Connecting modern facilities to energy supply networks is a complex and responsible process. The sequence of its implementation is clearly regulated by special legislative acts. Connecting an object to electrical networks is a process that requires a whole range of electrical installation work, the results of which are used to draw up documents required by current legislation. is one such document. Based on this act, an agreement on power supply to the connected facility is concluded with the new subscriber of the electrical networks.
The electricity supply agreement specifies the obligations assumed by the signatories. In particular, representatives of the electric grid company and the new subscriber of electric networks undertake:
- maintain electrical networks and operating electrical equipment in good condition;
- make timely payments for consumed electricity;
- provide high-quality power supply to the connected facility in accordance with accepted standards and regulations.
It seems that everything looks as simple as shelling pears. However, a completely reasonable question arises: how to correctly divide the burden of responsibility between the parties to the contract? It helps to prevent the occurrence of controversial situations act of delimitation of balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility.
Main functions of the document
In accordance with the presented documents, the consumer’s responsibilities include maintenance, as well as repair of electrical networks and electrical equipment located on the territory of the connected facility. The subscriber can perform the listed activities independently or by engaging third-party contractors for help.
Electrical equipment, as well as electrical supply networks, which are owned by the electric grid company, are required to be repaired and maintained by representatives of the same organization. Power distribution equipment owned by the network company must be located on the territory that, in accordance with its area of responsibility.
Establishing correct and reasonable boundaries of responsibility is of great importance for all subscribers who connect to the centralized power supply system. After all, the volume of financial obligations of the consumer directly depends on how correctly the boundaries are defined. Hence, boundaries of the balance sheet of electric networks largely determine the level of costs that the owner of the connected facility will bear for the maintenance of his electrical installation.
Peculiarities of registration of demarcation acts
Unfortunately, modern acts of differentiation do not have a permanent, generally accepted form. Requirements for their registration are constantly changing at the initiative of regional representative offices of electric grid companies. That's why obtaining a statement of delineation of balance sheet ownership for a new subscriber, one way or another, it is associated with a visit to the local representative office of the power grid organization.
In order for the act to have legal force, the following data and graphic materials must be included in it:
- full names of the parties to the accession agreement;
- full name of the connected object;
- the basis that is the reason for connecting to electrical networks;
- electrical diagrams in accordance with which it was carried out electricity connection etc.
As practice shows, it is advisable to initially entrust concerns about the implementation of technological connection, as well as the preparation, approval and signing of the necessary documents to representatives of specialized specialized organizations. They provide comprehensive assistance in the field of connecting objects to electrical networks, significantly speeding up the sequence of this procedure.
What is this - the boundary of operational responsibility? For the operation of any institutions, contracts for water, heat and energy supply are concluded. The terms of these contracts are such that subscribers receive a service for a fee, and therefore are obliged to maintain all networks in good condition. Where is the very boundary of operational responsibility?
What is regulated
Since misunderstandings often arise between resource supply organizations and management companies regarding operational responsibility, a government decree was adopted. For example, in paragraph 1 of the Rules for Sewage and Water Supply of the same resolution, all concepts of the boundaries of operational responsibility are spelled out as clearly as possible.
According to the document, this boundary is the property division boundary. What does it mean? The property division boundary becomes the basis for determining the boundary of operational responsibility, that is, using this method it is possible to determine who will bear the burden of maintaining the facility: the owners, the management company or resource supply organizations. This rule applies to all utilities.
Let's look at each in more detail.
Electricity supply
If we talk about energy supply, then the boundary of the operational responsibility and balance sheet responsibility of the RSO passes until the connection point of the common building metering device is connected to the electrical network included in the multi-story building.
It turns out that the responsibility of the management company is considered to be the in-house supply system and electrical devices that turn off devices for the apartment.
Residents of apartment buildings also have their own responsibility - these are in-house devices and devices after disconnecting devices in meters, floor accounts and apartments.
