A riser, a pipe, a battery burst - the neighbors were flooded: who is to blame, who is paying for the damage

It is impossible to live in isolation in an apartment building. If something happens to neighbors, the other residents may unwittingly be involved in it. A similar situation happens when heating pipes break in an apartment. This article will tell you who is to blame and who will be liable for compensation.

Causes of flooding

First question: what caused the leak? The answer to it, supported by evidence, will help identify the guilty party, who must assume responsibility for the damage.

There are the following categories of reasons why problems occur with the riser:

Due to the fault of the residents. This type includes situations in which the owners of the apartment carried out unauthorized repairs or modernization of pipes, remodeled the premises without agreement with the management company, or subjected communications to inappropriate use. Also, the blame falls on the owners in situations where they noticed a problem, but did not contact the emergency service or take other actions to fix the problem.
Due to the fault of the utility service. Concerns accidents when a scheduled inspection of pipes was not carried out, or the need for repairs was not recorded during the inspection. Liability also extends to cases in which the leak was caused by poor quality work on replacing or upgrading the riser.

Special attention should be paid to providing evidence that helps determine the degree of guilt of the utility service or residents.

Any inspection must be accompanied by an official report, which should list the identified problems or damage.

If a citizen does not provide inspections with access to his apartment, this is equivalent to misuse of common property. Responsibility in such a situation falls on the owner of the apartment.

A riser burst in an apartment - who is to blame, what to do

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 approved the “Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building,” which contain clauses stating that water supply and sewerage networks are part of the common property.

Apartment owners pay monthly to the HOA for the maintenance of this property. This means that the management company must monitor the condition of the heating system, including the riser.

If she did not follow up and repair the riser on time, she will pay for the damage to the residents of the house unilaterally.

What should you do if the riser in your apartment bursts?

It is necessary to detect a break in the riser. The best solution would be to draw up an act in the presence of a representative of the management company.
The next step is to assess the damage to all residents. It must be compiled with the help of an independent expert.
Fill out a letter of claim and send it to the management company.
If, after receiving the letter, the management company does not voluntarily take measures to pay the damage to the residents, then you need to seek help from a lawyer and go to court. You can also reimburse the costs of a lawyer from the Criminal Code.

Useful information: what to do if your neighbors below are flooded, how to prove innocence, damage assessment. ⇐

Who will have to pay?

If pipes break between floors, or problems with the riser are identified, then the blame falls on the shoulders of the management company. In this case, the organization must compensate the damage caused to the residents. If there are supporting factors, but the organization refuses to pay, then you should immediately go to court . Neighbors may be held liable if:

there are facts that confirm the negligence of the owners;
There is a professional damage assessment.

We find out the causes of the accident

The heating system of the apartment consists of:

a riser that runs through the toilet;
supply pipes (return);
connections between pipes;
batteries

No one is safe from these pipes bursting. This happens often and there can be several causes of accidents:

old equipment that has become unusable due to a long service life;
careless use of batteries;
incorrectly installed heating pipes;
pipes may burst during a scheduled inspection by the services of the management company, as described above.

Municipal housing

If a riser in an apartment bursts and this requires urgent repairs, then all costs must be reimbursed by the management company of the building. However, this requires a concluded agreement with such an organization to transfer the house for its maintenance. From this it turns out that emergency situations are resolved by the management company, and it bears responsibility.

But this is in theory, but practice shows something completely different. It is very difficult to prove the guilt of the management company. Indeed, in addition to her responsibilities, the citizen also has them, according to which he must preserve the equipment and, at the right time, correct any malfunctions that appear if they arose through his fault.

In addition, there is a division of responsibility. If, for example, a heated towel rail breaks, then the tenant of the residential premises must repair it, and if it is a common building riser, then the management company. Replacement of all devices is also carried out at the expense of the employer.

Advice! It is best to carry out all work related to plumbing or heating in consultation with housing and communal services. So that in the future there will be no questions that interference in engineering communications will cause further malfunctions. It would be better if the work was carried out by employees of these organizations, but in cash from the employer.

Cooperative living quarters

If a citizen has a share in a cooperative, and the battery in the apartment bursts, which leads to a flood, then the procedure will be identical to that of municipal housing.

