How to deal with smokers in the entrance

Many smokers are interested in whether it is possible to smoke in the entrance, for example, according to the new law 2019–2020. The Russian government is pursuing an anti-tobacco policy by passing laws that limit the list of places for smoking. Smoking is prohibited in the entrance of a residential building, as well as at the entrance to the entrance. After reading this article, you will learn where you can and cannot smoke, what fines are imposed on violators, and how you can deal with smoking neighbors.

landing

Law on smoking in entrances 2020

All-Russian Law No. 15-FZ was adopted in 2013 and caused a wave of indignation. But over the 7 years of his action, Russian citizens have adapted to the new rules. The text of the law contains a list of places where smoking is prohibited. Residents of apartment buildings are concerned with the following items from the list:

• staircases;
• floor halls;
• elevator cabins;
• shared balconies;
• fire exits;
• local areas;
• children's and sports complexes;
• storage rooms and strollers;
• attic and basement floors;
• Technical buildings;
• underground parking;
• garbage collection chambers;
• other premises accessible to all residents.

Near an apartment building

Smoking on the street is prohibited by amendments of 2020. From the same year, smoking in front of children is prohibited. In 2020, the first fine was recorded for smoking in one’s apartment. A resident of Novosibirsk sued his neighbor, who often went out to smoke on the balcony, and won the case. This was in 2020, even before the official ban on lighting fires on loggias and balconies.

In 2020, amendments were adopted banning tobacco smoking in the common areas of communal apartments. Common areas are the toilet, bathroom, corridor, kitchen and dining room, storage room and other utility rooms. Residents of communal apartments can now only smoke near the window in their personal rooms.

Is it permissible to have smoking breaks in the entrance hall under the smoking law?

The fine for smoking in the entrance does not stop those who like to smoke

Four years have passed since the adoption of the law on protecting the health of others from the effects of tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco use, popularly nicknamed the “anti-tobacco” or simply “smoking law.” They stipulate that people are prohibited from smoking not only in stairwells, but also in attics and basements, in short, in all places that are public places and are not specially equipped for this.

As the law states in its current interpretation, those who violate these rules may be subject to penalties in accordance with the severity of the offense. In general, if someone feels the urge to smoke in the entrance, he should not be surprised if he is fined for it.

Although every rule has its exceptions. So here, too, sometimes you can not only avoid a fine, but also make smoking on the staircase legal. This becomes possible when the lion's share of the residents of the entrance suffer from this bad habit and the process of smoking occurs on the common territory of such owners.

These owners have the right to arrange a special place for such purposes and smoking breaks on its territory will not be prohibited. In order for this to take on the status of a socially permitted and unpunished act, it is necessary to hold a general meeting of the residents of the entrance, hold it in accordance with all the rules, with the keeping of minutes and other legal attributes, which will record that the residents of such and such entrance voted by universal vote in favor of allowing smoking on entrance area in a special room designated for this purpose.

It must be insulated and equipped with ventilation and comply with all fire safety regulations, as well as meet all sanitary and hygienic standards. Thus, if there is a separate room at the entrance, all that remains is to convene a meeting at which the majority will vote for smoking in this room and record this fact in the minutes of the meeting.

Is it possible to smoke on the landing?

People with nicotine addiction should remember that smoking on the landing of an apartment building is prohibited. There was an exception to this rule, but it has already been eliminated. Since July 24, 2020, the anti-tobacco law prohibits smoking vapes and other electronic cigarettes, including in hallways and on stairs.

Ashtrays in the entrance of a residential building

IQOS and hookahs have been banned before because they are used to heat tobacco. And according to the law, the use of tobacco in entrances is not allowed. Experts believed that one day the law would be amended to ban vapes and e-cigarettes. And now we see that this forecast has come true.

How to deal with smokers in the entrance of a residential building

According to the current norms of the domestic legislative framework, smoking in entrances is strictly prohibited. The exception is citizens who use electronic cigarettes, the smoke from which does not pose any danger to the environment and humans. Regular tobacco products can be smoked at a distance of at least 15 m from the entrance.

Mainly, smoking in the entrances was prohibited due to the number of fire incidents. It is also worth considering that there is most often no ventilation in the entrances, which is why harmful smoke permeates everything around. The only option for smokers not to break the law is to organize a special smoking area, equipped in accordance with current requirements. However, it must be borne in mind that in such a situation it will be necessary to enlist the support of at least half of the residents of the apartment building.

