What to do if a pipe burst, the main causes of the problems and how to fix them

All apartment buildings are equipped with the necessary risers: sewer, heating and water supply. A breakthrough of one of them can lead to negative consequences affecting several apartments at once. The rupture of the risers of heating systems is especially dangerous. How should you react if a heating riser bursts? If you change the batteries in the apartment, find out at whose expense the repairs should be made.

First you need to find out the reason for the breakthrough of the heating risers in an apartment building. Sometimes the residents themselves may be directly or indirectly responsible for the rupture of the pipe.

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The main reasons for the rupture of the heating riser pipe

1. A sharp change in pressure in pipes, or water hammer. The presence of water hammer is signaled by the appearance of extraneous noise in the system (clicks, taps).
2. Incorrectly designed heating system, poor-quality pipe installation.
3. Deterioration of pipes and components, their untimely replacement.
4. Mechanical damage to the pipeline or batteries.
5. Defects of the used heating devices.

Lawyers divide the reasons for the rupture of risers into two groups: intra-house and intra-apartment. This makes it easier to find the responsible parties for these types of accidents. The heating system of an apartment building includes:

• piping and radiators heating more than one apartment,
• gate valves (inlet) located in the basement,
• shut-off and control valves,
• filters designed for water purification,
• instruments showing pressure in pipes (manometers),
• general house heat meters,
• pump,
• boiler (if any).

All of this applies to common property.

Important! From what time the breakthrough occurred: during the period of operation of the heating system or out of season, the further actions of the affected persons depend.

The call at the door that has become a classic, the cry: "You are flooding us!" or a fountain of water right at the entrance - unpleasant but often inevitable features of Russian home ownership. There's nothing good about ankle-deep water. But the further consequences of a breakthrough in heating pipes can seriously spoil your mood and hit your budget.

However, forewarned is forearmed! Let's figure out what to do, who is to blame and "where to run" in the event of a flood.

Reasons for pipe break

There are not many of them, but the further actions of the victims and the search for the culprit depend on each.

• Poor state of communications, dilapidated house • Defective condition of heating devices and valves • Incorrect installation and connection of heating devices, lack of professional sealant • Defect in equipment, pipes • Water hammer due to a sharp increase in pressure

It is also important to consider the time of year when the breakout occurred.

- If this is the heating season, then there may be several reasons for the breakthrough, it all depends on the specific case. The reason is established based on the results of the commission check and examination.

- If the accident occurred outside the heating season, then there can be no options. The reason for the pipe break is incorrect performance of hydraulic tests. Intra-house networks were not disconnected from the mains, and since the coolant is supplied under high pressure, the pipes or radiators simply could not withstand the pressure.In 90% of cases, this is a human factor, and the blame falls on the management company or heating unit.

PIPE BREAK LOCATION

The localization of the accident is a matter of principle. This is understandable even without studying the regulatory and legislative framework. There can be two options:

- The accident is inside the house.

- The accident is intra-apartment.

The difference is clear even intuitively. Supply and return pipes, gate valves, fittings, a pump, pressure sensors - all this applies to common property.

That is, to the area of ​​direct responsibility of the management company. If a breakthrough happened in the basement or staircase, deal with it exclusively with your Criminal Code.

But if the flood occurs directly in the apartment, the tenant should act quickly and clearly.

Your actions

1. Determine the place of the breakthrough. The problem may be with your neighbors who live several floors above. If the "heroes of the occasion" are in touch or even at home, losses and future problems can be greatly reduced.

2. In parallel, report the pipe break to the management company. And immediately - to the city emergency service, especially if boiling water is pouring from the pipe (from the ceiling). To do this, always keep the numbers of the UK and emergency services at hand.

In Moscow, you can use the service "Houses of Moscow", which contains up-to-date information on the maintenance of apartment buildings - https://dom.mos.ru. There is a rubrication according to the areas of responsibility of the GBU, telephones of the 24-hour dispatching office and other useful information.

But it is better, again, to "Google" contacts in advance and write them down.

