What if the electricity, water or gas meter stopped?

Electricity, gas and water meters in an apartment or in a private house is a useful thing that allows you to clearly monitor the volumes of communal goods consumed and pay only for the amount actually used, as a rule, significantly saving you money. But, like all items, counters can break sooner or later. We'll figure out how to act in such a situation to solve the problem in the shortest possible time.

Causes of failures of

The factors, due to which the meter suddenly ceased to work, can be many.

1. The outbreak of the device and the development of its resource.
2. Failures in the supply network - for example, a sudden surge in voltage in the electrical network caused the electricity meter to break. If the hot water meter has broken, the reason may be in excess of the maximum permissible temperature of 90 ⁰.
3. Defective counter.
4. Incorrect installation, connection or operation.
5. Poor quality of the supplied resource( in the case of water - a large number of harmful impurities of various mineral salts and other chemicals that are aggressive to the material of the meter).
6. Mechanical damage to the device.
7. Electronic failure( actual, if a modern electronic electric meter is installed) and so on.

If the fault lies with the resource supplier - for example, a cold water counter broke from a high-pressure liquid supplied - then the cost of eliminating the problem can and should be claimed from them. How to prove the involvement of public utilities is a topic for a separate conversation.

How to be on the detection of a fault

A gas meter or something else has broken, it does not matter, first of all you should evaluate the nature of the failure. If this is some kind of trifle that does not affect the operation of the device and is easy to eliminate - say, the screw with which the meter is attached to the surface has been loosened - then this can be eliminated on its own. More serious things should not be immediately repaired by your own efforts and try, unless you are an employee of the relevant organization( say, gorgaz) and do not have all the necessary skills and permits for such work. Firstly, one can overestimate one's own strength and do not start the device again, but only make it worse, and secondly, when fixing, the seal on the product will certainly be damaged. And without it, the meter reading will not be taken into account.

In an emergency( for example, a water meter gushes with a stream of boiling water or if the gas meter clearly misses it), the communication should be turned off. For example, in standard Soviet houses on a staircase, as a rule, there are relays that cut off the electricity supply to the apartment, and the valves for shutting off the supply of gas and water are usually in the entrance area of ​​the entrance or the basement. In detail this information should be clarified at the entrance to the housing, in which case, do not waste time on calling or circumventing neighbors.

Next comes the logical question: where to go? The organization responsible for this type of communication should be informed of the failure. Its name and contact details must be indicated in the service / maintenance agreement for the relevant equipment. There are several options - to leave an application for the visit of the master by phone or via the Internet( if there is such an opportunity) or to come to the office and write the corresponding statement personally. The sooner this is done, the sooner the malfunction will be eliminated and the smaller will be the cash loss due to payment not based on actual consumption. The employee of the organization is obliged to inspect the meter, fix the malfunction and indicate whether it is possible to repair it or if replacement is required.

Council

Utilities are reluctant to help if you have a water meter broken, what should you do? Do not hesitate to complain, because for this now do not even have to swear when visiting them or calling. Almost all institutions have e-mail addresses. A polite letter describing what is happening to the higher authorities - and the likelihood of an early resolution of your problem is greatly increased.

Fixing process

Repair or replacement can only be carried out when the employee of the resource management organization has documented the breakage and removes the seals.

If the counter that is still under warranty is broken, then it can be tried to repair or replace at the manufacturer's expense. But it is worth bearing in mind that he does not have to take it silently. Most likely, they will be assigned an examination to assess the correct operation of the device and the reasons for its failure. If it is proven that the manufacturer is not guilty, the guarantee repair, refund or replacement of a similar gas, water or electricity meter will be refused.

Who changes the device, the master( and not necessarily from utilities) or the owner himself, to the owner of the housing. It should be understood: cunning here in any case does not work. Having fixed the malfunction, it is necessary to call again the representative of the necessary company. He will inspect the counter, check the correctness of its operation, record the readings and seal it again. And only from now on the citizen will again pay for this type of communal service according to actual use.

Repair Costs

An important point is who should change the broken gas meter or other utilities. Again, different situations are possible.

1. The fault is the supplier company, and this is proven. All costs and the obligation to carry out the work falls on it.
2. The device is inside the apartment, and the housing itself is privatized. Refurbishes or changes the owner.
3. Similarly, but housing is provided under a social security agreement - again, the owner, that is, the municipality or another real estate-owning agency, changes.
4. The meter is located outside the apartment( in the entrance), which is often the case with electricity. If the electric meter broke in this situation, carefully study the contract with the service provider. The devices located outside the apartment can be considered common property, and then their repair is the concern of the public utilities.

The counter has broken - how to read the indication of

If the meter is faulty, there are two options for calculating the consumption of the utility:

• will take the averaged data for the last 3 months before the breakdown;
• calculation will be made according to consumption standards.

How to pay in a particular case, can be written in the contract with the service provider, if not - this information should be clarified from them personally. By the way, the fee for the service will be calculated in the same way, if the meter reading has not been submitted for some accounting period.

And if not repair?

To turn the situation to its advantage - the desire is logical and understandable. Therefore, many, faced with the fact that the broken meter began to account for them or stopped completely, decide to leave it faulty. Even if you reject morality and the notion that everything will be rewarded, then such behavior is illegal.

What awaits an unlucky freebie lover? There are options. Each meter is tested every few years, and its testimony can be checked by a representative of the resource-supplying organization at any time. In both cases, a malfunction can be noticed. And then the subscriber can be instructed to pay for the consumed services not according to the meter reading from the moment when it was last serviceable. Additionally, a fine may be imposed. Naturally, the owner of housing, where this meter is installed, will also have to correct the malfunction.

Summing up

Briefly summarize all of the above. What should I do if the meter is broken? In an emergency situation( for example, it's not just that the gas meter does not work, but there is a clear leak), you should stop the supply of this type of resource as quickly as possible. Next, you need to turn to the right organization( gorgas, heat and power company, electricity or water) and wait for the visit and verdict of their specialist. The repaired or replaced meter is again checked by a representative of the relevant housing and utilities organization and sealed. For the period of repair work, the consumption of this resource is paid for according to the standards that are appropriate to this situation or based on the volumes of use for the previous accounting periods.