Heat supply
In order to determine the boundaries of operational responsibility and balance sheet responsibility, it is necessary to comply the following principles: resource supply organizations are responsible for the heating network until the point of connection between the common house appliance and the heating network entering the house is reached. The management company, in turn, is responsible for disconnecting devices on the riser branch, the risers themselves heating system, as well as for shut-off and control valves, which are located on the intra-apartment wiring.
As for residents, the limit of operational responsibility of heating networks begins inside the apartment. They are responsible for the branches of the heating system risers after the shut-off and control frame and heating devices.
Water supply
What is the limit of operational responsibility of water supply networks? In this case, the RSO is responsible to the point of connection between the common building metering device and the water supply network, which is included in the apartment building. The management company must monitor the condition of the cold and hot water supply risers, shut-off devices on the hoses, as well as the condition of the shut-off and control frame of the internal wiring itself.
Important nuance
In the agreement (act) of the boundaries of balance sheet and operational responsibility, as a rule, utility networks related to common property and other utility networks are separated. For this reason, it is important to understand what directly relates to common property:
- Premises of an apartment building that are not considered part of the apartments. They must be designed for more than one room. And it doesn’t matter whether the premises are residential or not.
- Engineering systems for gas supply, cold and hot water supply, electricity supply and heating inside the apartment building.
The boundaries of operational responsibility of water supply networks or any other are divided into internal and external. The latter divide the spheres of authority of the management company and the resource-providing organization. Internal boundaries regulate issues between the owners and the management company. Let's talk about this topic in more detail.
External boundaries
When we are talking about a situation in which the external boundaries of utility networks included in the property of a multi-story building are affected, then, according to the law, the boundary of the division of operational responsibility between the management company and the resource-providing organization will be the external wall of the building. If the house has a communal metering device for any resource, then such a boundary will be the junction of the sensor and the utility network that is included in the apartment building.
Quite often, the line of operational responsibility of the parties does not follow the standard plan. In such a situation, the responsible area of the house management company becomes that part of the engineering network that is located outside the external wall of the house, although it should belong to the area of responsibility of the resource supplying organization. How will the issue be resolved in this case? After all, the content of the fragment will be accompanied by large losses. For this reason, when signing a deed of division of responsibility, you need to read it very carefully.
Another controversial situation is the moment when the line of responsibility passes through the external valve. This happens if the external section of the utility network belongs to the property of a multi-story building. In this case, RSO technically services the network at the tariff approved for the owners of the apartment building. Then the responsibility of the management company is to offer an acceptable tariff for the owners. Any types of repairs, especially emergency ones, are carried out at the expense of the resource supply organization.
Separately about gas
It is worth saying a few words about the outer limit of the balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility of the gas pipeline. In all other resources, the border is in one place, but not in the case of gas supply networks. In such a situation, the very border between the management company and the resource supply organization is located at the junction of the first locking device with the external gas network.
Regulatory document
To avoid problems with defining the boundaries of responsibility, all parties sign an act on the boundaries of balance sheet and operational responsibility. The document specifies the network layout plan and the area of responsibility of each party.
Proper coordination of boundaries is of particular importance, because if this is done incorrectly, then fabulous sums will be spent on building maintenance. For example, as evidence in cases of debt collection for payment of electrical energy that was lost during transmission, it can only be used if certain circumstances are established:
- The fact of energy flow through electrical networks.
- Ownership of electric grid facilities and the boundaries of balance sheet ownership.
- Methods for recording energy volumes both at output and at input.
- The amount of electricity that left the network.
- The amount of energy that entered the network.
- The difference between two values, which is the lost value.
- Debts to pay. It is calculated as the difference between the electricity payment made and the energy lost.
Ownerless networks
How to establish a boundary/delimitation of operational responsibility if utility networks do not belong to anyone? How does this happen? It’s very simple: such networks are not listed either on the balance sheet of the RSO or on the balance sheet of the management company. In addition, they are not included in the common property. Typically, these networks are converted to municipal property. In this case, local authorities must find a resource supply company within a month whose networks are connected to no one’s network.
