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Where to complain if the lights don't work
One of the main problems of modern Russia is the lack of lighting in small settlements. Sometimes there is no light on the street even in large cities. Therefore, the question of where to turn if there are no lights on in the yard is relevant for everyone.
According to average statistics, a street lamp can operate continuously for about 18 months. It all depends on the weather conditions of a particular region of the country. In some places, the lights stay on for three to four years in a row. That is why there are no clear deadlines for replacing lighting fixtures. No one is immune from the fact that street lights suddenly stop lighting.
However, if this happens, the device must be repaired. Moreover, the lamp does not have to be completely burnt out. If street lighting is poor, this creates increased danger. People may get injured, and cases of robberies and thefts are increasing in the area.
If there is no light in the yard, you can file a complaint with the local administration. The application can be either collective or from one person. It is considered within thirty days from the date of registration of the document. Based on the results of the inspection, the lighting is completely restored.
Where can I complain that the street lights are not on?
There is no light in the yard.
If there is no lighting in the courtyard area, citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to contact the local administration. We must be guided by Federal Law of the Russian Federation N 131-FZ, which states that the organization of street lighting should be handled by local governments. Requirements for the procedure for organizing lighting are enshrined in GOST.
If there is no light in the yard, you must complain to the local government body - the administration of the municipality. They are authorized to resolve issues of local importance, including their responsibilities to maintain lighting on the streets and courtyards of the city.
Rules for filing a complaint
If a lamp or lighting device has failed and as a result the lantern does not light, you must contact the management company in your area. If a light bulb burns out or is missing in a lamp located near the house, on the facade or entrance, you must contact the housing and communal services service.
You can complain, ask a question you are interested in or make a rational proposal on the topic of lighting city streets to the relevant organizations orally and in writing. Verbal options:
- if there is no light on the street, you need to call the unified housing and communal services dispatch service at telephone number 115;
- you can call the operational dispatch service of the city's Gorsvet system enterprise, the hotline of the executive committee or the housing and communal services service;
- make an appointment with the executive committee or the head of the housing and communal services service.
When calling, be sure to introduce yourself, give your home address and briefly state the essence of your request.
You can complain about poor city lighting on the street or in the courtyard of a residential building in writing by following simple recommendations:
- Send an appeal by email or post a complaint on the website of the housing and communal services service (executive committee) in a special section.
- Write a complaint and bring it personally to the executive committee or housing and communal services service. If desired, it can be sent by courier or by mail.
In written and electronic appeals, you must indicate your contact information (last name, first name, patronymic, registration address and telephone number), date and highlight the essence of the appeal. A written appeal must be signed, and an electronic version must include an email address.
If the lights in your city are partially out of order or there is no lighting system, as often happens in new neighborhoods located on the outskirts of the city, the problem must be solved immediately.
Drawing up a complaint
An appeal to the municipality must be made in simple written form. The applicant can be one citizen or several (in the latter case we are talking about a collective complaint).
In the text of the appeal, it is important to indicate the following questions to the local administration:
- what organization is engaged in servicing lamps in a certain area;
- who is the customer under the contract concluded with this organization;
- who is responsible for maintaining lighting at the proper level in a particular location.
What to do if you are refused?
The response from the local administration must be received by the applicants in writing within a calendar month from the date of filing the complaint. Failure of a local government body is a common phenomenon, the reason most often being a lack of finances in the budget. In such a situation, you will need to contact a higher authority - the court or the prosecutor's office.
However, you should not immediately sue the municipality due to the lack of working light bulbs in street lamps. First, try contacting your local government and the organization that maintains a specific street or section of it (this information should be provided to you in a written response from the administration).
If there are no lights at all on a particular street, which creates an increased danger for passers-by and residents, but the municipality refuses to install lighting in this place, interested parties are advised to go to court to resolve this conflict.
The text of the application must indicate the fact of inaction of executive authorities. In addition, it is recommended that photographs confirming the absence of lighting be attached to the application.
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Complaint about poor street lighting
As for maintenance, regularly scheduled and unscheduled inspections of the condition of street lighting in the territory entrusted to them must be carried out by performing services and enterprises. In addition, commissions are appointed to monitor the work of these services. If manual control of the lighting system is expected, a schedule for turning the lighting on and off must be drawn up.
Who is responsible for street lighting? where to go if the lights don't work?