What should you pay attention to?

It is necessary to take into account a number of nuances in order to figure out who is right and who is wrong. The tap on the riser allows you to shut off the flow of hot water or sewerage. If we turn to the legislation, the organization involved in the building is responsible only until the first floor .

The disconnecting product is usually located on a branch of the riser. If a breakthrough occurs before it, then the organization remains to blame. Those pipes that are inside the home can be changed and repaired by residents. They are responsible for their condition. To determine who is at fault, you will need to find the location of the breakthrough .

ATTENTION! If the pipe is damaged after the shut-off valve, the owner is responsible for the damage. In another case, the management company is considered to be at fault.

But in some cases, according to a court decision, the blame is placed on the organization, even if the breakthrough occurred after the locking product. Situations where a radiator or heating pipe breaks are considered frequent . This occurs due to untimely replacement, or due to too high pressure. That is why the organization that monitors these moments is found guilty.

It also happens that to determine who is guilty, the judge orders an examination . It allows you to find out what exactly caused the flooding.

Experts are of the opinion that the optimal solution would be to conduct such a check before the trial.

This is necessary for the reasons that sometimes it is impossible to establish the true cause several days after the breakthrough.

Battery leak

The battery burst and the neighbors were flooded. Who is to blame? To accuse the owner of this, it is necessary to provide documented evidence, and it is also necessary to conduct an assessment of the damage caused. If there was a burst inside a residential building, it is necessary to notify the housing and communal services service. Full responsibility will fall on the owner if they themselves carried out any work on the heating system.

An assessment of the damage caused by the flood is necessary to file a claim in court.

Housing in the cooperative department

In this case, it is worth considering whether the apartments were fully or partially purchased by the cooperative. If not, they are owned by the HOA. This suggests that their maintenance should be carried out in the same way as other apartments.

Emergency situation during the heating season and after it

The organization that manages this house is responsible for in-house equipment.

Important! Housing companies are not responsible for faults inside the apartment.

If a heating pipe bursts and the consequences affect the entrance and basement, then it is necessary to urgently report this fact to the emergency company. Otherwise, you will be liable for damage to the city property fund.

However, accidents occur even after the heating season, despite the fact that the coolant is turned off. To avoid such situations, the management company conducts a hydraulic test of the heating system. It is at this time that it is checked whether there are any breaks in the heating network.

At this time, residents should be careful and inspect each pipe to identify leaks.

Conclusion

Leak in the apartment, who is to blame? This question cannot be answered immediately. If the battery is leaking, first of all you need to notify the service organization. Document the flooding of your neighbors' premises with photographs. Well, then look at where the malfunction occurred.

If this is a common building riser, then claims must be submitted to the management organization. But it is better not to do this if the apartment was reconstructed independently. When looking for the perpetrators, one must rely primarily on the current legislation.

And only then make a decision to go to court with a claim or not.

If you go to court for compensation for damage due to flooding, you will need an assessment, which is ordered from a professional organization. Watch the video “a pipe burst”

This might interest you:

Useful video

This video provides detailed instructions on what to do if you flood your neighbors.

Who is to blame for the flooding

As a rule, owners affected by flooding make claims for compensation based on the provisions of Article 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
However, they forget that this article allows you to avoid paying compensation.
To avoid liability, you need to prove that you were not at fault for the flooding.

Literally, the norm of the law reads as follows: “ The person who caused the harm is exempt from compensation for harm if he proves that the harm was not caused through his fault.”

Hold your attention here, you need to clarify the point of proof.

The fact is that in civil legal relations the guilt of the harm-doer is implied by default. This is the difference between civil law and criminal law, where a person is innocent until proven guilty.