After that federal Service will include the costs of maintaining the network in the RSO tariff structure for further management. If for some reason this was not done, then all costs fall on the management company. This includes both loss of electricity and repairs on site.
Internal boundaries
The boundaries of the operational responsibility of a sewerage system or other network, in addition to external ones, can also be internal. These boundaries are drawn between the owners and the management company. So, the determination of the internal boundaries of operational responsibility must be carried out according to the law. And the last one says the following:
- The boundary is determined by the valves on the heating pipeline connections to the radiator in the apartment. If there is nothing like that, then the section goes along the threaded connection of the radiator plug. This applies to the heating network.
- For hot and cold water supply, the boundary will be the valve at the point where the pipeline drains from the riser. If it is missing, then such a place will be a weld in the same place.
- In drainage, the boundary passes along a cross, tee or branch on the pipeline riser.
- As for the power supply, the boundary in this case is the connection point between the wire coming from the apartment and the electricity meter, RCD, and circuit breaker.
The boundary of operational responsibility of the owner and management company is the inner surface of the apartment walls, front door and windows. All enclosing load-bearing structures, collective parking lots, playgrounds and other land plots that are located near the house, corridors, landings, attics, roofs and elevators belong to the responsible area of the management company.
Arbitrage practice
It has already been said above that it is important to correctly draw up an act of boundaries of operational responsibility. The importance of this is demonstrated by an example from judicial practice.
One day, the management company filed a lawsuit with a request to declare the terms of the energy supply contract invalid. The management company also wanted the heating networks to move into the area of responsibility of the resource supplying organization. The court, on the basis of regulations and the boundary act, rejected the claim. The reason for this was the content of the agreement, in which the management company took over the section of the networks that was being investigated.
But it doesn't always happen this way. The court often applies other decisions, especially if the boundaries of the balance sheet in the act itself are marked differently than on the outer wall of the apartment building or at the place where the accounting device is installed. In such a situation, the act of balance sheet ownership is not valid.
If an act of delimitation of responsibility has not been drawn up between the parties, then, as a rule, the court decides to draw the line of operational responsibility along the balance line. Simply put, in this case the border passes along the line of separation of utility networks.
Drawing up an act
If this agreement establishes zones of operational responsibility, this does not mean that after the expiration of the document, it is impossible, in accordance with the objections of the parties, to change those same zones. To do this, you will need to draw up a new document. As a rule, this is done by the company that supplies something.
If the resource supply company does not show initiative, then certain documents are sent to it:
- Extract from EGRIN (Unified Real Estate Register). It is needed to confirm proprietary rights.
- A copy of the building permit. It must comply with Article 51 of the Urban Planning Code of our country.
- A copy of the act of putting into use. It must also be drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the Town Planning Code (Article 55).
After the package of documents is sent, the management company will receive an act of delimitation of operational and balance sheet responsibilities.
The document must contain the following information:
- Name and details of the paper.
- The main part contains the details of the recipient, supplier, specifications and location of the facility, communications scheme.
- The last part defines the responsibilities of the parties. It is necessary to take this issue seriously and clearly delineate responsibilities in order to avoid controversial situations in the future.
It is important to remember that the document does not have a specific form; it just needs to list all the main points. You also don’t need any special form.
The document is always prepared in triplicate. One is received by the consumer, the second by the controlling organization, and the third by the supplier. Although formally the three parties share the boundaries of responsibility, the document is signed only by the management company and the resource supply organization.
What is the point of the agreement?
The balance sheet boundary divides not only the property of the house, but also everything else. This is determined by the Housing Code, as well as the fact that Article 36 defines the common property of residents of an apartment building.
After signing the relevant deed, each party understands which area belongs to them, as well as who will repair it in case of damage. If for some reason the line of responsibility has not been determined, then it will be carried out in accordance with the balance sheet. By the way, the latter is always installed on the outer wall of the building. This is the main difference from operational responsibility, the latter can:
- Coincide with the balance sheet boundary.