If neighbors smoke in the entrance, you will have to organize a meeting of residents, determine an isolated room with good ventilation and agree on other issues related to this issue.

As for smoking on the landing, it is not prohibited by law.

However, if a problem arises and there is a need to combat smoking in the entrance, you will have to contact law enforcement. It is necessary to insist that smokers litter the floor with matches, cigarette butts and other rubbish. It should also be noted that smokers on the floor create an unhealthy environment caused by the abundance of tobacco smoke.

Is it possible to smoke at the entrance of a residential building?

This is a fairly common question. It is regulated by law. We have already figured out whether it is possible to smoke in the entrance of a residential building, according to the new law in 2019–2020, now let’s go further. Some people believe that since it is forbidden to smoke in the entrance, then it is permissible to stand and smoke at the entrance to the house.

Prohibition sign

The law prohibits smoking on the street outside designated areas.

The fines for smoking on the street are the same as for a violation in the entrance. A table with current fines will be given later in the article.

Conclusion

Legislation strictly limits smoking in public places, as well as entrances. This is mentioned in several acts. Every person who smokes is obliged to study and know them in order to avoid the imposition of serious fines.

The amount depends on who breaks the law - a citizen or a legal entity. There is more than one example; there are many cases where large sums were recovered.

To prevent smoking in hallways, residents can organize a general meeting and convince smokers, otherwise the Federal Law of Russia will do this. In order to stop the troubles, you can allocate money for a high-quality exhaust system or a place (marked with the appropriate sign) where smoking is allowed. It should not be nearby, at the permitted distance. If this does not help, you can contact law enforcement agencies. In order for the police to be able to legally punish smokers, they need to film or photograph the violation.

Requirements for areas for smokers

If there are a lot of people who smoke in your building, you can discuss creating a smoking area. You can place the site in the local area or in the entrance. But it’s easier to do this on the street near the entrance, especially for residents of houses from the old building.

Requirements for an open smoking area:

1. Installation of ashtrays or trash cans (cigarette butts cannot be thrown anywhere else).
2. The presence of a permit sign “smoking is allowed here.”
3. Availability of lighting for the dark.
4. Stands with information about the dangers of smoking.
5. Distance to the entrance to a residential building: at least 10 meters.
6. Distance to the playground: at least 20 meters.
7. A canopy for protection from rain and snow is not required, but is advisable.

There is one more requirement for closed areas inside the entrance: the presence of ventilation. To organize a smoking area, you will need to hold a meeting of apartment owners, where you can get a majority of votes.

To persuade non-smoking neighbors to vote yes, tell them about the benefits of a smoking area. Icy air will not flow into the entrance through the windows. The acrid smell of tobacco will not accumulate in the halls and areas or penetrate into apartments. Smokers will not make noise or cough on the stairs.

How to attract neighbors for smoking in the entrance

If there is a smoker living in your building who annoys you and deliberately breaks the law over and over again, then you can try to use the following methods against him:

1. Print out a notice stating that there is a law that imposes certain sanctions on individuals who smoke in the entrance. This advertisement can be hung in a visible place in the entrance or right where this smoker usually settles.
2. Talk to the offender personally. It is advisable if the conversation does not take place face to face, but in the presence of a large number of dissatisfied people. Then it will have a greater effect. The conversation should not be rude; try to understand everything calmly and explain the situation from the point of view of the legal framework. Offer alternative options with the creation of a local smoking room.
3. If the smoker continues to violate the law, he will have to seek help from higher authorities. Don’t be afraid to do this and boldly stand up for your own rights that the state gives you.

You cannot fine your neighbor yourself. You do not have the right to independently determine the level of sanctions imposed on him. Only higher authorities can do this.

Who to contact for help

If no measures work, you can contact the local police officer. Only he has the right to fine heavy smokers or pose serious questions to them, indicating the expected consequences. To contact the district police officer, you will need to write a detailed statement in writing, in which you will need to describe the situation and demand that appropriate measures be taken. It is good if you are familiar with the legislative framework. The more people sign this complaint, the faster and more effective the district police officer’s decision will be.