3. Record everything on your phone camera - the place of the pipe break, the actions of the specialists, in general, everything that happens.

4. Do not stop the flow yourself and do not rush to eliminate the consequences. This is dangerous because during the heating season, the water temperature in the pipes exceeds 55 ° C. It was also not enough to get burns.

5. When the crew has eliminated the accident, carefully record the damage to property. Compensation depends on this when the apartment is flooded.

First, you fix the losses yourself, and then you call a commission from the management company, which within 3 days must conduct an inspection of the object and issue an inspection report. You have the right to invite independent experts (by paying for their services) to assess the damage. An expert assessment will be evidence of material claims against the perpetrator of the accidents during the trial.

Who is guilty?

According to article 15 of the Civil Code, the victim has the right to compensation for losses (and even lost benefits).

But to determine the person through whose fault these losses happened is the most difficult stage.

The Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of August 13, 2006 with amendments of November 23, 2020, will help us figure it out.

According to this document, a heating system along with risers, radiators, control and shut-off valves, general house heat meters and other equipment on these networks are part of the common internal property.

That is, the management company serving the house is responsible for the state of communications. By law, the Criminal Code is obliged to check the equipment twice a year and, at its own expense, fix problems and / or replace damaged radiators, pipes, etc.

So what happens - the management company is always to blame for the flood? Is it the Criminal Code that will compensate the owner of the apartment, as well as the neighbors who have suffered from the pipe break? Not so simple.

First, for the annual check of the state of communications, the specialists of the Criminal Code need access to the apartment, about which the residents are notified in advance. If plumbers and locksmiths were not allowed into the apartment, this fact (recorded) removes any responsibility from the Criminal Code and transfers it to the owner of the home.

Secondly, when pipes or radiators burst, the important question is whether they were changed? If the apartment has pipes and batteries from the developer, then the Criminal Code is responsible for the leak and compensates for the damage. If the residents changed the pipes and batteries on their own, without notification and involvement of the Criminal Code specialists, without using sealing threads and pastes, then the fault lies with the owner of the apartment. Therefore, when repairing and replacing communications, ideally, you should contact not a third-party organization, but your management company.

When cooperating with the repair team from the outside, always conclude a contract, keep receipts and guarantees for equipment and materials. So you can prove the guilt of third parties (workers or the seller) if the cause of the accident is improper assembly and installation of the system or a marriage.

Breakthrough of the heating pipe and everything that follows after - refers to controversial cases in legal practice. Each case is considered individually, and the decision - under equal conditions in apartment buildings - can be made both in favor of the Criminal Code and in favor of the owner. It is difficult to guess here. Contradictions on the issue start from the top - in regulations and documents.

As we already wrote, the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of 13.08.2006 classifies the radiators installed in the apartment, as well as the control and shut-off valves, to the common property of the house. This is evidenced by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, in particular, Article 36, Clause 3, Part 1.

At the same time, there is a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of September 22, 2009 (No. GKPI09-725), which excludes radiators with disconnecting devices in apartments from the common property of the house.

Here's a paradox. For a positive outcome of the case, contact lawyers with experience in dealing with housing and communal services.

What to do next?

Unfortunately, it is rarely possible to peacefully resolve the issue of who is to blame and how much will compensate for the damage. If the management company is to blame based on the results of the examination, it is obliged to compensate not only the owner of the "emergency" apartment, but also his injured neighbors within 30 days from the date of the claim. Otherwise, the owner submits a statement of claim to the court indicating the amount of damage to him and his neighbors. Additionally, you can demand compensation for legal costs and moral damage.

To go to court, you must have the following documents:

• Act of inspection of the apartment where flooding was recorded • Expert assessment of the damage caused • Photo and video showing the place of the pipe break and the consequences

The more documents - acts, examinations, opinions - you take with you, the easier it will be to prove the guilt of the Criminal Code or a third party.

If the owner is responsible for the flood, you should not bring the situation to court. It is possible and necessary to negotiate with neighbors amicably, in pre-trial order.

