This article is part of the series of publications “Myths of Housing and Communal Services”, dedicated to debunking false theories of the housing sector. Myths and false theories, widespread in the housing and communal services sector of Russia, contribute to the growth of social tension, the development of the “Concept of Enmity” between consumers and providers of utility services and residential maintenance services, which leads to extremely negative consequences in the housing industry. The articles in the series are recommended primarily for consumers of housing and communal services, however, specialists in housing and communal services may also find something useful in them. In addition, distributing publications in the “Housing and Communal Services Myths” series among housing and communal services consumers can contribute to a deeper understanding of the housing and communal services sector by residents of apartment buildings, which leads to the development of constructive interaction between consumers and service providers. The full list of articles in the series “Myths of Housing and Public Utilities” is available at the link >>>
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The misconception discussed in this publication is not a false theory in the literal sense and in the vast majority of cases it is not specifically promoted or disseminated. Quite often you can hear from representatives of any of the categories of housing relations (whether they are consumers of services, providers of such services or supervisory authorities) that the period for consideration by the contractor of consumer requests and responses to them is 30 days. In this article, we will figure out where this figure comes from and what the actual response times established by the current legislation of the Russian Federation are.
Standards to be applied
Part 1 of Article 12 of Federal Law No. 59-FZ dated 02.05.2006 does indeed establish a period for consideration of citizens’ appeals of 30 days, however, within the specified period, “a written appeal received by a state body, local government body or official in accordance with their competence” . At the same time, Part 1 of Article 1 of the same Federal Law No. 59-FZ dated 02.05.2006 establishes that this law “regulates legal relations related to the exercise by a citizen of the Russian Federation (hereinafter also referred to as a citizen) of the right assigned to him by the Constitution of the Russian Federation to appeal to state bodies and local governments ."
Thus, 30 days is the period for consideration of citizens’ appeals to state bodies and local governments, and not at all the period for consideration of appeals of any persons to any other persons.
Providers of housing and communal services are neither state bodies nor local governments, and Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006 does not apply to their relations with consumers. However, this does not mean that the time frame for considering consumer appeals is not regulated by law.
Such deadlines are approved by several regulatory legal acts (hereinafter referred to as NLA), including: - Housing Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Housing Code of the Russian Federation); — Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved. RF PP dated 05/06/2011 N 354 (hereinafter referred to as Rules 354); — Rules for the implementation of activities for the management of apartment buildings, approved. RF PP dated May 15, 2013 N 416 (hereinafter referred to as Rules 416); — Rules for maintaining common property in an apartment building, approved. RF PP dated August 13, 2006 N 491 (hereinafter referred to as Rules 491); — Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 N 2300-1 “On the protection of consumer rights.”
Housing and communal services news
The status of a management organization (hereinafter referred to as the MA) obliges it to comply with numerous regulations governing the management of apartment buildings, including providing timely responses to incoming applications from citizens .
The deadlines for providing information to applicants' requests are contained in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011. No. 354, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006 No. 491, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 15, 2013 No. 416, etc.
As a rule, the MA does not have any discrepancies in the deadlines for providing responses to citizens’ requests contained in the above-mentioned legal acts. However, until recently there was no clear position, both among the administrative authorities, supervisory authorities, and in the judicial environment, on the application of the requirements of the Federal Law of 02.05.2006 No. 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering citizens’ appeals” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 59-FZ) Federal Law, Procedure) to the legal relations between the owners of premises in the apartment building and the management unit.
Part 1 of Article 12 of this Procedure establishes that a written appeal received by a state body, local government body or official in accordance with their competence is considered within 30 days from the date of registration of the written appeal.
For the purposes of Law No. 59-FZ, officials are understood as persons performing the functions of a government representative or performing organizational, administrative, administrative and economic functions in a state body or local government body.
