Whose property are the risers in the apartment? Subtleties of replacement

In older houses, pipes were usually made of strong, but not the most durable cast iron, which was unlikely to be properly maintained, especially in the 90s. By now, it is high time for the owners of Soviet apartments to think about replacing the riser, so as not to lead to an accident and to paying compensation to their flooded neighbors.

A natural question arises - if a pipe runs through the entire house from the first floor to the last, then who is responsible for replacing it? How and by whom risers are changed according to the law will be discussed in the material.

Communications under the law: whose property and responsibilities?

Water supply, sewerage and electricity are communications that serve all residents of an apartment building, which means they are considered common property. Risers, including water supply, which are located in the apartment, are just one of them, and in accordance with Art. 39 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, they are maintained at the expense of residents on utility bills, which the owners pay every month.

Unlike risers, those pipes that extend from them and connect to faucets or to a gas stove are considered the private property of the residents of the house and are maintained at their individual expense.

It is important not to get confused here: the pipes that branch from the riser to the first connecting connection are also common property, and the management company is responsible for it, and after the connection they are already private, which only the owner should repair.

In Art. 161 part 1.1 clause 5 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation states that the management of common property must ensure the constant readiness of utilities, metering devices and other property from the common property of apartment residents, as well as give citizens the opportunity to use communal resources for which they pay money.

The property that ensures that residents receive home services is enshrined in Appendix 1 of Government Decree No. 354 of the Russian Federation “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings.” Among others, the following are considered common property:

• Sewer riser in the toilet.
• Water supply riser (DHW and cold water supply).
• Gas riser.
• Heating riser pipes.

It will be useful for you to learn about the nuances of operating meters in articles from our experts. Read about what to do and where to go if the meter breaks down, and whether it is necessary to seal it.

Backflow protection

If you want to make a sewer system in the basement of a private house with your own hands, take the installation of the pipeline seriously. Since the pipeline will be located in the basement, blockages may occur. The sewer system will constantly overflow.

As a result, backflow may occur - because the system is overfilled, wastewater will begin to flow back, and the basement will be flooded with foul-smelling sewage. To prevent this from happening, follow these recommendations:

1. Install equipment with built-in current resistance . There are many models of such stations on sale; check with your sales consultant for the availability of this function.
2. Install additional storage tanks that block valves, which will prevent the formation of reverse current . This solution has one drawback: sewerage clogs may form in the basement.

Many experts are confident that the risk of reverse current is small and it is not advisable to provide additional protection against it. Others argue that it is better to play it safe and purchase all the necessary equipment to make living in the house comfortable and safe.

Who should change pipes, including sewer pipes, and when?

All common property must be repaired by the management company, which is charged by the residents with the obligation to monitor the condition of the common property. The ability to place control in the hands of the management company is enshrined in Art. 161 part 2. clause 3 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, and, as a rule, most residents of apartment buildings in Russia have a separate organization that manages their communal affairs.

Repair and replacement of sewer and water pipes will be carried out by employees of the management company, homeowners association, housing and communal services or other repair organizations at the request of the apartment owners and with the help of an act that indicates that some part of the pipe requires replacement. They are also responsible for repairs according to plan or for eliminating the consequences of an accident that was caused by their connivance.

Capital repairs of pipes of management companies/homeowners' associations are also required to be carried out within the prescribed period, but it can be done ahead of schedule at the request of the housing council.

From the video you will learn at whose expense the pipes in the apartment should be updated:

Types of drainage systems

When developing a sewerage system in the basement of a private house, remember that it can be combined or separate. In the first case, the system is a single pressure line. In the second case, there will be 2 autonomous systems: one pumps relatively clean wastewater, the second pumps feces.

Clean wastewater can be removed using a standard pump. When their volume is small, a sololift is suitable. How to decide what type of sewer system to install: combined or separate? To do this, compare the volume of clean and dirty wastewater.

When there is no mini-pool, shower, bathroom or sauna in the basement, there is no need for wastewater separation. In this case, it is enough to install a sololift or a pump with a small storage tank to drain the wastewater to the central riser.

However, if the volume of wastewater is large, for example, there is a swimming pool on the ground floor, the sewage system must be separate: a pipeline for clean wastewater is equipped with additional intermediate storage tanks.

This step is necessary because the reservoirs built into pumping stations have a small volume and will not be enough. In order for the equipment to work properly, additional storage tanks are installed to pump out a large volume of wastewater.

What is the service life according to GOST?