You conclude a peace agreement on the voluntary repayment of the amount of material damage, where the data (name, address, phone numbers) of both parties, the date and time of the incident, the amount of the compensated damage are recorded. Failed to agree? Then there is only one way out - judgment. Based on the results of the sessions, the judge will make an objective decision on the amount and timing of payment.

Of course, no one is immune from force majeure, but you can still avoid unpleasant situations. Keep track of the condition of your home, change communications on time, inform specialists about faults. In an effort to save money on the simplest repairs, there is a great chance to spend ten times more. And not only money, but time and nerves.

To be confident in the piping of your home and not be aware of the adverse consequences, use modern pipe sealing materials! You can buy them directly from our website directly from the manufacturer at affordable prices.

What to do if the accident happened during the heating season?

Who is to blame if the heating riser burst? If you find outbreaks inside the house: flooding of basements, staircases or entrances, you should immediately call the emergency service. A telephone call recorded by the operator is the actual proof of a breakdown. The arrived specialists will stop the water supply. Replacing the heating risers in the apartment in this case is the responsibility of the management company (MC).

If the misfortune happened directly in the apartment, then you must:

1. Find out where the water is coming from.The place of the coolant leak can be one or several floors higher.
2. Report the accident to the UK.
3. Disconnect electricity.
4. Call a plumber and help him stop flooding (provide access to the apartment).
5. Notify the insurance company (if the apartment is insured).
6. Draw up, together with representatives of the Criminal Code and neighbors, an act of flooding, sign it. The act must contain detailed information about the location of the breakthrough and the extent of the damage caused. If the cause of the leak is indicated in the document incorrectly or it is difficult to establish, please note it in writing. Sometimes an independent expert opinion is required to identify the root causes of flooding.
7. Capture the damage done with a camera, mobile phone or camcorder. If the case comes to trial, extra evidence will not interfere. Shooting begins from the street so that the entrance to the building is visible. The presence of witnesses is encouraged, they can be asked to be certified by the signature of the Act of filming.
8. Sketch the flooded premises and the damaged section of the pipeline.
9. Invite a specialist to assess the damage.

The components of an in-house heating system are:

• pipes,
• risers,
• connection points (threaded),
• radiators.

Important! Unauthorized change by the owner of the housing of any parts of the heating structure imposes on him responsibility for their technical condition.

Before changing pipes or batteries, it is recommended to write an application for replacing the heating riser, take it to the Criminal Code and obtain written permission.

Employees of the Criminal Code must regularly conduct a technical inspection of the heating system in apartments and write out an appropriate act.

How does the issue of delimiting the areas of responsibility of the Criminal Code and the residents of the house look like in practice?

In practice, the situation is somewhat different.

Under the contract for the management of an apartment building, the management company is responsible for monitoring the actual state of all engineering systems in such a building. And this control often looks like periodic (approximately once a quarter) inspections of engineering communications entrusted to such managers, which include the heating system. Such an inspection is carried out in the form of a visit by an employee of the management company to the apartments in order to check the technical condition of the risers, the batteries themselves and the pipes that fit them, as well as the available shut-off valves.

In the event that the owners or tenants of the premises do not let the employees of the management company inside, then the employee of the company has the right to draw up an act of refusal to admit to the engineering networks. In this case, the current rule on the delimitation of areas of responsibility is removed from the management company.

There is one more nuance in this sense, which must be taken into account. This nuance concerns whether the owner or user of the premises has carried out any repairs on the heating network. For example, replacing radiators (batteries). In the event that the batteries have not been changed since the moment the house was built, or as the management company made a replacement, or the replacement was carried out with a written notice to the management company, then the area of ​​responsibility is not removed from the organization.

If the replacement was made, while there was no written notification to the management company, then in this case such a replacement will be considered unauthorized, and in the event of any accident, all responsibility will be fully assigned to the owner of the premises.

Thus, if we talk about the established practice, it can be noted that the management company most often takes responsibility for the condition of the heating networks, but on condition that the operating rules, including admission to regular inspection, are fully observed by the owners of the premises... If the owner independently violates the rules, including in the absence of an official notification to the management company that some work is being done to make changes to the heat supply network, then the management company is relieved of responsibility.