- Determined by agreement between supplier and consumer.
- Take place at the junction of the metering device and the network of an apartment building.
Why is the act signed? It’s simple: it is necessary to legislate the boundaries that define the responsibilities of each party.
Sometimes the act does not help, because one party begins to unreasonably shift the boundaries towards expanding the range of responsibilities of the other party. In this case, the boundaries are determined in court.
What the law says
The conclusion of contracts is regulated by law. In particular, contracts regarding energy supply are regulated by the Civil Code of our country. Article 539 of the Civil Code (Urban Planning Code) sets out the following boundaries of operational responsibility:
- The obligation of the resource supplying organization to supply energy to consumers.
- The consumer’s obligation to immediately pay for energy, comply with consumption regimes, and ensure the safety of using networks and their serviceability.
In addition, the party receiving the energy must have:
- Connection to the networks of the resource supply company.
- Device for receiving energy.
- Energy metering devices.
- Other necessary equipment.
It turns out that the law has assigned greater responsibilities to the recipient of resources than to the supplier. For this reason, a document on the division of operational responsibilities allows you to relieve the recipient of unnecessary costs and work.
Basic Concepts
The article discussed the boundaries of operational and balance sheet ownership, but the concepts of these terms were not given.
The boundary of balance sheet ownership is the line of division of elements of sewerage systems, water supply and structures on them between owners on the basis of ownership, operational management and economic management.
It turns out that the act of delimiting the balance sheet ownership of electrical networks is a document that is drawn up during the technological connection of power installations of legal and individuals to electrical networks that define the boundaries of the balance sheet.
The boundary of operational responsibility is the line dividing sections of sewerage systems, water supply and other engineering networks according to the principle of responsibility for the use of elements of engineering systems, which is established by the act of delineation of responsibility. Let us repeat that if there is no document, then the border is set according to the balance sheet. By the way, as for electricity supply, this rule does not apply there. The Letter of the FTS of Russia dated 2005 states that the released thermal energy is already considered thermal energy, on the border of balance sheet and operational responsibility.
An act of delimitation of responsibilities of the parties is a document drawn up by the consumer and the network organization for the transmission of the electrical network at the junction of energy-receiving devices. They also determine the boundaries of the parties’ responsibility for the use of certain energy-receiving devices and power grid facilities.
Conclusion
As you can see, the issue must be approached very responsibly by all parties. If this is not done, then problems will inevitably arise over time, because it is not documented anywhere who is responsible for what. These points concern not only the management company and the resource-providing organization, but also the homeowners.
Often it is the owners who stir up conflicts without understanding or knowing the laws. Because of this, trials occur, which do not often end in victory for the plaintiff. All you need to do is study the regulatory framework and correctly understand the limits of operational responsibility of electrical networks. Don't make a big deal out of proportion without understanding its cause. And it’s even better to always conclude an act of delimitation of the above-mentioned responsibilities, and then problems will not arise.
Deputy
legal management
LLC "Udmurt Utility Systems"
V.V. Nilova
The issue of dividing the boundaries of responsibility for the production of thermal energy, its transportation to the house and the provision of heat to each individual room has always been quite complex. It became especially painful when several organizations with divergent interests became involved in the technological chain “boiler room - heating radiator”.
Get more detailed information at.
If the establishment of the boundaries of balance sheet ownership directly depends on the right of ownership, economic management or operational management and in practice does not cause any particular difficulties in determining them, then the boundaries of operational responsibility are established on the basis of duties (responsibility) for operation, and therefore are not always achieved along this dividing line agreement of the parties. Rules for maintaining common property in apartment building
(hereinafter - Rules No. 491), establish the principles for determining the boundaries of intra-house engineering systems, which are common property, and external utility networks owned by municipalities (operated by resource supply organizations).
Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building Rules No. 491 provide that they “regulate relations regarding the maintenance of common property owned by the right of common shared ownership to the owners of premises in an apartment building.”
- Consequently, the purpose and scope of these Rules is clearly defined: the relationship between the owners of premises in an apartment building and other persons regarding the maintenance of objects of common shared ownership belonging to the owners of premises in an apartment building.” Clause 2 of Rules No. 491 includes in-house engineering infrastructure objects in the common property: intra-house
- engineering systems
- cold and hot water supply and gas supply;
- in-house heating system;
The significance of the boundaries of balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility for a resource supply agreement
From the standpoint of civil law, a contract is one of the grounds for the emergence of civil rights and obligations. According to Article 420 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “a contract is an agreement between two or more persons to establish, change or terminate civil rights and obligations” . Paragraph 1 of Article 422 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that “The agreement must comply with the rules obligatory for the parties, established by law and other legal acts (mandatory norms) in force at the time of its conclusion.” Article 539 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that “under an energy supply agreement, the energy supplying organization undertakes to supply energy to the subscriber (consumer) through the connected network, and the subscriber undertakes to pay for the received energy, as well as to comply with the regime of its consumption stipulated in the agreement, o ensure the safe operation of energy networks under its control and the serviceability of the energy-related appliances and equipment it uses.” Wherein " Laws and other legal acts on energy supply, as well as mandatory rules adopted in accordance with them, apply to relations under an energy supply agreement not regulated by this Code.” In accordance with clause 2.1. Standard instructions for the technical operation of heating networks of municipal heat supply systems, approved by Order of the State Construction Committee of Russia No. 285 of December 13, 2000. , the main responsibilities of the heat supply organization include “ compliance with heat supply regimes in terms of quantity and quality of thermal energy and coolants, maintaining coolant parameters at the border of operational responsibility in accordance with the heat supply agreement». According to paragraph 2.1.5 of the Rules for the technical operation of thermal power plants, approved by order of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation dated March 24, 2003 N 115, “ the division of responsibility for the operation of thermal power plants between the organization - consumer of thermal energy and the energy supplying organization is determined by the energy supply agreement concluded between them.” The obligation to draw up a demarcation act is enshrined in Order of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation dated June 19, 2003 N 229 “On approval of the Rules for the technical operation of power plants and networks of the Russian Federation”, in paragraph 4.12.2 of which it is stated: “The service boundaries of heating networks are formalized by a bilateral act.” From the systematic interpretation of the above legal norms it follows that When concluding a heat supply agreement, the parties are obliged to take into account the requirements established by regulations regarding the mandatory definition and clear reflection of the boundaries of balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility between the Energy Supply Organization and the Subscriber. It should be noted that similar requirements for establishing the boundaries of balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility as an essential condition of the agreement between resource supply organizations and consumers are provided for by regulations governing relations for the supply of electricity. In accordance with paragraph 13 “c” of the Rules for non-discriminatory access to services for the transmission of electrical energy and the provision of these services, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2004 N 861, the agreement must contain the following essential conditions: “responsibility of the service consumer and the network organization for the condition and maintenance of electric grid facilities, which is determined by the balance sheet ownership of the network organization and the service consumer (electricity consumer in whose interests the contract is concluded) and is recorded in the act of delimiting the balance sheet ownership of electric grids and the act of operational responsibility of the parties that are annexes to the agreement." Clause 13 of the Rules for the Use of Public Water Supply and Sewerage Systems in the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 12, 1999 N 167, provides: “The contract specifies the subject of the contract, which is the release (receipt) drinking water and (or) acceptance (reset) Wastewater“, while among the essential conditions, “the limits of the operational responsibility of the parties for water supply and sewerage networks” are provided. Thus, from a legal point of view, determining the boundaries of balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility for resource supply contracts is an essential condition.