To avoid liability in case of flooding, you must independently prove that you are innocent.
How to prove innocence if your neighbors are flooded?
In multi-apartment residential buildings, the Rules for the maintenance of common property, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of August 13, 2006, apply.
Their value lies in the fact that the rules divide responsibility between apartment owners and the operating organization.
In accordance with the principle of division of responsibility, the management organization, HOA, cooperative or other organization is responsible for the good condition of the common property, depending on the method of managing the apartment building in force in a particular case.
In turn, responsibility for the good condition of property that is not common is assigned to the owner of the apartment.
Thus, if the neighbors were flooded not through their own fault, but as a result of a malfunction of the common property , then the owner of the apartment is released from liability.
What applies to common property in apartment buildings?
Let's consider common property objects that are most often sources of flooding. These include:

roofs
sanitary equipment located outside or inside premises and serving more than one room
in-house engineering systems of cold and hot water supply, consisting of risers, branches from the risers to the first shut-off device located on the branches from the risers, the specified shut-off devices, collective (common house) cold and hot water metering devices, the first shut-off and control valves on the branches of the intra-apartment wiring from risers
an in-house engineering drainage system consisting of sewer outlets, shaped parts (including bends, transitions, pipes, revisions, crosses, tees), risers, plugs, exhaust pipes, drain funnels, cleanouts, branches from the risers to the first butt joints , and also other equipment located in this system
an intra-house heating system consisting of risers, heating elements, control and shut-off valves, collective (common house) heat energy metering devices, as well as other equipment located on these networks.

Of course, the list of common property is wider, but I have highlighted those items that are most often encountered during flooding.
What to do if your neighbors are flooded through no fault of your own?
If you flooded your neighbors due to the fault of the operating services, then first of all you need to call representatives of the operating organization to eliminate the cause of the leak and draw up a report.

The report must indicate the cause of the leak. If you think that it is indicated incorrectly, then you should make a note about this in the act itself, in your own hand. Refusal to sign is not the same as indicating an objection. In principle, refusal to sign can be regarded as tacit agreement with the circumstances set out in the act.

There may be a situation where it is difficult to come to a consensus on who is to blame for the flooding. In this case, the court may order a construction and technical examination. An expert is a person with special knowledge who will draw a conclusion about the source of flooding and the causes of flooding.

Based on the expert opinion, the court will make a conclusion about the guilt of a particular person.

Thus, the question of who is to blame for the flooding is a dispute about responsibility between the owner of the apartment and the operating organization.

In judicial practice, it is not uncommon for the plaintiff to name the owner of the flooded apartment and the operating organization as defendants. And during the trial, each of them tries to prove his innocence.

Such disputes occur especially often when the owner of an apartment changes heating appliances without the consent of the management company.

There is a common misconception that if heating radiators and riser pipes are located in an apartment, then they are the property of the apartment owner. Being in the grip of this misconception, the owner, at his own discretion, changes heating devices and makes changes to the design of the riser.

At the same time, he often uses the services of workers of questionable qualifications.
If, as a result of such actions, flooding occurs, then the owner tries to shift responsibility to the management company, remembering pressure testing of pipes, water hammer, and so on.
This position is fundamentally wrong.

Nobody forbids you to change the radiators in your apartment or lay plastic pipes instead of old cast iron ones.

But it is imperative to notify the operating organization of this type of planned work in advance. At least for preliminary shutdown of water supply.

If you entrust the work to the employees of your management organization, then the responsibility in the future will be on it.

And if you engage a third-party organization for such work, then try to obtain a service agreement and a document confirming payment. This will allow, as a last resort, to file a recourse claim against the builders.

So, if the battery burst and flooded the neighbors, then who is to blame will depend on the following factors:

was the heating system re-equipped by the apartment owner?
If yes, was permission obtained for such work?
Was a preventive inspection of heating systems carried out by the operating organization?
if the owner of the apartment did not make changes to the heating system, or made them in agreement with the operating organization (local government bodies), then there are no grounds for finding him guilty of flooding

Unfortunately, it is difficult to consider all possible causes of flooding in neighbors in one article. For example, what happened as a result of redevelopment or reconstruction of an apartment. We will look at them in another article.

If you have any questions and need legal assistance, please contact me.

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The battery burst, the neighbors were flooded - who is to blame?

It is impossible to live in isolation in an apartment building. If something happens to the neighbors, then all the problems directly or indirectly affect the other residents, in particular the neighbors. A similar situation happens when heating pipes break in an apartment. This article will tell you who is to blame and who will be liable for compensation. The battery burst, the neighbors were flooded - who is to blame.