Repair and replacement of old elevators in an apartment building

What to do if the accident happened in the summer

In the warm season, water from heating systems is usually drained, so there is no need to wait for breaks. However, when the coolant is drained and started, in April - May or in August - September, most of the ruptures occur.

The Criminal Code is obliged to warn residents about the beginning of preventive work or hydraulic tests. Having received such news, it is advisable to ensure the presence of one of the household members in the apartment within the specified period of time. They will be able to immediately see the leak and overlap the heating riser.

To minimize the number of breakouts at this time, special valves are installed in houses to turn off the heating riser. However, leaks and breaks do occur. Then it is necessary:

1. Notify the Criminal Code.
2. Confirm the emergency by documenting, drawing up an appropriate act in the presence of the staff of the UO and neighbors.
3. Take photos and videos of what happened.
4. Tidy up the apartment.
5. Change the heating riser.

Flooded by the neighbors from above: what to do?

Quite often, a pipe breakdown becomes a problem not only for the perpetrators of the emergency, but also for the neighbors living below. In particular, this applies to serious accidents.

We have already considered how to react to the owner of an apartment whose pipe has broken, now let's get acquainted with the algorithm of actions of neighbors who are flooded with water:

1. The first thing to do is to turn off the equipment located in the flood zone, and also turn off the lights completely, because water often touches electrical wiring, switches and sockets.
2. It is important to remove equipment, furniture and other valuable items from this place.
3. Next, you must definitely notify the neighbors about what is happening and ask them to immediately fix the breakdown and turn off the water.
4. If there are no neighbors, then you need to call the head of the management company and ask to urgently send the emergency service and turn off the water at the entrance.
5. The accident that happened must be recorded, and the flooding act (drawn up by a special commission), as well as attach this document with photographs and videos. On the basis of the act, a court hearing will be held and the amount of the penalty will be assigned.

Who is to blame in the event of a heating pipe burst and subsequent flooding of neighbors?

Life in an apartment building is like life on a powder keg: no one knows when it will explode. Especially when you consider that not everything within the native meters depends on the owner. The house management is responsible for something. Often the question is about the heating system. Who should be watching her? Who compensates for the damage if the heating pipe burst and flooded the neighbors? Who is to blame for this situation?

Causes of accidents and behavior when it occurs

A heating battery can break through at any time: during the heating season of apartments, and in the summer, when there is no need for this. In winter, you need to be careful during such an accident, because the water temperature in the batteries is very high (above 55 ° C).

Therefore, there is a risk of getting serious burns (it is for this purpose that it is not recommended to put beds, especially for children, in the immediate vicinity of heating systems).

In the summer, when the heating is turned off, the utilities prepare the system for the winter period of its "operation", carry out preventive maintenance by running water through the system under strong pressure.

Most often, a breakthrough of heating batteries is caused by:

• poor condition of the pipes themselves due to their long-term operation, improper installation, errors in operation;
• their damage under strong pressure during summer prophylaxis.

It is important to quickly understand the cause of the accident, it is from it that the further behavior of the one in whose apartment the break occurred will depend.

If the heating battery breaks during the season, proceed as follows:

1. Identify the place of the gap (in your apartment or in your neighbor's).
2. Report the incident to the house management (during the day), emergency service (even at night), directly to the management company. For this, the numbers of services should always be in an accessible place, more often a list of all services for different types of accidents hangs in the entrances.
   It is better in advance, at the first time after purchasing an apartment, to fix these "fire" numbers and keep them at hand, so as not to waste time searching for them in the X-hour.
3. Do not try to stop the leak yourself. Hot water flows through the heating pipes, an attempt to stop the flow is fraught with burns. Such actions must be entrusted to specialists.
   Therefore, you should not interfere with their work.
4. The fact of the accident should be recorded by photographing and filming.
5. After elimination of the accident, it is necessary to fix the damage to property that followed as soon as possible. The earlier the commission examination is carried out, the more reliable its results will be. Based on the results of the inspection, an act is issued.
6. For reliability, in case of doubts about the act of the commission, you can organize an independent assessment of the damage (paid service).
7. Look for the culprit.