The procedure established by Law No. 59-FZ for considering citizens’ appeals by virtue of Part 4 of Art. 1 applies to legal relations related to the consideration by state bodies, local government bodies and officials of appeals from associations of citizens, including legal entities, as well as to legal relations related to the consideration of appeals from citizens, associations of citizens, including legal entities, carrying out publicly significant functions of state and municipal institutions, other organizations and their officials.
It must be emphasized that initially Federal Law No. 59-FZ did not apply to legal relations related to the consideration of appeals from citizens, associations of citizens, including legal entities performing publicly significant functions by state and municipal institutions, other organizations and their officials.
As the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation indicated in its ruling dated March 27, 2021 No. 629-O, the federal legislator, acting in pursuance of the resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated July 18, 2012 No. 19-P, supplemented Article 1 of the said law with Part 4, expanding its scope application, in particular extending it to relations for the consideration of appeals from citizens, associations of citizens, including legal entities, state and municipal institutions, other organizations and their officials performing publicly significant functions.
For violation of the Procedure by officials of state bodies, local government bodies, state and municipal institutions and other organizations entrusted with the implementation of publicly significant functions, Article 5.59 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for administrative liability, which entails a fine of five to ten thousand rubles.
Thus, the subjects of legal relations to which the Procedure applies are not all legal entities, but only those organizations that perform publicly significant functions.
And since the current legislation does not have a clear definition of which organizations are recognized as performing publicly significant functions, just as there is no list of such organizations, everyone interprets the concept of “publicly significant functions” in their own way.
Some courts, when making a negative decision for the MA, resorted to interpreting the term “public function” based on the explanatory dictionary of the famous Soviet linguist Sergei Ivanovich Ozhegov.
Decision of the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod No. 12-330/14 dated September 1, 2014:
“This understanding of a publicly significant function is also consistent with the generally accepted meaning of the term “public function,” namely: public (not private) duty, work, range of activities (dictionary edited by S.I. Ozhegov).
In accordance with Article 162 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, under an agreement for the management of an apartment building, one party (the management organization), on the instructions of the other party (the owners of the premises in the apartment building, the management bodies of the homeowners’ association), undertakes to provide services and perform work for a fee within an agreed period of time. proper maintenance and repair of common property in such a house, provide utilities to the owners of premises in such a house and persons using the premises in this house, and carry out other activities aimed at achieving the goals of managing an apartment building.
Taking into account the above, the activities of a management company that provides housing and communal services to an unlimited number of persons are, by their very nature, publicly significant, since they affect the rights and freedoms of a significant number of citizens and their associations.”
The position of the Kostroma District Court of the Kostroma Region is that management organizations are subject to Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006 “On the procedure for considering citizens’ appeals in the Russian Federation,” indicating that the management agreement is public.
At the same time, the Supreme Court adopted a number of Resolutions (dated February 15, 2019 No. 48-AD19-2, dated February 14, 2019 No. 88-AD19-1, dated October 22, 2018 No. 88-AD18-3) according to which they were canceled judicial acts of lower authorities on bringing the director of the educational institution to administrative responsibility under Art. 5.59 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for failure to provide the owner with a response within the time period established by the Procedure.
“In the case under consideration, the legal relationship between the owner of premises in an apartment building or a person living in such premises with the management organization is of a civil law nature and does not indicate the implementation by the company of publicly significant functions, therefore, the requirements of Federal Law of May 2, 2006 N 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation" does not apply to them."
Based on materials from the blog Burmistr.ru https://www.burmistr.ru
Deadlines for responding to consumer requests
The previously cited regulations establish different deadlines for considering citizens’ appeals depending on the content of these appeals. And it should be noted that the deadlines established by these legal acts are much less than the notorious 30 days, which are often considered the approved response period.
