that supply water, heat and light to the building itself?

They, as it turns out, relate to common property belonging to all owners. That is, those pipes in the apartment are personal, and the risers are shared.

Legislation

The legislation confirms this. In 2006, the government approved the Rules regarding the maintenance of common property.

They list what exactly applies to property recognized as common:

Equipment serving more than one apartment.
Drainage system (i.e. sewerage), etc.

But confirmation of the fact that all pipes, including water, heating, gas and sewer pipes are the property of the residents of the house, does not answer the question of who should change the risers in a privatized apartment? The same document talks about such a concept as repairs (current and major).

The definition of routine repairs given in the Rules for the Technical Operation of Housing Funds includes the following items regarding all pipelines inside a residential building, such as:

The law allows an appeal against a refusal to privatize an apartment.

How is the privatization of emergency housing taking place in 2015? Read here.

Owner's responsibilities

According to the Rules, making decisions about the need for routine and especially major repairs lies with all owners.

Owners of apartments and common property are obliged to:

ensure the normal technical condition of common building communications;
make decisions about their repair if the need arises.

But the owners themselves can only repair the equipment that directly serves their apartment. Because it is their private property. And to repair common property, they transfer part of their responsibilities to a management company, which solves all technical problems for them.

This agreement is gratuitous, that is, it implies payment of a certain amount monthly. Its payment is also the responsibility of the apartment owner. In return, he receives technical services for the entire household.

Responsibilities of the Housing Office

Carrying out all repair work required to maintain water supply, sewerage, heating and other risers in good technical condition is the responsibility of the Housing Office. Or another company with which a corresponding agreement was concluded.

The basis for the work will be:

plan for their implementation;
an act indicating that any part of the riser needs repair to prevent an emergency;
a leak or other problem occurs.

You can contact the housing office with an application, which they are obliged to consider and give a reasoned response.

At whose expense

All attempts to force residents to contact private offices or pay additional funds for repairing risers are illegal. Since this work is already carried out at the expense of the homeowners.

Every month you can see the line “maintenance and repair of housing” in notices for payment of utility services. The amount depends on the square footage of the apartment and the number of residents.

According to the norms of MDK 2-04.2004, there are two lists of works that are included in the rent. This includes:

maintenance of various common property;
technical and other maintenance of communications;
emergency work;
Maintenance.

That is, all replacement, maintenance and repair work is already included in the already hefty rent.

Therefore, the housing office must change the sewer riser in a privatized apartment absolutely free of charge. It's already been paid for.

An exception is the case when repairs are required as a result of unauthorized repairs made by one of the apartment owners or any structural changes to the building's common communications. And if neighbors were injured as a result of such interference, then they will have to be compensated for the damage.

Are you filing an application to the court for forced resettlement and privatization of an apartment? You will find this article useful.

How does inheritance of a privatized apartment take place according to law? See here.

When an apartment owner is refused to replace pipes

The management company's refusal to carry out repair work to change the drainage system is justified only if the owner of the apartment has previously carried out any work on the riser himself or intentional damage has been caused to the pipes. Regardless of whether clamps were simply put on the fistulas or the pipe was completely replaced, this will definitely be indicated in the communication inspection report. In this case, all repair costs fall on the shoulders of the homeowner. The housing office only replaces the primary cast-iron sewer riser with a plastic one, but does not replace previously repaired/specially damaged communications.

If the housing and communal services refuse to carry out repair work without reason, the apartment owner must ask for a written refusal. It must indicate the reasons why the company does not agree to replace the pipes. With this refusal, the owner has the right to go to court or write a complaint against the head of the management company. Requests for repair work on the riser must also be made in writing. Better - collectively. Then utility services respond faster.

FAQ

Let's consider the questions that owners of privatized apartments often ask.

Replacing a sewer riser

Since the risers located outside the apartments and connecting several of them are common property, the management company (HOA, housing office, housing department, etc.) is responsible for the replacement. At the expense of the funds that come as part of the rent for the “maintenance and repair of the common property of the house.”

Any attempts to force people to pay additionally for this work will be illegal.

When trying to reject a requirement to replace the riser, to defend your position, you should refer to regulatory documents:

rules for maintaining the common property of an apartment building;
Methodological recommendations MDK 2-04.2004.

As proof of fulfillment of your responsibilities for timely payment of utilities, copies of the payment receipt can be attached to the application for repair work.

Replacing pipes in privatized housing

It all depends on where these pipes are located and how many apartments they serve. All pipes located inside the apartment are replaced at the expense of the owner. Work can be carried out by both management company specialists and other persons on the basis of a civil law contract.

water supply, sewerage, heating pipes;
counters, faucets and plumbing fixtures for individual use.

All common building communications are maintained by the management company at the expense of the apartment owners. Current repairs include replacement of pipes if they are in poor technical condition.

Who is obliged to change the riser

If the house is multi-apartment, part of the property of the residents is common. This applies not only to the riser, but also to the outlet from it. It is common until the first joint.

All issues related to the maintenance of property are discussed in the following documents:

Government Decree. We are talking about document No. 491, which was released on August 8, 2006.
Resolution of the State Committee for Construction No. 170, which considers the standards of technical operation.
Manual released on April 2, 2004.

All work to replace common property in an apartment building must be carried out by a management company. The owner of the property or its tenant, in order to initiate their commencement, must draw up an application. It states the request, giving arguments why the riser needs to be repaired or completely replaced.

The company must consider the appeal received from the citizen and provide a response. The time when the work will be completed must be agreed upon. The property owner must be at home to provide the craftsmen with access to the premises.

The homeowner is not obliged to pay for the work of specialists and the materials used. If a representative of the management company demands payment, citing the fact that the riser is located inside the apartment, this is illegal.

At whose expense

You will only have to pay to replace the riser if the sewer system is working properly, but the property owner wants to replace the pipes. For example, the need for this may arise during the redevelopment of the premises or during a major overhaul. In all other cases there is no need to pay.

The riser belongs to the common property of the house, so repair work is carried out for money that is collected monthly for the maintenance of housing. If a social rental agreement was concluded, this means that the residential premises belong to the state. In such a situation, all funds will be taken from the municipal budget.

If the riser is replaced as planned, then the money is taken from the funds that the residents of the apartment building allocate for major repairs.

When can a tenant be denied pipe replacement?

The tenant may be denied a replacement riser.

Don’t think that the organization will immediately agree to a replacement.

She can refuse legally if the following is observed:

The owner who submitted the application does not pay utilities. If he has debts, then replacing the riser will be postponed until they are fully repaid. The only exception is when an accident occurs.
A work schedule has been approved, based on which repairs are planned for the house, but the property owner is going to replace the riser before the specified date.
If the replacement was previously made by the homeowner, he bought the pipes himself.

Read more: How much insurance compensation is paid?

The last point is important. If the owner of the apartment replaced the pipes, but did not coordinate this with the housing and communal services and there was no quality control, then the organization is not responsible for this section of the sewer system.