To check the batteries in the summer, when the system is empty, there is no water in it, prevention of pipe rupture is carried out. For this, cold water is supplied under high pressure through pipes. If the battery is damaged or the pressure has been applied too high, the pipe may burst. This should be reported immediately to the building management / emergency service to stop the procedure.

In order to avoid such a "surprise" about the preventive maintenance of the heating system, the Criminal Code informs in advance and asks to be in the apartment, if possible, in a specific period of time. Timely finding the problem and replacing the pipe or repairing it will help avoid a breakthrough during the heating season, when its power is more destructive. Repair in this case is carried out by the Criminal Code at its own expense.

Owner's Liability Limits

The most burning question during the breakthrough of the heating pipe is who is to blame and from whom to recover the damage.

The RF LC obliges the owner of the apartment to maintain it in proper condition, the common property in the house, including repair work.

The heating system in the apartment consists of pipes:

• riser;
• return (supply pipes);
• connections;
• the batteries themselves.

At the same time, the state of communications is monitored by the Criminal Code itself. She conducts regular checks (on average, twice a year, not more often than once a quarter). At the end of it, an act with the results of the verification event is issued to the owner of the apartment.

When carrying out such checks, the employee needs access to the apartment to the heating and water supply systems. Access to the apartment is possible only with the consent of its owner.

In the event of an accident, the owner who did not let a specialist pass for inspection should be prepared for the fact that such behavior does not play on his side.

This once again can serve as confirmation that the owner did not monitor the state of all utilities.

Any problem found during the preventive check must be resolved as soon as possible. The Criminal Code pays for this.

When heating pipes or batteries in an apartment rupture, the first question is whether they were replaced earlier. If pipes have been used since the house was put into operation, then the Criminal Code is fully responsible for their breakthrough.

Unauthorized replacement of the heating system in an apartment without an invitation for this house management specialist (an official invitation through an application) puts the owner of the apartment immediately in the status of the culprit of the accident.

To prevent this from happening, with any replacement of pipes (not only heating, this applies to any communications), you should contact the house management or the management company with an application. The application must be registered.Renovation date has been set. As a result of it, a work acceptance certificate is issued, signed by a specialist and the owner of the apartment.

If, under such conditions, due to improper installation of heating devices, they break, the responsibility will fall on the Criminal Code.

For leaks outside the apartment, the responsibility lies entirely with the Criminal Code.

The burden of responsibility in a rented apartment

Providing an apartment for rent (rent or social) does not automatically remove the fault from the user.

The law for rented dwellings stipulates that the user is responsible for maintenance. At the same time, it is important to understand that the replacement of pipes (engineering systems) is not included in the current repair. It is being carried out as part of a major overhaul.

The obligation to carry it out lies with the owner, who can be a private person or an organization that rents out apartments, or a public entity (Russia, region, municipality, on behalf of which the relevant authorities act) providing an apartment on social rent.

Accordingly, the full owner of the apartment should monitor the condition of the pipes and the entire heating system.

The authority entrusts the repairs to the relevant Criminal Code directly or transfers the solution of this issue to the house management (under an agreement with the allocation of funding).

So, after fixing the results of the "flood", first of all, it is worth contacting the owner who provided the apartment (it is indicated in the contract or in the order).

The tenant of the apartment, using it under the contract, will be liable for the breakthrough of the battery if his deliberate actions to damage the system are proven.... The limits of liability will concern not only compensation for neighborly harm, but also harm to the owner of the apartment. Therefore, using someone else's premises, you should carefully treat the property in it.

If the apartment was provided by a cooperative with the condition of making regular payments for its redemption, then the obligations on the tenant as the owner will appear only from the moment the last installment is paid, when the living space will become completely its own. Until this moment, the cooperative should monitor the heating system.