The provider of housing and communal services is obliged to consider requests from owners and tenants of residential premises and other consumers of housing and communal services and send responses and fulfill the requirements for the following requests within the following deadlines:
1) a request for a list, volume, quality, frequency of services provided and (or) work performed for the maintenance of residential premises - no later than five working days from the date of application (paragraph “a”, paragraph 40 of Rules 491);
2) the requirement to verify the correctness of the calculation of the amount of payment, debt or overpayment for utilities, stated at a personal reception - immediately (paragraph “e”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354). Based on the results of the inspection, the Contractor is obliged to issue the applicant documents containing correctly accrued payments, certified at the request of the applicant with the signature of the manager and the seal of the Contractor;
3) an application for payment of a fine in favor of the consumer for violating the procedure for calculating fees for the maintenance of residential premises - no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, the calculation must be checked and a response must be given about the decision made (Part 12 of Article 156 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);
4) an application for payment of a fine in favor of the consumer for violating the procedure for calculating fees for utility services - no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, the calculation must be checked and a response must be given to the applicant (Part 6 of Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);
5) an application to check the condition of individual metering devices, as well as distributors - no more than ten working days from the date of receipt of the application (clause “e(2)”, clause 31 of Rules 354);
6) an application for familiarization with information about the readings of a common house meter - within one working day from the date of application (clause “e”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354);
7) request for information on the readings of common house metering devices for a period of no more than three years - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 4, clause 34 of Rules 416);
complaint about the quality of public services - within three working days from the date of receipt of the complaint (subparagraph “k”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354);
9) requests for information for the requested billing periods on the monthly volumes of consumption of utility resources according to the readings of common house metering devices; on the total volumes of utility resources consumed in residential and non-residential premises of the house; on the volumes of utility resources calculated using utility consumption standards - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 3, paragraph 34 of Rules 416, paragraph “r”, paragraph 31 of Rules 354);
10) request for a copy of the Act on damage to life, health and property of the owner/user of the apartment building, common property of the owners (description of the damage caused and the circumstances under which such damage was caused) - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (para. .5 clause 34 of Rule 416);
11) request for a copy of the Certificate of violation of quality or exceeding the established duration of the break in the provision of services/performance of work on the maintenance of common property, drawn up in accordance with Rules 491 - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 6, clause 34 of Rules 416 );
12) requests for any information posted by the management organization on signs, bulletin boards in an apartment building, on stands on the premises of the management organization (including: name (company name) of the management organization; license number, license validity period, information about the body that issued the said license ; address of the location of the management authority and its representative office; operating hours, information about days and hours of reception; address of the official website on the Internet (if available); address of the official website of the State Information System of Housing and Public Utilities; contact numbers of the management organization, its representative office, email address; emergency contact numbers dispatch service; contact numbers of emergency services of resource supplying organizations; notifications about upcoming work, other events that may lead to inconvenience for owners/tenants/users of the premises of the house; notifications about changes in the amount of payment for residential premises and (or) utilities; step-by-step instructions on the procedure installation of individual metering devices; information on the deadlines for paying fees for residential premises and (or) utilities, the consequences of late and (or) incomplete payment of such fees, on the mandatory and (or) recommended deadlines for transferring readings from individual metering devices to the utility service provider; information about the State Housing Supervision body (functions, name, address, contact phone number, last name, first name and patronymic (if any) of the head); information on the sizes of prices (tariffs) to be applied when determining the amount of payment for residential premises and (or) utilities, and on the details of regulatory legal acts, decisions of general meetings of owners (if any), by which they are established; information on standards for the consumption of utility services and standards for the consumption of utility resources for the purpose of maintaining common property; information on the value of the established social norm for the consumption of electrical energy (power) for groups of households and types of residential premises if such a decision is made in a constituent entity of the Russian Federation; information leaflet on the rules for the safe use of gas at home, information on the consumer’s obligation to conclude an agreement on the maintenance and repair of indoor gas equipment) - no later than the day following the day the request was received (paragraph 2, clause 34 of Rules 416);