Arbitrage practice
The Russian legal system is not based on case law, however, when making decisions, the court cannot but take into account the general practice of higher courts. As noted Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in paragraph 7 Resolution of the Plenum of December 20, 2006 No. 65 “On preparing the case for trial” “according to Part 3 of Article 133 of the Code, the tasks of preparing a case for trial include determining by the judge the nature of the disputed legal relationship and determining the legislation to be applied. In this regard, for the purpose of uniform interpretation and application of the rules of substantive law and rules of procedural law with The judge must in each case, when preparing a case for trial, analyze the judicial practice of applying the legislation governing controversial legal relations.” Thus, regarding the application of legislation in the execution of contracts between resource supply organizations and consumers, the position of arbitration courts is quite clearly reflected, for example, by the resolution Federal arbitration court Ural District dated March 18, 2008 N F09-1589/08-C5. Checking the legality of court decisions on a pre-contractual dispute, the Federal Arbitration Court of the Ural District indicated that when accepting the controversial clause of the agreement on the application of legislation in the execution of the agreement as amended by the defendant, the courts “we proceeded from the fact that Rules No. 491 regulate relations regarding the maintenance of common property belonging to the owners in an apartment building on the right of common shared ownership, adopted in accordance with Art. 39, 156 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, are valid and do not contradict others regulations, therefore, is subject to application when concluding a disputed contract.” TO The appellate court noted that the courts' conclusions were erroneous. « Rules No. 491 are not subject to application to the relations of the parties, due to the fact that they regulate issues of maintenance of common property belonging to the owners of premises in an apartment building, not related to relations in the provision of water supply and sewerage services. Thus, on all issues not reflected in the disputed agreement, it is necessary to be guided by Rules for the use of public water supply and sewerage systems in the Russian Federation, regulating the relationship between subscribers (customers) and water supply and sewerage organizations in the field of use of centralized water supply and (or) sewerage systems in populated areas.” Judicial practice confirms the correctness of the conclusion that Rules No. 491 are not applicable to relations between resource supply organizations and providers of public services, since they regulate issues of maintaining common property owned by the owners of premises in an apartment building, not related to resource supply relations. For example, The Federal Arbitration Court of the Ural District in its Resolution of October 15, 2007 No. Ф09-8349/07-С5 resolving a dispute regarding the settlement of disagreements that arose during the conclusion of an agreement for the supply (receipt) of drinking water and the reception (discharge) of waste water, he noted: “ According to SNiP 2.04.01-85 " Internal water supply and sewerage of buildings" water supply and collective (common house) metering devices belong to internal system water supply The common property includes in-house engineering systems of cold and hot water supply and gas supply, consisting of risers, branches from the risers to the first shut-off device located on the branches from the risers, the said shut-off devices, collective (common house) cold and hot water metering devices, first shut-off devices - control valves on the outlets of intra-apartment wiring from risers, as well as mechanical, electrical, sanitary and other equipment located on these networks. The external boundary of the water supply and sewerage networks that are part of the common property, unless otherwise established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, is the external boundary of the wall of an apartment building (clause 8 of the Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building). The appellate court, having established that the municipal enterprise "Vodokanal" has only external water supply and sewer networks under its economic control, and, taking into account that the collective (common house) metering device refers to the internal water supply system, rightfully on the basis of clause 13, 14 of the Rules for the Use of Public Water Supply and Sewerage Systems came to the conclusion that responsibility for the maintenance of networks from the external border of a residential building to the collective (common house) metering device should be assigned to the person in whose jurisdiction (by right of economic management or right of ownership) the site is located networks from the external border of a residential building to metering devices, that is, according to the balance sheet.” The correctness of the conclusion about boundaries as an essential condition of a resource supply agreement is supported by materials from judicial practice. For example, in the Resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the West Siberian District dated February 7, 2008 N F04-417/2008(1008-A46-13) The cassation court recognized that “an essential condition of the energy supply agreement is the responsibility of the buyer and supplier for the condition and maintenance of energy supply facilities, which is determined by their balance sheet and is recorded in the act of delimitation of the balance sheet of networks and the operational responsibility of the parties attached to the agreement. Taking this into account, the court’s conclusion is