Attention
Is it dark in the yard? Are there not enough street lights on your street? Or maybe they don't exist at all? Or did the lamp break and the unregulated pedestrian crossing was left without light? During the transition and winter periods, the topic of street lighting becomes especially relevant.
Let's figure out where to go in these and other cases and how to do it.
Note: Street lighting refers to the lighting of the city, including the roadways of streets, tunnels, overpasses, bridges, squares, car parks and parking lots, as well as pedestrian paths. But, for example, a lantern above the entrance door of a residential building is not street lighting. The main purpose of the latter is to ensure the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians
Standards and requirements
Construction norms and rules SNiP SN 541-82 should ensure better functioning of lamps and other street lighting devices, efficiency and safety of their operation, as well as maintenance.
But, nevertheless, today in many courtyards the lights are not lit completely or only a few units are partially lit, and sometimes the installation of a new lighting system in a newly built area is endlessly postponed.
Requirements for street lighting To be able to defend your rights, you should know how street lighting should be equipped and how it works. Basic provisions of building codes and regulations:
- Illumination of architectural objects and monuments is a mandatory measure when organizing a street lighting system;
- Lighting of main and secondary roads is carried out taking into account the type of road surface and its reflective properties;
- Each object provides a certain level of horizontal illumination, for example, for highways this parameter corresponds to 20 lux, regional roads are illuminated within 15 lux, and for local streets 4-6 lux are sufficient.
In addition, for a street lamp, special requirements were formulated for the degree of protection of the lampshade, since on large highways the dust level is very high. For example, if the traffic volume on the road exceeds 2,000 vehicles per hour, then the lamp must have a protection rating of IP54.
There are rules for arranging supporting structures for street lighting lamps. They can be made of metal, reinforced concrete, wood, polymer materials, however, the first type of support is the most preferred today. Such pillars are characterized by a gradual narrowing in the upper part of the structure, which provides increased resistance to gusts of wind.
Where to complain if the lights don't work
Lighting on the streets of the city and small settlements differs significantly. While in large cities there are practically no problems with financing the service, the chairmen of village councils have to look for funds on their own.
The issue of lighting in front of the house in accordance with Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 131 of October 6, 2003 is under the jurisdiction of the local administration.
Residents of populated areas are often faced with a lack of street lighting. If one or more lights are not working, visibility in the yard is impaired and may cause increased danger to passers-by.
However, the courtyards in question are not public areas. They fall into the category of local area, and this is a slightly different concept.
Street lights are not on: where to call and complain
We monitor and provide you with news from Yaroslavl, more detailed information on the Dyadkovo, Sokol, Lipovaya Gora microdistricts, and active participants and residents of these microdistricts also help us with this.
Is it dark in the yard? Are there not enough street lights on your street? Or maybe they don't exist at all? Or did the lamp break and the unregulated pedestrian crossing was left without light? During the transition and winter periods, the topic of street lighting becomes especially relevant.
Let's figure out where to go in these and other cases and how to do it.
An appeal to the municipality must be made in simple written form. The applicant can be one citizen or several (in the latter case we are talking about a collective complaint).
The main purpose of urban street lighting is to ensure the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians. This category includes lighting of various territorial areas of the city, including squares, overpasses, bridges, tunnels, parking lots, vehicle parking, roadways and pedestrian paths.
If the city's streetlights are partially non-functional or there is no lighting system at all, for example, in new residential areas or in areas located on the outskirts, then you can try to solve this problem by contacting the relevant authorities. However, you will have to be patient, since such issues are not resolved instantly. In addition, you need to know exactly where to complain and in what form.
It is the responsibility of the local municipality to ensure the functioning of lights and their installation in places that require special attention and caution (for example, on dangerous bends or near educational institutions).
Where to turn if the street lamp does not work
In the city, at least 80% of the length of streets must be illuminated. The level of lighting in a certain area depends on the intensity of vehicle traffic, infrastructure development, population density in the area, energy efficiency and local budget capabilities.
Who is responsible for street lighting in rural areas? Lighting on the streets of the city and small settlements is significantly different.
Option number two involves placing the lighting fixture on the wall of the building directly above the driveway canopy. They don't turn on the lights there at all. “In the dark, which is about 16 hours a day, the streets of the area are immersed in pitch darkness, in which nothing is visible. At this time, walking around the area on foot is very scary - in every sense of the word.
Who is responsible for street lighting in the city?
To write a complaint about the lack of street lights, you need to know who is responsible for lighting in the city. In accordance with Federal Law of the Russian Federation N131, adopted on October 6, 2003, local authorities are responsible for the supply of electricity.