13) request for a copy of the Inspection Report for the provision of utility services of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the established duration, provided for by Rules 354 - no later than three working days from the date of receipt of the request (paragraph 7, clause 34 of Rules 416);
14) the owner’s demands for a reduction in the cost of work performed (application for recalculation), for reimbursement of expenses to eliminate deficiencies in the work performed (service provided) on their own or by third parties, for the return of the amount of money paid for the work (service) and compensation for losses caused in connection with with refusal to fulfill the contract - within ten days from the date of receipt of the request (Article 31 of the Law of the Russian Federation of 02/07/1992 N 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”);
15) an application from the owner or another person, on whose initiative a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building is convened, to provide a register of owners of premises in an apartment building - the register is provided within 5 days from the date of receipt of the application (Part 3.1 of Article 45 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation);
16) the period for responding to other requests (applications) of owners or users of premises in apartment buildings is no more than 10 working days from the date of receipt of the corresponding request (application) (clause 36 of Rules 416);
17) a response to requests (applications) from persons who are not owners or users of premises in an apartment building is sent to the applicant within 30 calendar days from the date of registration of the request (application). The management office/homeowners association/housing cooperative may extend the period for consideration of a request (application) by no more than 30 calendar days if preparing a response requires obtaining information from other persons, notifying the applicant of the extension of the period for consideration. The notification is sent to the applicant before the expiration of the 30-day period for consideration of the request (clause 37 of Rules 416).
Time limits for eliminating emergency situations in apartment buildings
One of the components of comfortable and safe living is the timely elimination of emergency situations in apartment buildings by management companies. If a number of sudden circumstances arise that imply the appearance of malfunctions (this could be a pipe break or a short circuit in the electrical network, etc.), the emergency team of the management company is obliged to eliminate the malfunction within a strictly prescribed period of time by law. This period begins to run from the moment a resident of an apartment building contacts the emergency dispatch service manager of the management organization, HOA, Housing cooperative or other specialized cooperative (hereinafter referred to as the Management Company).
The time frame for eliminating the accident is meager, but still spelled out in the Rules for the implementation of activities for the management of apartment buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 15, 2013 N 416 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules)
Thus, according to clause 13 of the Rules, the Emergency Dispatch Service provides:
- immediate elimination of blockages in the intra-building engineering drainage system and garbage chutes inside apartment buildings;
- elimination of emergency damage to in-house engineering systems of cold and hot water supply, drainage and in-house heating and power supply systems.
When signals are received about an accident or damage to the in-house engineering systems of cold and hot water supply, drainage and in-house heating and electrical supply systems, information and telecommunication networks, gas supply systems and in-house gas equipment that are part of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building, the emergency dispatch service reports this to the emergency services of the relevant resource-supplying organizations and eliminates such accidents and damage independently or with the involvement of these services, and in cases where the legislation of the Russian Federation provides for special requirements for the implementation of emergency dispatch service activities by resource-supplying organizations, the emergency dispatch service reports this to the emergency services of the relevant resource supply organizations and monitors their elimination of such accidents and damage (clause 14 of the Rules).
More precise deadlines for eliminating emergency situations are set out in Appendix 2 of the Rules and Standards for the Technical Operation of the Housing Stock, approved by Resolution of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation dated September 27, 2003 No. 170:
Compliance with the established deadlines for eliminating emergency situations by the management company is mandatory.
conclusions
As can be seen from the presented list of types of requests, the processing time for the vast majority of requests is significantly less than 30 days. It is the deadlines listed in this article that must be observed by the contractor when considering consumer requests (requests), and not the deadline established by Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006.
Additionally, it is worth recalling that in accordance with paragraph 38 of Rules 416, the management organization, partnership or cooperative is required to store the request (application) and a copy of the response to it for 3 years from the date of its registration.
Author: Nifontov D.Yu.
zhku 16iku 19myths housing and communal services 29disclosure of information 6tszh 67tsn 11uk 5uo 44
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