The service life of pipes, provided they are properly maintained and promptly cleaned, varies greatly depending on the material from which they were made. Every ten years the pipes must undergo major repairs. Below we give the service life of communications made of various materials according to GOST:

• Steel pipes for cold water supply last 30 years.
• Hot water risers with a closed system – 20 years.
• Open water supply system – 30 years.

How much will it cost to replace the riser?

Replacement of pipes and risers from 2000 rubles

At whose expense is work carried out in the apartment and entrance?

Replacement of old and leaky risers is carried out at the expense of the owners of the apartment building. They are the ones who bear the financial burden for the maintenance of common property. Money for repairing communications will be taken from their utility payments, which the management company collects monthly for the maintenance of the house.

In the utility bill there is a separate expense item “Maintenance and repair of housing” - this is the money that should go to replacing the old riser pipe. If there is a major replacement of the entire pipe in the entire house, then these are other funds, and they are taken from the residents’ payments under the heading “Major repairs”.

When replacing here and now, you don’t need to pay anything - the resident already contributes money every month to replace the public pipe, and the management company employees have no right to demand that he pay for the work or pay additional expenses.

An exception may be the personal fault of the apartment residents. If they are responsible for a sewer break either intentionally or through negligence, then they will have to shell out money for repairing a bad pipe out of their own pocket.

It is important to note that money will be paid from the general fund only for the repair of pipes that have long exhausted their reserves or are in disrepair.

If the owner of the apartment wants to deal with the riser for his own personal reasons - for example, if he is undergoing redevelopment - then he will pay for the work from his own funds, and not from the “utilities”.

The situation is completely different for owners of non-privatized public housing, which is in municipal ownership. The citizen registered in it is considered a tenant, not an owner, and the landlord, the municipal authorities, is obliged to pay for the repair of the risers.

How to carry out the procedure for free through the management company/housing and communal services?

If the pipes have long served their service life and need urgent replacement or repair, then before you start collecting papers and writing a statement, it is better to first call a plumber to the house, who will inspect the pipes and make a decision: whether the riser needs to be changed or the owners just Imagination ran wild and the pipe worked.

The specialist will draw up an inspection report of the riser, where he will describe its condition, list the damage and issue a verdict. The expert's opinion is an important document that can play a vital role in the entire procedure.

Where to contact?

Responsibility for replacing pipes, including in the kitchen, lies with the management company, which means you need to apply there for repairs of a faulty riser. The organization must have a reception desk for citizens, or you can leave the paper in the accounting department. It should be drawn up in the name of the head of the management company and the reasons for the repair and the deficiencies noticed should be clearly described in the text. We will look at how to do this correctly below.

Required documents

In order for the operation to be successful, the apartment owners will have to take care of the following package of documents for replacing the riser:

• Application for replacement of communications addressed to the head of the management company.
• A certificate of inspection of the pipe by a plumber, which states that the riser is in very poor condition.
• Additional evidence of the emergency condition of the pipes is video or photographs, which clearly shows that it is time to replace the riser.
• Certificate of ownership of the apartment, if it is privately owned.
• Identification card (to confirm that it is the owner who is going to change the pipes).
• Receipts for timely payment of utilities.

Drawing up an application to the management company

The application is drawn up in free form, observing a number of formalities for standard documents. You can write it either by hand or using a computer, then printing it out on a printer. You need an A4 sheet, clean on both sides, without dirt or damage.

The text should not contain:

• spelling errors;
• blots;
• corrections;
• emotional judgments - everything is dry and to the point.

It is prohibited to use obscene language and threaten CC employees.

There is a greater chance that the application will be accepted and considered for those residents who are not late in utility payments and do not have debts for the apartment.

The paper is compiled as follows:

1. In the upper left corner: full name, position of the manager and name of the management company for which the application is being drawn up - all in Date. case.
2. Below is the full name, address and contact number of the applicant - in Rod. case.
3. By .
4. Next is the main part:
   please replace the riser as soon as possible (indicate the exact address of the apartment and the location of the pipe);
5. justification of the reason for repair (leakage, wear, breakthrough);
6. an indication of problems with the communication system with reference to an inspection report of the pipes by a plumber (you can also mention that the paper is accompanied by a CD with photographs where the damage and the general poor condition of the riser are clearly visible);
7. to give additional weight to the documents, you can refer to Art. 39 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation on the maintenance of common property or at Art. 161 clause 2.3 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which states that the residents gave the management of the house to the management company (or to an agreement between the residents and the company);
8. information that utility payments for the apartment were made regularly and without delay (link to attached invoices);
9. mention that if the work is not completed as required by law, then a complaint will be filed against the company with Rospotrebnadzor or the Prosecutor's Office.
10. At the end there is a date and signature of the applicant with an explanation of the surname.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 350-14-90

It is better to make two copies of this document: one is transferred to the management company, and the other should be kept by the owner of the apartment.