Attention! Their competence includes lighting the following objects:
- courtyard areas;
- roads, highways;
- parks, alleys, boulevards;
- industrial zones;
- streets, avenues and so on.
Based on the law, the local city administration enters into a contract with the energy supply company for servicing specific areas. According to the agreement, one party undertakes to carry out work related to the supply of energy, and the second guarantees timely payment for services.
The problem of street lighting in populated areas is solved on an individual basis. Local administration specialists decide on the possibility of installing street lights in cities, towns, and villages. If there is no light in the yard, you need to write a complaint here.
However, commercial companies with which an agreement is concluded are responsible for maintaining the territories. In effect, local authorities delegate the responsibility for street lighting to the energy supply organization. The transfer of debt occurs through the conclusion of an agreement.
No light in the yard
If there is no lighting in the courtyard area, citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to contact the local administration. We must be guided by Federal Law of the Russian Federation N 131-FZ, which states that the organization of street lighting should be handled by local governments. Requirements for the procedure for organizing lighting are enshrined in GOST.
If there is no light in the yard, you need to complain to the local government - the administration of the municipality. They are authorized to resolve issues of local importance, including their responsibilities to maintain lighting on the streets and courtyards of the city.
The complaint must refer to paragraph 4 of Article 14 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ, which contains a list of responsibilities of local government bodies. This list includes the provision of reliable energy supply to the population. It is better if the complaint is collective; for this, more than 20 signatures of residents of the building must be attached to it. The answer should come within a month.
ATTENTION! In case of refusal, a citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to file a claim in court, indicating the fact of failure of local government bodies to fulfill their direct duties.
You should not sue authorities because of 2-3 non-working light bulbs in streetlights . It is recommended to take drastic measures if there is no light at all in the yard or the lighting equipment is faulty, despite the fact that it is not repaired.
If you need to replace 1-3 light bulbs, you can contact the Municipal Services Committee of the Administration. They can ensure that the relevant utility organizations resolve the problem.
Who is responsible for outdoor lighting in rural areas?
Lighting on the streets of the city and small settlements differs significantly. While in large cities there are practically no problems with financing the service, the chairmen of village councils have to look for funds on their own.
This does not mean that there are no funds coming from the federal budget for these purposes. On the contrary, it is where most of the funding comes from. However, this money is not enough to fully provide light to all sparsely populated areas. Local authorities have to look for other sources. Most often, extra-budgetary funds help.
Administration employees have to annually create a plan for lighting the territories. It is sent to the district administration for consideration. Next, the highest authorities decide on the allocation of funds. However, the requirements of small settlements are not always met in full. Therefore, you have to look for money yourself.
The local administration, first of all, pays close attention to public areas and dangerous areas. For example, first of all, lights are installed near schools, hospitals, colleges, in parks, on darkened winding sections of the road, and so on.
Important! In fact, the energy supply company is responsible for maintaining the territories. She is obliged to promptly change burnt-out lamps and carry out network repairs. However, the company receives money for its work. If funds are not received, the provision of services is suspended.
You also need to pay attention to the fact that the decision to install a lantern is made not by the energy supply, but by the local administration. A private organization serves only the territory that is reflected in the contract.
Taking over the local area for parking.
Read here how to deal with drunks in the yard.
Where to go if there is a sewer smell in the entrance, read the link:
Control
According to Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 131-FZ, all streets, roads, boulevards, bridges, as well as the territories of industrial enterprises, utility organizations, residential neighborhoods, neighborhoods and houses are under the control of local governments.
The organization of proper lighting at the above-mentioned objects is a task of local importance. According to Article 16 of the Russian Federation, the administration of the city district must be responsible for the schedule, which indicates the procedure for lighting objects at night. But property owners must maintain lighting.
The lighting of the city territory is carried out by energy supply organizations - city electrical networks. They belong to commercial organizations. Electricity networks provide electricity supply services by previously concluding an agreement with the owners of the facilities, local administration, individuals or legal entities.
Specialized companies with which the local administration has entered into an agreement must carry out the construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of networks and power lines. If you have received a refusal from local authorities to solve the problem that has arisen, you can file an application with the court.
ATTENTION! In the application that you submit to the court, you must indicate the fact of failure to fulfill direct responsibilities and inaction of local government bodies.
What causes lighting problems?