An evidence base will be a good reinforcement. To confirm the presence of a persistent offender, collect signatures of witnesses, collect photos or video materials. However, usually this is not necessary, and after the first request, local police officers respond to requests and come to the rescue.

Smoking laws in the constituent entities of the Federation

Regional authorities have the right to pass their own laws restricting smoking. The majority of regional heads supported the federal law and did not introduce relief for smoking citizens.

On the balcony

In which cities is smoking prohibited in hallways and stairwells (list of examples):

• Moscow and Moscow region;
• St. Petersburg (SPb);
• Nizhny Novgorod;
• Krasnoyarsk and Krasnoyarsk region;
• Omsk;
• Permian;
• Mound;
• Samara;
• Tomsk;
• Tula;
• Ufa;
• Chelyabinsk;
• Cherepovets.

If your city is not on the list, this does not mean that you can smoke wherever you want. You can check what prohibitions and restrictions apply in the city on the local administration website.

Smoking in the entrance of an apartment building

According to Federal Law No. 15 of February 23, 2013, smoking is strictly prohibited:

• in the entrances of houses;
• in elevators;
• not far from the entrance, in front of the entrance;
• under the windows of apartments in residential buildings.

All these prohibitions were adopted to preserve the health of non-smoking citizens living in these buildings. The reason for such strict measures was the results of studies of the effects of tobacco smoke on humans. It has been proven that passive smoke inhalation is just as harmful to the body as regular tobacco smoking.

Why were restrictions introduced?

Restrictions on tobacco smoking were adopted to:

• protect non-smokers from the effects of toxic components of tobacco;
• to prevent minors from being drawn into dangerous addiction;
• help addicts get rid of a dangerous habit or at least achieve a reduction in the number of cigarettes they smoke.

These measures should lead to a reduction in diseases caused by tobacco smoke.

Important!

Not only individuals are at risk of paying a fine for smoking. The store owner or director of the enterprise may also be fined, and for a much larger amount.

The legislative framework

The law restricting smoking in public places came into force in 2013. This was done to protect passive smokers from the dangerous effects of tobacco tar and nicotine on the body.

Smoking has become prohibited where non-smokers, especially minors, will breathe tobacco smoke. Such places include stairs, staircases, landings, elevators, and the entire area around a residential building. According to government regulations, smoking in the entrances of houses is prohibited.

Fine for smoking in the entrance of a residential building 2020

Smoking in unauthorized places is regarded as an administrative offense. The act entails liability under Article 6.24 of the Code of Administrative Offences. This article does not provide for such a preventive measure as a warning. Penalties will be imposed for the first violation of the law, even with repentance and admission of guilt.

Smoking law requirement

The allowable fine amounts are shown in the following table.

The amount of the fine is determined by the police officer. The size of the penalty is affected by the behavior of the offender and the category of violation (first and repeated). You can pay the fine in cash or by money order. For repeated violation of the law or for failure to pay a fine, a more severe punishment may be imposed, up to 15 days of arrest.

How to defend your right not to breathe tobacco smoke?

On November 15, 2013, a law was passed according to which smoking is prohibited in a number of places, including in the entrances of apartment buildings.
Smokers who do not pay attention to the ban may be fined from 500 to 1,500 rubles. You can print out excerpts from the text of the law on a printer and hang them on the landings. If the measures you take do not bring results, you can contact your local police officer. If your appeal is supported by a written statement that some citizens violate the law on smoking and tend to smoke in public places, the district police officer will have to talk to your neighbors and, possibly, if there is evidence of their violation of public order, fine them their.

Where to complain about smoking neighbors

First, try to negotiate peacefully with your smoking neighbors. You can print leaflets asking “no smoking” or post notices about fines for smoking. A sample of a “no smoking” sign can be found on the website of the Russian Ministry of Health. At each entrance to the building there must be a sign prohibiting smoking from the management company.

Cigarette butts on the staircase of a residential building

As a rule, the prohibition sign is located on the ground floor on the notice board.

You can hang up more leaflets with your own hands in the area where the offender lives.