The main thing is not to forget to ask the employee to mark that the company saw a duplicate. If the management company refuses to fulfill its duties without a clear reason, it can be sued and a copy of the statement can be used as evidence of inaction.

Deadlines

If everything is in order with the application, then the management of the management company is obliged to review the paper and make a decision. According to Art. 31.k Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”, a period of no more than three days is given for processing applications from the date of registration of the document.

During this time, the company must determine whether the demands for replacement of the riser are justified, and if everything is correct, send written confirmation to the owner and immediately begin repairs.

They can send their own expert to the apartment, who will draw up his opinion on the condition of the bathroom, where he will speak out whether pipes need to be replaced. The owners will have to provide him with access to communications.

Frequent breakdowns and how to fix them

Residents of apartments with emergency risers sometimes have to wait a very long time for action from the management company. To eliminate the annoying problem, you have to independently replace the tee in the sewer riser or change the straight section of the pipe.

Replacing the riser between floors

How to change the sewer riser if the tightness of the straight section between the floors, limited by socket joints, is broken?

The sewer coupling is destroyed. The repair will consist of replacing the section of the riser between the floors. We will need:

1. a straight pipe with a length equal to the length of the section to be replaced;
2. presence of a sewer compensator.

Part of the damaged cast iron sewer riser can be replaced with plastic pipes. To connect such sections, the surface of the cast iron pipe must be thoroughly cleaned of rust and layers of paint. Then put the plastic socket on the cast iron one, carefully sealing the joint.

Attention! Replacing a section of a plastic riser with cast iron pipes is impossible!

All work should be discussed with neighbors on the upper floors. We need to persuade them not to use the sewers at the prescribed times. If you have access to the basement, it is better to turn off the cold and hot water through the riser. Even in this case, among the residents there is always someone who forgets about the restrictions on the use of the sewer, so it is worth preparing a deep container in case the neighbors do use the bathroom.

The further procedure is as follows:

1. Cut the sewer pipe in two places (below and above the break).
2. Remove the destroyed fragment of the riser.
3. Disassemble adjacent socket connections.
4. Push the compensator onto the top pipe until it stops.
5. Insert the straight pipe into the lower socket.
6. Place the compensator in the socket.
7. Secure the necks with clamps.

If the lower bell is located in the ceiling, it is not necessary to open it. You just need to add a sewer coupling. After the defective area above the ceiling is cut out, the coupling must be put on the lower pipe with the outer chamfer previously removed. Further actions are identical to those described above.

Replacing the riser in the ceiling

If the socket inside the ceiling is damaged, then dismantling the ceiling cannot be avoided. The technological hole in the concrete slab is sealed with cement-sand mortar. It needs to be broken.

First of all, it is necessary to dismantle the toilet and all fragile interior parts in the lower and upper apartments. If the lower toilet is placed on cement or glue, then you can remove only the tank and cover the bowl with a sheet of plywood or boards. The top toilet will have to be removed completely because the cross or tee needs to be replaced.

The cement-sand seal can be dismantled:

• jackhammer;
• hammer drill;
• hammer with chisel.

The further procedure looks like this:

1. Make two cuts on the riser closer to the top of the area being replaced. Cast iron can be cut with a grinder or chopped with a sharp chisel; the plastic pipe is cut with an ordinary garden hacksaw;
2. Dismantling the bell after bell, completely dismantle the problem area. In the upper apartment, it is often necessary to disconnect plumbing fixtures from the sewer, which makes it difficult to remove the comb from the sockets of the tee or cross;
3. Assemble the riser from bottom to top. In this case, each socket must be immediately fixed to the wall with a clamp. The exception is the socket located in the ceiling: it will be securely fixed when the hole is sealed with mortar. In order for the tee or cross to coincide in height with the comb of the upper apartment, the pipe located under it will have to be cut in place;
4. When assembling the riser in the upper apartment, use a compensating pipe.

Trimming plastic sockets in place is carried out in compliance with two simple rules:

1. From the inside, you need to remove all burrs on which rags and other debris can cling, causing a blockage.
2. A chamfer is removed from the outside, which greatly simplifies the assembly of the connection.

Attention! If the plastic socket is connected with great force, then it is worth applying a little liquid soap to the O-ring.

After assembling the riser under the ceiling, you need to assemble the formwork, for example, from plywood. Then place 2-3 reinforcement rods in the hatch, resting on the edges of the hole. Then fill the technological hole with cement-sand mortar in a ratio of 1:3.