Street lighting is often suspended. In this case, there are several main problems that cause problems with energy supply.
Communication breakdown
This is one of the most common reasons for lighting suspension. It will be decided by local authorities and the energy supply company together.
Lack of funding
This is a problem for small settlements. However, the local administration is simply obliged to provide light to crowded places and dangerous sections of the road, even if there is not enough money.
Inaction of authorities
This is a problem that few people have encountered. It probably arises due to the lack of understanding of the chairmen of village councils about their work. After all, it is their responsibility to draw up a street lighting plan. If such a document is not presented, then the federal budget will not allocate funding.
If the lights go out due to natural disasters, utility services restore lighting as soon as possible. If the power supply is not restored within three days, you can write a complaint to the local administration.
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How to file a complaint
A complaint to the local administration must be made in writing. However, there is no single unified form of address. The document is drawn up both on behalf of one person and on behalf of the team.
The complaint must include the following information:
- information about the company that provides street lighting services;
- information about the applicant, as well as why he is interested in solving the problem;
- data from the local administration, which is responsible for street lighting;
- the person responsible for the supply of energy at the specific site in question.
The text of the statement itself necessarily reflects the requirement to restore the power supply. From a legislative point of view, the applicant refers to Article 14 of Federal Law of the Russian Federation N131.
The response to the application is sent in accordance with the procedure for considering citizens' appeals. 30 days are allotted for this from the date of registration of the application.
If there is no lighting in the territory of apartment buildings, then a collective complaint will have greater force. In this case, local administration workers will understand that there are many dissatisfied people and will try to solve the problem much faster.
ATTENTION! Look at the completed sample complaint to the administration about lack of lighting:
Is it possible to file a complaint through the management company?
In apartment buildings, the management company with which a service agreement is concluded is responsible for maintaining the adjacent areas.
In fact, the management company also enters into an agreement with the energy supply organization. But you can write a complaint about the lack of coverage directly to the head of the management company.
Residents of the house can make a collective written complaint at a general meeting.
The application is written on one sheet of paper. A package of signatures indicating the address and full name of the resident is collected separately. You can indicate the telephone number of each person for ease of communication with victims.
Yard lighting: who should do it
So, who is responsible for yard lighting? Let's turn to the legislation. The Federal Law of October 6, 2003 No. 131-FZ “On the general principles of organizing local self-government in the Russian Federation” can clarify the situation.
Thus, according to this law, streets, roads, alleys, boulevards, bridges, territories of residential neighborhoods, microdistricts, residential buildings, territories of industrial and communal organizations, and, therefore, courtyards, are under the jurisdiction of local governments.
The organization of lighting at these sites is a matter of local importance. Article 16 indicates that the city district administration is responsible for the lighting schedule at night at these facilities. However, the responsibility for maintaining lighting falls on the owners of buildings.
In turn, the lighting of the city territory is carried out by energy supply organizations , which most often call themselves city electrical networks. These are commercial organizations.
They enter into an agreement with the local administration or other individuals and legal entities, property owners and provide their electricity supply services.
The construction, operation, as well as maintenance and repair of networks and power lines are carried out by the same specialized companies with which the city administration enters into an agreement.
What is included in the common property of the house?
Read about the rules of living in a communal apartment here.
How to force your neighbors to remove things from the corridor and clear the passage, read the link:
But this applies to public areas. Is the yard considered a public area? According to the decrees on the norms and rules for the improvement of urban districts of most constituent entities of the Russian Federation, public areas include territories to which an unlimited number of people have access, that is, these are the territories of parks, gardens, squares and boulevards.
Yards fall out of this semantic series. They are usually referred to as the local area. And this is something else. These are places for residents of adjacent buildings to organize their recreation, children’s recreation, playgrounds, sports facilities, green spaces, the creation of parking lots, sidewalks, and places for walking. But does this mean that the residents of the house themselves are responsible for its improvement? This is partly true.
Let's turn to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Part 2 of Article 162 indicates that an agreement is concluded between the residents of the house - the direct owners of residential premises, the homeowners' association, the management bodies of a housing or consumer cooperative, and in some cases, the developer (Part 14 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation) and the management organization.
The subject of the contract is services and work for the proper maintenance and repair of common property in the house, as well as the provision of utilities.
Of course, these services are provided on a paid basis. Parts 1 and 2 of Article 154 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation establish that the payment for them is already included in the payment for housing and utilities, which are received monthly in the mailbox of each tenant in the form of receipts and invoices.