Each "housing" conflict is special and unique. Rare of them fit into the general framework and classical schemes of its analysis.

More often, the situation is complicated by the tenants themselves, who take many actions on their own (especially for repairs), without permits, without qualifications to carry out any work.

Therefore, the question of guilt is sometimes decided at the highest, judicial, level, where it is better to entrust the representation of interests to professionals.

Source: https://law03.ru/housing/article/prorvalo-trubu-otopleniya-zatopili-sosedej-kto-vinovat

How to eliminate the breakthrough on your own?

Citizens can count on utilities or emergency services. Residents of apartment buildings will come and rescue local HOAs. But what if you live in your own house and no one needs a breakthrough of your “individual heating system” except yourself?

Of course, in this case, you will have to take the troubleshooting process into your own hands, acting as both the injured party and the savior. And how to distribute these roles, we will tell you below in the text.

Breakthrough in an individual heating system - what to do?

If a breakthrough happened in your personal heating system, then you have to follow these steps:

• Firstly, do not exchange for basins and valves - immediately turn off the circulation pump. After that, the pressure in the pipes will drop to atmospheric. Accordingly, the water pressure will be minimal, and you can easily collect a couple of dozen liquids in a bucket or basin.
• Secondly, turn off your boiler and close the central valve installed in the supply or discharge pipe. This will reduce the loss of coolant.
• Third, after collecting water from the floor of the room, begin to eliminate the cause of the accident. After all, with the boiler turned off, you will soon feel all the charm of winter freshness.

How to eliminate the causes of the accident?

Above in the text, we have already said that the cause of the accident can be either damage to the pipe body (fitting), or depressurization of the joint. A leaky pipe is repaired either by completely replacing the entire emergency section, or by a patch welded or glued on the outside of a crack or hole. In addition, pipe problems can be resolved by using a rubber band wrapped around the break. Well, the best solution to the problem would be a special crimp sleeve, which is mounted over the problem area.

The process of installing a compression sleeve looks like this:

• The locking screws are removed from the coupling, dividing the product into the lower and upper halves.
• The pipe is cleaned from dust and degreased.
• The lower part of the coupling is brought under the problem area, and the upper part is mounted on the guides of the lower part.
• After connecting the upper and lower halves of the coupling, the locking screws are screwed into the holes on the body.

Joint problems are eliminated either by tightening the locknut (suitable for threaded couplings), or by installing a rubber band tightened with a threaded clamp (suitable for press couplings or welded fittings). In particularly difficult cases, the problem fitting will have to be replaced directly with the pipe section. After replacing pipes and fittings, you just have to add water to the system, unlock the boiler, turn on the pump and start the system.

Algorithm of actions for a pipe break in an apartment

What to do if a pipe burst in your apartment? Experts recommend:

1. turn off the tap separating the wiring from the common risers. Such a crane must be installed in every apartment. It is usually located at the place where water meters are installed. If a breakthrough of the water supply pipe is formed in the apartment wiring, then the water will stop flowing and the flood will be stopped;

Taps shutting off the water supply to the apartment

To turn off the tap, you must install the handle across the pipe.

1. call the plumber on duty from the housing office (if the breakthrough occurred on a working day) or emergency service. The phone numbers of service organizations can be found on a sticker in the entrance, receipts for utilities or in the help desk;
2. remove from the flooded area all valuables and electrical devices that can cause a short circuit in the electrical wiring;
3. before the arrival of the emergency vehicle, it is possible to remove water from the floor and other surfaces as much as possible;

Removing accumulated water from the floor

1. try to eliminate the leak on your own.

Depending on the strength of the flow of water into the dwelling, they are distinguished:

• leakage under low pressure;

Small pipe break in a residential area

• leakage under strong pressure.

Pipe leakage under strong water pressure

If, as a result of a leak, neighbors are flooded, it is recommended to determine the degree of guilt and compensate for the damage caused without waiting for a court decision. Otherwise, the amount payable will increase by the legal costs incurred by the aggrieved party in the course of the proceedings.