The appearance of a leak

A typical problem with old cast iron risers is the destruction of the socket, crushed by the weight of the pipe resting on it. This problem can be solved in two ways:

1. Replacing a section of the riser with a socket. The procedure is identical to that described above for replacing the riser between floors.
2. Installation of a rubber bandage. It can be played by a rubber bandage purchased at a pharmacy or a bicycle inner tube cut to length.

The bandage is placed like this:

1. Wrap the rubber tightly around the problem area, extending 10-15 cm onto the undamaged area.
2. Tighten the bandage with tying wire.

Often the cause of sewerage leaks in the ceiling is the subsidence of the lower cast-iron pipe under the influence of its own weight. As a result of subsidence, the upper pipe completely or partially leaves the socket of the lower one, and when the riser is filled with drainage from the ceiling, it begins to flow.

Diagnosing drawdown is quite simple. A sure sign of it is an unpainted strip of cast iron on the sewer riser just below the ceiling. The reason for the subsidence is poor-quality sealing of the technological hole in the ceiling, coupled with unreliable fastening of the pipe to the wall.

The problem is solved like this:

1. Place a clamp made of strong rope or thick wire on the pipe.
2. Build a strong support from timber, boards or other available material on the bathroom floor;
3. Then apply the lever principle: rest the crowbar or pipe on a support and place it under the clamp. The weight of an adult is usually sufficient to lift the pipe to its original position;
4. Then attach the riser with clamps to the main wall. For temporary fixation, a pair of wooden wedges driven into the lower socket can be used;
5. The socket is re-embossed with a heel or gland and sealed with cement mortar.

Clogged sewer pipe

If the water level in the bathtub and toilet rises even when the taps are closed, this is a sure sign of a clogged sewer riser or drain.

To clean the riser the following can be used:

1. If the distance from the nearest revision to the blockage is small (up to 2-3 meters), use a sewer cable.
2. At a greater distance - sewer wire.

Your task is to gain access to the nearest revision or tee located above the blockage.

Attention! Cleaning the riser from bottom to top is a very bad idea. When cleaning, a column of sewage several meters high will cover you and everything around with an even layer of a substance with an unforgettable aroma.

It is better to clean the riser together. One person pulls the cable or wire, preventing it from folding into loops, and rotates the handle; the second delivers the tool to the blockage. After the water has drained, continue to rotate the cable on the way back: this way you will not allow the cause of the blockage caught by the hook to float freely again.

If the cable or wire does not pass the blockage, you can try to clear the riser from the roof. For this purpose, a crowbar tied to a strong rope is lowered into the fan pipe. The length of the rope should not allow the crowbar to rest against the connection of the riser with the ladder: in my memory, there were cases when the crowbar pierced the cast iron bend right through.

When can they refuse and what to do in this case?

The management company may refuse to repair the riser for the following reasons:

• The application was drawn up extremely carelessly, and they simply refused to accept such a paper.
• The homeowner has no reason to carry out repairs - a specialist visited the site and, according to his conclusion, the pipes are in excellent condition.
• The owner has large rent debts or constant debts.

Management company employees can justify their refusal by the fact that since the riser is in the apartment, then the owner of the apartment must pay for it. Such a decision is illegal, and the Criminal Code does not fulfill its duties.

Personal expenses are valid only for the pipes that extend from the riser, but not for the riser itself.

If the owner believes that the decision of the Criminal Code violates his rights or does not agree with the conclusions of the experts, then he should obtain a refusal in writing. This paper will serve as one of the evidence in any authority to which you can file a complaint about the negligence of the company’s employees:

• to Rospotrebnadzor;
• to the housing inspection;
• to the Prosecutor's Office;
• or even to court.

Here you will have to write your application addressed to the head of the body where it will go.

Difficulties with the law when doing independent repair work

There is no ban on changing the riser yourself, as such, but there are nuances. Residents are allowed to repair common property on their own using their own money, but before starting work, they will have to inform the management company that the owner wants to deal with his riser on his own, and also obtain permission from the neighbors through whose apartments communications pass. It is difficult to get permission from the management company, because the owner is often not a specialist.

If you decide to change the riser without the knowledge of the management company and other neighbors, then such an operation will be considered illegal, and the owner who carried out the secret replacement risks receiving a subpoena from his management company.

Check out other materials on our website about water supply and the problems that arise with it. Read about what standards of water quality and pressure, under what circumstances the resource can be turned off, how to pay for water according to standards and meters, what standards are without meters, as well as about the recalculation procedure and what to do if the water pressure decreases weak.

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