What to do when the heating becomes unusable and the neighbors suffer? Where to look for the guilty?

First you need to find out whose fault the accident occurred. Who is to blame: the owner of the apartment or the management company that monitors the condition of the heating pipes of the entire house. If the heating breakthrough occurred due to the fault of the owner, then he will compensate for the damage to the neighbors flooded from below. If it is the fault of the management company, then all expenses for repairing the premises will be borne by it.

The Housing Code imposes obligations on the apartment owner to keep the property in good condition and monitor the pipes. If necessary, he must make repairs.

If the pipes are in poor condition, you need to contact the management organization (ZhEK) and call a specialist. The application must be official and supported by appropriate documents. It is necessary to fill out a request, which will be registered and a repair time will be scheduled.

After the work is completed, an acceptance certificate is issued, which is signed by the owner of the apartment and the specialist.

If all stages are followed, the management company will bear full responsibility for improper installation of heating pipes.

At his own expense, the owner of the apartment must repair those appliances that have stopped working due to his fault. For example, faulty plumbing. However, repairs to these devices can only be carried out by a company specialist with the consent of the housing office. If the owner changes the plumbing himself, then if the neighbors below flood, all responsibility will most likely fall solely on him.

The management company must repair and conduct routine inspections of the heating system in apartments at least 2 times a year. After the inspection, a report with the results is issued. If the owners do not allow a specialist into the premises, then this amounts to improper use of communications. And in the event of an accident, the owner of the premises may be found to be at fault.

Heating season or not, the subtleties of the issue

Since in winter the water flows through the pipes is very hot—over 55 degrees Celsius—there is a high risk of burns if the heating breaks through. If pipes are leaking, then it is not advisable to do anything on your own. Before the arrival of specialists, it is necessary to save flooded property, documents, and valuables.

In the summer, the management company carries out routine inspections of pipes in high-rise buildings. The house, whose residents are warned about this three days in advance, is checked by running cold water under pressure through the pipes.

If the batteries in any apartment are worn out or leaky, they will leak. Therefore, the management company asks that all apartment owners be at home at a certain point in time during the inspection.

If the owner notices that water is flowing in his or a neighbor’s apartment during the inspection , then he needs to contact repairmen. They will change the batteries at the expense of the management company.

A riser burst in an apartment - who is to blame, what to do

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of August 13, 2006 approved the “Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building,” which contain clauses stating that water supply and sewerage networks are part of the common property.

Apartment owners pay monthly to the management organization for the maintenance of this property. This means that the management company must monitor the condition of the heating system, including the riser.

If she did not follow up and repair the riser on time, she will pay for the damage to the residents of the house unilaterally.

What should you do if the riser in your apartment bursts?

It is necessary to detect a break in the riser. The best solution would be to draw up an act in the presence of a representative of the management company.
The next step is to assess the damage to all residents. It must be compiled with the help of an independent expert.
Fill out a letter of claim and send it to the management company.
If, after receiving the letter, the management company does not voluntarily take measures to pay the damage to the residents, then you need to seek help from a lawyer and go to court. You can also reimburse the costs of a lawyer from the Criminal Code.

We find out the causes of the accident

The heating system of the apartment consists of:

a riser that runs through the toilet;
supply pipes (return);
connections between pipes;
batteries

No one is safe from these pipes bursting. This happens often and there can be several causes of accidents:

old equipment that has become unusable due to a long service life;
careless use of batteries;
incorrectly installed heating pipes;
pipes may burst during a scheduled inspection by the services of the management company, as described above.

How to behave, where to go

If an accident does occur, you should immediately call the housing office and report the break. If the accident occurred at night, you need to notify the emergency services. The telephone numbers of these organizations should always be at hand.

It is advisable to photograph or videotape the fact of flooding, as well as the condition of the apartment. Because in reality, the housing office doesn’t really like to pay repair costs. In addition, he is trying to prove that everything is the fault of the residents, since they did not notice in time the malfunction of the equipment that needed repair.

After eliminating the accident, it is necessary to immediately record the damage caused. After the commission has examined the premises, the owner is issued a certificate. But it is better to make an independent assessment of the damage by inviting an outside specialist for a fee.

Next, it becomes clear who is responsible for the accident.

Who pays for the damage?

If a pipe breaks in an apartment due to the fault of the management company, it compensates the damage to the residents. If she refuses to pay or repair in the presence of all supporting factors, then such a non-standard case can be considered in court.

You can hold residents accountable and compensate for damages for flooding of neighbors:

if there are facts supported by documentation about the negligence of the apartment owner, due to which the batteries became unusable;
having a professionally compiled assessment of the damage incurred.

If the apartment is municipal

The user to whom the property is rented is also responsible for routine pipe repairs. Replacement of pipes is not included in such repairs. This applies to major renovations carried out by the apartment owner.

Housing owners can be individuals, organizations or public entities that provide apartments for rent.

Such a public entity may be a municipality. He carries out renovations of the apartment, as he is the full owner. Contacts the management company of the house and entrusts it with repairs and subsequent financing.

In what cases does the owner's liability arise in a privatized apartment?

The owner is fully responsible in a privatized apartment for careless handling of the heating system, for untimely calling a technician, for independently repairing pipes and replacing them without a representative of the management company.

The exception is for residents who received an apartment from a cooperative and it is in the process of privatization. In this case, until the last payment is made, the premises belong to the property of the cooperative.

In what cases does tenant liability arise?

Tenants are also required to maintain heating in proper order. If it is proven that the tenant intentionally damaged the property, only then will he be held liable. And he will also be obliged to compensate for damage caused not only to neighbors, but also to the owner.

So don’t immediately panic when the battery in your apartment bursts. If you flooded your neighbors, caused damage to your apartment - record everything right away and begin to find out, together with the employees of the management company, what the cause of the accident was. If you are blamed for everything and forced to bear the costs of the damage caused, and you do not agree with this, then you need to go to court.

Igor Biteikin, managing partner of Biteikin and Partners Law Firm

What to do if the heating battery at home bursts: who is to blame for the “flood”

We have already looked at how to prevent negative consequences and compensate for the damage when your upstairs neighbors flooded you.

Let's now consider the opposite situation: You are returning home, and there is a flood at home - the battery in the apartment has burst. What to do in such a situation, where to call and how to find the culprits, so as not to become a “debtor” of the neighbors below and not pay them for new repairs in the apartment. Let's look at this situation in more detail here.

To begin with, let’s figure out what a heating system battery is in a residential building, and who is responsible for its serviceability and performance.

According to the rules for maintaining common property in an apartment building (MKD), approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of August 13, 2006. Common property includes the in-house heating system.

The internal MKD system includes risers, heating elements (heating radiators), control valves, gate valves, ball valves, as well as a general house heat meter.

Proper operation of common property is ensured by organizations depending on the option of managing a residential building. The Housing Code regulates the following methods of managing apartment buildings:

Owners of premises in an apartment building, by concluding an agreement for:
- house management with a management company;
- maintenance and repair of the house with relevant organizations (direct management).
Homeowners' association, housing, housing-construction cooperative.

Thus, responsibility for the serviceability of heating radiators lies with the service organization with which an agreement has been concluded for the maintenance (management) of a residential building.

Where to go if the battery is leaking?

If even minor leaks are detected from heating pipes or radiators, you must urgently contact the service organization or submit a request for troubleshooting to the dispatch service. Even a minor fault can lead to flooding not only of your property, but also of the property of your neighbors below. And this is fraught with costs for repairing their apartment.

It is impossible to eliminate a radiator leak on your own, since this requires disconnecting and draining the entire riser. You should also not try to troubleshoot a Mayevsky tap (these are usually installed in rooms on the top floor to bleed air from the heating system) without a representative of a specialized organization.

A battery rupture can occur both in the summer (non-heating) period and in winter. After the end of the heating season, all heat supply systems are tested for strength and density. Pipeline tests are carried out by creating a pressure 1.25 more than the working one, but not less than 0.2 MPa.

In winter, a radiator burst may be associated with water hammer.

Water hammers occur when the resource supply organization’s coolant temperature is not gradually increased in conditions of a significant drop in outside air in a short period of time.