It turns out that you are already paying to live in a comfortable house and have the right to demand this, just like uninterrupted street lighting at night.
Quietly putting up with the current situation, carrying a flashlight in your pocket and hoping that the management company and the city administration will pay attention to your problems is not a solution at all. First of all, let's go complain!
What to do if refused
If residents file a complaint with the management company, a response is sent within 7 working days. In fact, the residents of the house receive a ready-made decision 10 days after the complaint is submitted. If citizens apply to the local administration, their requests are considered within 30 days.
The answer from the authorities and the Criminal Code is not always positive. Often, organization employees refuse to restore lighting, citing lack of funding.
If this happens, you should write a complaint to the prosecutor's office or to the court. However, before contacting here, you must try to resolve the conflict yourself by writing a complaint addressed to the head of the management company or to the local administration.
Remember! The application is accompanied by witness testimony and photographs and video files, which clearly show that there is no lighting at night.
Contact the administration
If there is no response, then you need to contact the city administration directly, since it has an agreement with the electrical networks serving each district. They will take action by contacting the power company, who will have to evaluate the condition of the lighting fixture and make specific repairs. An appeal in the form of a collective or private complaint with signatures is carried out in the form of a regular application in any form and is submitted to the local Administration of a certain municipal body.
In the text of the appeal, it is important to indicate the following questions to the local administration:
- Which organization is responsible for maintaining lighting fixtures on site?
- As the name of the customer under the contract with this organization
- Who is responsible for maintaining lighting at the required level?
Regarding the issue of insufficient street lighting, you should contact the Management Company by writing an application individually or collectively using the same template. The main thing is to write the full name of each applicant, signature and address of his residence. It is important to understand that the Management Company is directly responsible for the life and health of citizens and it is we who should point out the shortcomings to it, since we have a direct interest in this.
In a situation where there is a complete lack of light in your yard, you must contact the local administration, guided by the Federal Law of October 6, 2003 No. 131-F3 “On the general principles of organizing local government in the Russian Federation,” obliging local governments to organize street lighting properly. Which is also regulated by GOST regarding the procedure for organizing lighting, where all standards are prescribed. After completing and sending the application, the response should arrive within seven working days to a month.
Also, to understand the essence of the problem, building codes and regulations are presented here.
Lighting of architectural objects and cultural monuments is a mandatory measure when organizing a street lighting system.
Illumination of main and secondary roads is carried out taking into account the type of road surface and its reflective properties.
Each street provides a certain degree of horizontal illumination. For example:
- for wide roads this parameter corresponds to 20 lk,
- regional roads are illuminated within 15 lk,
- for local streets 4-6 lux is enough.
If you receive a refusal, you can file a complaint with the local organization responsible for maintaining street lighting. Very often refusals are justified by insufficient funding, but these explanations do not make things any better.
Your next step may be to contact the court or prosecutor's office at your place of residence. It is advisable to provide a photo of the area where there is no light and a written (or digital) refusal from the Administration responsible for street lighting.
Application to the Prosecutor's Office
There is no strictly unified form of contacting the prosecutor's office. However, there are clear requirements that every applicant must follow.
These include:
- the application cannot be anonymous, otherwise such an appeal will not be considered;
- the application consists of five parts: header, name, text, requirements, list of evidence;
- the application is sent in person, by mail or via the Internet on the official website of the Russian Prosecutor's Office.
According to generally accepted standards, an application to the Prosecutor's Office looks like this:
- the header reflects the name of the organization to which it is submitted, the name of the company that is responsible for supplying energy, and the data of the applicants;
- the name of the appeal is an important part. The intentions of the residents depend on this. Most often, a statement is sent to the prosecutor's office;
- the text of the appeal must reflect the details of the displeasure in as much detail as possible. However, there is no need to move away from the topic, get personal, use indecent language, and the like. The text should be as formal as possible;
- after stating the problem, the requirements for the company responsible for supplying energy should be reflected;
- The main evidence of the violation will be witness testimony and photos and video files.
- the date of writing the application is indicated in the conclusion. If there is only one applicant, then the signature is placed near the date. If there are several citizens who applied, then their full name, residential address and signature are reflected on separate sheets of paper in the list.
The application to the prosecutor's office is considered within thirty days. Next, a decision is made to conduct an investigation against the culprit. All parties are notified of this in writing.
ATTENTION! Look at the completed sample application to the Prosecutor's Office: