The need for planned hot water shutdowns explained

Even residents of Russian new buildings are not insured against planned hot water outages, says Level Home CEO Tatyana Seredenkova, who is quoted by Life.

According to the expert, it is impossible to completely abandon planned shutdowns of hot water. They are necessary mainly so that specialists can test heating networks and detect emergency areas. However, if new buildings have individual boiler rooms or other heating alternatives, they can be additionally included in the work. Thus, as the expert explained, residents will not feel any inconvenience and will not notice any changes.

Seredenkova recalled that based on the results of the inspection, it may be necessary to replace some of the outdated networks in order to avoid accidents during the cold season. In addition, workers wash heat exchange units, repair pumps, shut-off and safety valves. For these reasons, planned water shut-offs are necessary even in new buildings to perform equipment maintenance, which must be carried out at regular intervals.

Previously, Russians were reminded that if the permitted time limits for turning off hot water are violated, residents are entitled to compensation. The management company must notify residents about water shutoffs and the duration of work ten working days in advance; in the event of an accident, within a day. For each hour of delay, the payment for hot water supply is reduced by 0.15 percent. In case of gross and systematic violations of the established procedure, compensation for moral damage can be demanded.

In May, a member of the Housing and Public Utilities Committee of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry, lawyer Konstantin Krokhin, said that in the Russian Federation it is impossible to abandon the annual planned shutdowns of hot water. It’s all about the use of centralized heat supply systems. In order to use other methods of supplying resources, the construction concept will have to be completely changed.