At the same time, the network water increases in volume and does not have time to be drained from the system into the expansion tanks, which provokes a rupture of pipelines, their connections and heating devices.

What to do if your neighbors are flooded with water from the battery?

In the event of an instantaneous burst of a heating radiator (usually during pressure testing or water hammer), it takes a lot of time to eliminate the leak, and if the fault is not immediately detected, then not only the property in the apartment where the accident occurred, but also the neighbors below may suffer. As we have already found out, the service organization is responsible for the good condition of the radiators, so it must pay for the damage caused.

However, the management organization may refuse compensation for damage. Of course, in the future you can change the management company. But why bring it to this point, if you can immediately competently take all the necessary actions, after which the service organization will not have the slightest reason to compensate the victims for damage.

Procedure for flooding an apartment from a battery:

Call the dispatch service and submit a request to eliminate the leak from the radiator, as well as to invite a master or chief engineer to determine the damage.
After eliminating the battery malfunction, together with a representative of the service organization, a report is drawn up, which records the amount of damage from flooding. It is important to describe everything in the report: the volume of damaged wallpaper, ceiling covering, floor, slopes, etc.

furniture damaged by water;
Appliances.

If the lower apartment was damaged, the damage must also be recorded in this act, or a separate act must be drawn up.
Determine the value of the damaged property and demand compensation from the service organization.

Often companies responsible for the health of the heating system refuse to pay damages to owners or try to dispute the cost. In this case, there are several options for resolving the issue. If the damage is not significant and only repairs were affected, you can agree that the finish will be restored at their expense.

If you are not satisfied with the proposals of the guilty party, you must invite damage assessors from a company engaged in independent examination to draw up an opinion. With this document, you can go to court for reimbursement of the funds necessary to restore the damaged property.

Without an expert opinion, the court will not take into account its own determined value, so this procedure is mandatory.

The examination is paid for by the injured party, however, its cost must be indicated in the statement of claim, and if the decision is positive, the service organization is obliged to compensate you for it.

Cases when the owner is to blame

It is not always possible to claim compensation for damage from the service company, and even the court in some cases decides in favor of the defendant. We are talking about unauthorized reconstruction of the premises (moving the battery, changing the number of sections, incorrect insertion into the heating riser), or replacing the heating radiator with a device of a different type.

The house design provides for a specific heating system, indicating the materials and types of batteries used.

Often, when renovating an apartment, property owners change heating devices to radiators of a different configuration, but no one thinks that this requires a project agreed upon with all relevant authorities.

Thus, bimetallic heating devices are especially popular. Their compact appearance is especially attractive and looks more aesthetically pleasing than, for example, a cast iron radiator.

It is important to compare the technical characteristics of modern batteries with the characteristics of those originally installed. Also, after replacing, moving or increasing the heating area of the heating device, it is necessary to carry out start-up tests, for which a report must be drawn up, in accordance with

Thus, if you are planning to change the internal heating system, be prepared for possible consequences and read the Rules for the technical operation of thermal power plants, as well as SP 60.13330.2012 “Heating, ventilation and air conditioning”.

Still have questions? Do you want answers to them?

Here you can ask a question free of charge to the experts or lawyers of the gkh-konsultant.ru portal.

Who should compensate for damage from flooding if the heating battery bursts? – consult on housing and communal services issues Pravoved.ru

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Hello. Our heating battery burst. The battery is new, the pipes are new. Major repairs were done 5 years ago by the management company. As a result, the neighbors below were flooded. Are we to blame in this case?

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Lawyers' answers (2)

WHO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FLOOD?

T. PAVLYUKOVA

Tatyana Pavlyukova, lawyer, Moscow.

Is a radiator of a heating system located in an apartment, in a non-residential premises, the common property of the house and who is responsible if it ruptures or is damaged? Despite the fact that this issue is regulated by law and there are legal norms that establish the legal regime for this equipment, different practices have developed in the courts.

The court decided

By decision of the Butyrsky District Court of Moscow dated December 7, 2011, the owner of the apartment (hereinafter referred to as the defendant) was awarded material damage caused as a result of the flooding of the apartment below. The flood occurred due to a rupture of a heating device (radiator) located in one of the rooms of the defendant’s apartment.