Eliminating small leaks

To eliminate a small pipe break on your own, you need:

1. prepare a small piece of rubber or rubberized fabric (it is convenient to use cuts from rubber gloves). As a last resort, you can use a tourniquet to stop bleeding, which should be in every home medicine cabinet;
2. prepare tightening clamps, if available, or ordinary wire;
3. rubber is applied to the hole in the pipe and tightened with clamps (wire) on both sides.

Method for temporary elimination of pipe leakage

The described actions will help to eliminate the leak only for a short period of time. Immediately after the considered operation, it is required to call specialists and eliminate the malfunction properly.

All available home remedies for leaks are presented in the video.

Eliminating leakage if water is under high pressure

If a pipe bursts in an apartment and water flows under strong pressure, then the method described above will be ineffective. In this situation, it is necessary:

1. choose the most dense fabric;
2. wrap the leak with several layers of fabric.

Reducing the amount of water entering the room

These actions will not help to completely eliminate the malfunction, but will help to reduce the intensity of flooding in the room. It is optimal if the tenant of the apartment in which the accident happened knows who has the keys to the basement. In this case, you can not waste time on self-elimination of the leak, but block the common house riser in the basement.

Emergency telephone

It's important to know, where to call when water leaks. The purpose of the phone call is to notify the emergency repair team of the accident as soon as possible. Such units are organized in all housing management companies and city utilities. An accident happens at any time of the day or night, therefore numbers available for circulation are divided into round-the-clock and telephones that operate only during working hours - for the bulk of workers.

To answer the question of where to call if a pipe breaks in an apartment, it is important to have an idea of ​​what organizations are involved in the elimination of accidents. The call will certainly be answered and accepted appropriate measures:

1. ZHES - the housing maintenance service will help if a rupture of a water pipe or heating occurred during working hours of a weekday. The telephone number is on the door of each entrance.
2. The emergency service of the water utility accepts applications for a breakthrough of the water supply system for an urgent call to the brigade on weekends and holidays around the clock. There is a hotline for this.
3. Dispatch service of the managing organization for the ownership of the house - all pipes and heating radiators in the apartments of the controlled house are included in the scope of its service. On weekends and holidays, office managers do not work, their phones are unavailable.
4. The city emergency service will also send specialists on a call to eliminate the flooding of the entrance and basement - the signal will be documented and will become evidence in court, if required.
5. The service organization works under a contract with the management company and has its own dispatching service. If even minor smudges are found on the riser in the bathroom or on the battery, the homeowner should contact the institution so that a major accident does not happen.

Who is guilty

If the battery burst and you flooded your neighbors, this does not mean that you are the culprit in this incident. The heating message system in the house is the property of the company that installed the system. If the radiators turned out to be of poor quality, then the fault lies with the public service. However, in most cases, you will be to blame.

1. This option does not work if you have changed pipes and radiators yourself. Battery replacement is often done in older homes. The owners decide to replace the outdated batteries with more modern and stylish radiators.
2. The responsibility lies with the community service if you are not the owner of the home, but live in it under a social tenancy. If you have privatized housing, then all responsibility lies with you. Russian legislation states that it is the homeowner who must independently monitor the health of the heating system.

If you are the owner of an apartment, you must monitor the condition of the batteries. If you need to replace them, you should do it, as the utility does not know when your radiators need to be updated. In this case, you can use their services by paying for the work.

You might think that in any case you will have to be responsible for the leakage of the battery, but sometimes the fault lies with third parties. For example, the radiator is defective, the plumber did his job in bad faith, making mistakes during installation or not performing pressure testing. In such situations, you cannot say that you are to blame. The main thing is to prove that the heating device was defective. To do this, you should keep all receipts from stores so that you have proof in the future.

You will also need to conduct an examination and prove that this device was defective, and not you made a mistake during installation. You must always sign a contract with a plumber, and in the future you can also prove that he did his job in bad faith.

Important! Without documentary evidence, you automatically become the culprit of the incident. You will have to pay for repairs to your neighbors and replace the damaged radiator at your own expense.