correct that the act dated December 27, 2005 is part of the energy supply agreement, which is stated in clause 5.1 of the agreement. Without the presence of the act, the contract cannot be concluded. By filing this claim, the plaintiff essentially asks to invalidate part of the energy supply agreement. In accordance with Article 180 of the Civil Code, the invalidity of part of a transaction does not entail the invalidity of its other parts, if it can be assumed that the transaction would have been completed without the inclusion of its invalid part. Due to the special significance of the main terms of the transaction, the invalidity of those terms that are essential due to legal requirements (Article 432 of the Civil Code), because in this case the remaining terms of the transaction will be deprived of legal force and will not create a transaction.” A similar conclusion about the limits of operational responsibility as an essential condition of the energy supply agreement is contained in Resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the East Siberian District of December 7, 2001 N A58-2788/00-Ф02-2992/01-С2: « Considering that the legal relations that have developed between the parties are of a continuing nature, the case materials do not confirm the fact of termination of this agreement, as well as the fact that the parties confirmed the validity of the act establishing the limits of liability dated February 3, 1997, which, by virtue of Article 539 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is an essential condition of the energy supply agreement and its integral part, the arguments about the absence of contractual relations between the parties cannot be considered valid.” To summarize the above, it should be noted: defining the boundaries of balance sheet ownership and operational responsibility certainly helps to determine the scope of responsibility for maintaining utility networks in proper condition between all participants in contractual relations; the correctness and timeliness of determining these boundaries depends on the proper technical condition and safe operation of power plants under the control of the parties to the resource supply agreement, safety of metering devices and, as a result, correct determination of the quantity and quality of the supplied resource.
When users sign a resource supply agreement with management organizations, they care little about agreeing on the boundaries of balance sheet ownership. In addition, it is important to understand that the issue of delineating responsibilities for operation and other topics relating to utility networks connected to houses may be relevant. Who should do this? Both sides. But in order to protect themselves, they must sign an act delineating the balance sheet ownership of water supply networks.
Plumbing is a very important component of a comfortable life in the house. Having signed the act, the parties must be responsible for the good condition of the water supply system, and if something is missed, the pipes will have to be repaired, and, naturally, at their own expense. All this must be taken into account when agreeing on the balance sheet, because often it is the manager who bears all the responsibility for water supply and sewerage. Therefore, the mediator needs to narrow the range of his immediate responsibilities, without leaving the framework of civil law.
Act of delineation of operational responsibility
No residential or non-residential building can be put into operation if such public utilities like water supply and sewerage. To regulate the supply of these resources, companies must enter into contracts that delineate operational responsibilities.
The purpose of these contracts is that customers receive water supply or water consumption services, and the company that provides these services receives the agreed payment for its work.
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Here are a couple more rules that are observed when signing the act of delimitation of responsibility:
How to draw up a sample act of delimitation
An act is a document that is drawn up in writing to designate the rights, obligations and powers between organizations supplying resources and the subscriber who receives them. Although the second party can also be a management company, which is only an intermediary, taking over some of the responsibilities after the form is signed.
- The responsibilities of supplier companies are not so extensive. In particular, these companies are obliged to supply the resource in the required quantity and in high quality. But for the subscriber, who is now the management company, delivery of the service costs a pretty penny. The point is that he must:
- Repair equipment if it breaks; Conduct Maintenance
- equipment;
Other responsibilities.
Features of drawing up an act on water supply and sewerage Water supply and sewerage are services without which modern society
will not be able to live. This industry includes the following services:
- The document also requires that the boundaries of responsibility be indicated. In this particular case, they concern the owner of the premises.
- Risers for hot and cold water supply;
- Water shut-off devices;
- Shut-off and control valves on the intra-apartment wiring.
- In-house sewerage system;
- Common sewer riser;
- Trumpet;
- In-house sewerage pipelines;
Heating system risers and their shut-off devices.
Approximately the same problem can befall those to whom the water utility supplies water. You can deal with a broken pipe in a few hours, but without a responsible person or an incorrectly drawn up statement of balance sheet ownership of water supply networks, it may not be possible to fix the breakdown for a year. This is not scary if no one lives in the house, but if this is not the case, then people will be left without a full water supply.