The defendant did not dispute the fact of the flood, but believed that the proper defendant should be the operating organization, since the heating device (radiator) belongs to the common property of the apartment building.

In making a decision to recover the amount of damage from the defendant, the court proceeded from the fact that the heating device (radiator) is not common property of the house, since it serves one living space. And the defendant, as the owner of the residential premises, by virtue of Art. 30 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation must bear the costs of maintaining the property owned by him.

The correctness of the court's decision was confirmed by the appellate instance of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Moscow City Court. By the ruling of the judge of the Moscow City Court, the transfer of the case to the cassation court was refused.

At the same time, the judge indicated in the ruling that the defendant, who independently replaced the heating battery, must bear the risks associated with the operation of this heating device.

When what's mine is part of what's common

The heating system in the defendant’s apartment has been functioning unchanged since the house was built in 1985. The defendant and the previously living residents regularly and fully paid for utilities, which included the costs of maintaining and repairing common property. Clause 3 of Part 1 of Art.

36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation establishes that the common property in an apartment building includes roofs, enclosing load-bearing and non-load-bearing structures of a given house, mechanical, electrical, sanitary and other equipment located in a given house outside or inside the premises and serving more than one room .According to clause

5, 6 Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13.

2006 N 491, the common property includes in-house engineering systems of cold and hot water supply and gas supply, consisting of risers, branches from the risers to the first disconnecting device located on the branches from the risers, the specified disconnecting devices, collective (common house) cold and hot metering devices water, the first shut-off and control valves on the outlets of the intra-apartment distribution from the risers, as well as mechanical, electrical, sanitary and other equipment located on these networks. The composition of the common property includes an in-house engineering drainage system, consisting of sewer outlets, fittings ( including bends, transitions, branch pipes, revisions, crosses, tees), risers, plugs, exhaust pipes, drainage funnels, cleanouts, branches from risers to the first butt joints, as well as other equipment located in this system. The common property includes an intra-house heating system, consisting of risers, heating elements, control and shut-off valves, collective (common house) heat energy metering devices, as well as other equipment located on these networks.

Thus, from the literal interpretation of clauses 5 and 6 of the Rules, it follows that the common property of the house includes hot and cold heating systems and other systems located inside the apartment or non-residential premises up to the first disconnecting device.

Conversely, the heating system of the house, including radiators located inside the apartments, belongs to the common property of the house. This interpretation was confirmed in a letter from the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation dated September 4.

2007 N 16273-SK/07.

Who is contradicting whom?

A pipe burst, the neighbors were flooded, who is to blame?

Recently, in connection with the development of the construction of apartment buildings, housing disputes have gained significant popularity, including disputes over property damage as a result of flooding or flooding.

In this article, we will examine the issues of delimiting the responsibilities of the management company and the owner of a residential premises in case of flooding and violation of the integrity of common building communications.

As a general rule, the organization managing the house is responsible for general building communications that serve more than one room in the house. Such communications may include a riser for cold and hot water supply, heating, and sewerage.

Each case is unique and individual.
Understanding the basics of the law is useful, but does not guarantee results.
The possibility of a positive outcome depends on many factors.

Housing legislation establishes that the management company is responsible up to the first disconnecting device located on the branch of the utility riser. That is, if a breakthrough occurred before the inlet valve, then the management company will be responsible in this case.

The owner of the residential premises is responsible for the maintenance of communications located inside the apartment from the first locking device.

Thus, in order to determine who is to blame, it is necessary to establish the location of the breakthrough.

Important! If the integrity of the pipe in the apartment after the shut-off valve is damaged (for example, the battery has burst), then the owner is responsible for the flooding and he is obliged to compensate for the damage; if before the valve, then the management company is responsible.

However, in some cases, when a riser branch breaks after the first locking device, the courts hold the management company responsible.

Most often, it occurs when a radiator or heating pipe breaks in an apartment, since in practice the courts believe that a heating pipe cannot burst on its own; in this case, the reason may be a banal failure to comply with the requirements for the operation of common property and excessively high pressure in the pipes.

In addition, when determining guilt, in some cases it is necessary to conduct an examination of the cause of the flooding. The examination can be carried out by any expert institution. It is advisable to establish the cause of the flooding by conducting an examination at the pre-trial stage, since if it is not carried out within a few days from the moment of the flood, it may be difficult to establish the cause of the breakthrough in the future.

Important! If you are not to blame for the flooding, we advise you not to pay anything voluntarily and send your neighbors to the management company.

If it was not possible to reach an agreement regarding the guilty person in pre-trial proceedings, then the absence of guilt will have to be proven in court.

To do this, you need to order an examination if one was not carried out at the pre-trial stage, or if you do not agree with its results.

In addition, it would be advisable to file a petition with the court to replace the inappropriate defendant, indicating that the house is managed by a certain company, which is responsible for the common property of the house.

If the breach occurred within the limits of your responsibility, then you are obliged to compensate the amount of damage caused by virtue of the provisions of civil law. You can pay this amount pre-trial or at the trial stage.

If you and your neighbors have agreed on the amount of damage (or assessed it) and are ready to voluntarily compensate for it, then you should enter into an agreement on voluntary repayment of the amount of material damage. The agreement should indicate:

FULL NAME;
details of the parties;
subject of the agreement;
date and approximate time of the incident;
amount of damage.

It is also worth stating that the damage has been compensated in full and the parties do not have any property claims against each other.
Actually, flooding your neighbors is not a very pleasant thing, but it is not a disaster either, so you need to maintain composure and properly document the incident and the extent of the damage.
In this publication, we examined the issues of delimiting the responsibilities of the management company and the owner of a residential premises in case of flooding, and also determined the procedure for dealing with such a situation in court and pre-trial procedures.

ATTENTION! Due to recent changes in legislation, the information in this article may be out of date! Our lawyer will advise you free of charge - write in the form below.

The riser burst and the neighbors were flooded. Who is to blame?

When a riser bursts in an apartment, it’s an emergency. And if they also flooded their neighbors below, then this is already a problem. Who is to blame for this, and what to do?

Before looking for those responsible for the breakthrough, you need to find out the reason, and then act. So what should you do in case of pipe leaks and flooding of your neighbors? What actions need to be taken depending on the form of ownership?

The most popular causes of gusts are:

Damaged heating devices, wear and tear of pipes and fittings. Such defects threaten to break the seal.
Gusts associated with high blood pressure.

Emergency actions

If a pipe bursts in your apartment, you need to take the following steps:

Contact your local property management company.
If they do not show up, contact a specialized emergency company.
Take photographs of the extent of the flood and the location of the accident.
Remove items that could be damaged by a flood.

Who should be blamed?

If a pipe bursts in a residential building, you don’t need to immediately say that the utility companies are to blame. This can be influenced by many factors. Not only pipe wear, but also weather conditions.

Municipal housing

If a pipe bursts in a home that the tenant did not privatize, then he still fulfills the duties of a tenant (Article 179 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). There are Rules on the basis of which all owners are obliged to ensure the working condition of all existing communications. But the lessor (local government bodies), in turn, are obliged to ensure the functionality of the engineering equipment.

Cooperative living quarters

If a citizen has a share in a cooperative, and the battery in the apartment bursts, which leads to a flood, then the procedure will be identical to that of municipal housing.

Apartment with certificate in hand

What to do if a pipe bursts in housing that is privatized by a citizen? The legislation states that all work on the safety of communications in one’s own home is carried out at the expense of the owner (Article 151 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation), and utility workers perform control functions.

In the event of a pipe rupture, if the owner did not allow utility services to inspect the utilities in the apartment, then the owner will be responsible for everything. In this situation, the reason will be clear - no access to the property to prevent emergency situations.

The procedure for carrying out work to inspect communications in apartments is provided for by the laws of the Russian Federation.

Such an inspection is carried out at least 2 times every year, and the management company must notify residents in advance of the date of inspection. Any defects found during the inspection are corrected by the company.

However, there are nuances here that can be found in Resolution 630. They relate to points of distribution of responsibility.