One of the most painful issues when concluding contracts with resource supply organizations (RSOs) for HOAs, housing cooperatives and management companies is the delimitation of the operational responsibilities of the parties and the determination of the boundaries of balance sheet ownership. Practice shows that for HOAs and housing cooperatives this issue often becomes relevant when accidents occur on networks that are not related to the common property of the owners in an apartment building, when, due to a recklessly signed agreement, the responsibility for repairing these networks is assigned to the HOA and housing cooperatives.
In this article you will read:
- How to differentiate between the operational responsibilities of the parties and balance sheet ownership
- Key problems of delimiting the boundaries of small residential buildings
Delimitation of operational responsibilities of the parties, As practice shows, for HOAs and housing cooperatives it often becomes topical issue when accidents occur on networks that are not related to the common property of the owners in an apartment building, when, due to a recklessly signed agreement, the responsibility for repairing these networks is assigned to the HOA and housing cooperative.
Additional meters of engineering communications impose on the management organization (and therefore on the owners of apartment building premises) an additional financial burden for their maintenance and repair, which is sometimes beyond the power of the HOA, and also imply inevitable costs to cover losses of communal resources.
Regulatory regulation of the operational responsibilities of the parties
When considering the issue of delimiting the operational responsibilities of the parties, you should first of all turn to the Civil Code, which governs all energy supply contracts. According to Art. 539 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, under an energy supply agreement, the energy supplying organization undertakes to supply energy to the subscriber (consumer) through the connected network, and the subscriber undertakes to pay for the received energy, as well as to comply with the regime of its consumption stipulated in the agreement, to ensure the safe operation of the energy networks under its control and the serviceability of the devices used by it and equipment related to energy consumption.
An energy supply contract is concluded with the subscriber if he has one that meets the established technical requirements power receiving device connected to the networks of the energy supply organization, and other necessary equipment, as well as when ensuring energy consumption metering.
Division of operational responsibilities of the parties and balance sheet attribution
Basic concepts. In the listed acts, the concept of the boundaries of operational responsibility invariably stands next to the concept of the boundaries of balance sheet ownership, while general definition neither one nor the other is enshrined in legislation. Meanwhile, there are a number of definitions within the framework of regulation of various energy supply contracts.
So, in accordance with clause 1 of the Water Supply Rules:
- balance sheet boundary - the line of division of elements of water supply and (or) sewerage systems and structures on them between owners on the basis of ownership, economic management or operational management;
- operational responsibility line - the line dividing elements of water supply and (or) sewerage systems (water supply and sewerage networks and structures on them) on the basis of duties (responsibility) for the operation of elements of water supply and (or) sewerage systems, established by agreement of the parties. In the absence of such an agreement, the boundary of operational responsibility is established along the line of balance sheet ownership. Regarding the supply of thermal energy, there is no such definition at all, but paragraph 31 of the letter of the Federal Tariff Service of Russia dated 02.18.2005 No. SN-570/14 states that supplied thermal energy is thermal energy supplied to the thermal energy consumer (consumers) at the border of operational responsibility ( balance sheet).
Thus, the boundary of balance sheet ownership when concluding resource supply agreements for apartment buildings is always the external boundary of the wall of such a house, and the boundary of operational responsibility is not established imperatively - it can:
- established by agreement of the parties;
- coincide with the point of connection of the collective (common building) metering device with the corresponding utility network included in the apartment building;
- coincide with the border of the balance sheet (for owners of apartment buildings this is the external wall of the house).
- Conclusion of an agreement with the North Ossetia during the transition period: features and new rules
Litigation regarding the delimitation of operational responsibilities of the parties
An analysis of legislation and judicial practice allows us to conclude that if there is no agreement between the management organization and the RSO on the issue of determining the boundary of operational responsibility, the latter is determined by the boundary of the balance sheet, which is the external wall of the apartment building.