How to make an application

If neighbors do not respond to conversations and leaflets, then the fight moves to the next stage. When your words are not listened to, you can complain to the police. What should be written in the text of the complaint:

1. The address at which the act was committed.
2. Time and frequency of smoking on the staircase of the apartment building.
3. Other circumstances of the offense.
4. Address and full name of the offender, if known.
5. Facts confirming violation of the law.
6. If available: certificate confirming asthma, bronchitis or allergy to tobacco smoke.
7. Please conduct an investigation and bring the culprit to justice.
8. Your full name and contact phone number.
9. Contacts of neighbors who can act as witnesses.

Opposite a residential apartment

It is mandatory to provide your contact information. An anonymous police report will not be accepted. Contacts of the local police officer assigned to a residential building can be clarified by calling the hotline 112, 102 or 02, or on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The application can be taken to the police and handed over to the local police officer or sent by certified or registered mail. In this case, you will receive a notification that the letter has been accepted.

How to collect evidence of violation of the law

Evidence of smoking in the wrong place can be one or more facts:

1. Testimony of at least two witnesses who are not related to each other.
2. Photographing or videotaping the smoking process. But according to the law, you cannot film citizens without warning them. A solution to the problem may be video recording from a hidden camera, if there are notices at the entrance warning about the recording.
3. The district police officer personally found the offender with a cigarette in the entrance and drew up a report. To do this, you need to calculate the schedule of smokers and invite the local police officer to walk around the entrance at the right time. Then you can draw up a report on lawbreakers at the entrance.

Staircase of a multi-storey building

If your local police officer is inactive

The district police officer must consider the application 30 calendar days after accepting the complaint. He has the right to order an additional check if he considers that the evidence is insufficient. Verification also takes 30 days. If 60 days after the application the violator does not receive a fine, you should complain to the prosecutor's office. To leave a request, you need to go to the website of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Why is there a need for responsibility for smoking in the entrance?

Smoking in public places has always caused serious dissonance in society around the world. Many countries today have developed a number of laws and bills providing for special responsibility for this type of activity and special rules for people who smoke in the entrance.

1. Passive smoking. The greatest danger is the smoke that smokers spread. It has been scientifically proven that passive smoking is no less dangerous than active smoking. It is harmful to health and can cause the development of various diseases.
2. Public order disturbance. Smoking on landings is often accompanied by long conversations, “get-togethers” on the stairs, etc. This usually causes discomfort for cohabitants, which smokers usually do not think about.
3. Garbage. Often the problem comes down to the fact that the landings are simply littered with cigarette butts, empty cigarette packs or ashes. Smoking neighbors like to install their own ashtray on the stairs for long-term use, which is a violation of public order.
4. A large number of cigarettes smoked. Another difficulty is found in the fact that so many people indulge in this dangerous habit. In order to influence the number of cigarettes smoked, the state decided to reduce the number of places available for smoking.

It is for these reasons that the state decided to punish neighbors who do not care about the well-being of the entire entrance and believe that they are able to do whatever they want.

What to do if a neighbor smokes in the apartment and the smell bothers you

The law allows citizens to smoke within their own apartment. But if the smell and smoke disturb the neighbors, then they have the right to make comments and contact the police. Tobacco smoke can enter someone else's apartment through windows and balconies or through the ventilation system in the kitchen or toilet.

Neighbor in the apartment

Find the source of the odor and smoke:

1. If a neighbor smokes on the balcony, you should contact the police. Since 2019, there has been a decree that prohibits lighting a fire on a loggia or balcony.
2. But if a neighbor smokes in their rooms, you cannot punish him for it. The ventilation in the house is poor.

A complaint about poor ventilation should be filed with the management company. Employees of the organization must check the ventilation system, eliminate blockages and other problems. If the organization is inactive, you need to file a complaint with Rospotrebnadzor and the State Housing Inspectorate. This is how you can make the organization work.

How to deal with neighbors smoking in the entrance?

Smokers cause a lot of inconvenience when they smoke in the entrance. What is the best thing to do in such a situation?

Smoking ban law

In our country, since July 1, 2013, the sensational Federal Law No. 15-FZ “On protecting the health of citizens from the effects of environmental tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption” has been in force, which prohibits purchasing in public places, educational institutions, hospitals, municipalities, on airplanes, in urban and suburban transport, in hotels, cafes, restaurants, as well as in elevators and entrances. A little later, the amount of the fine that a smoker will have to pay was determined - in most cases it ranges from 500 to 1,500 rubles, and for smoking on children's playgrounds you will have to pay from 2,000 to 3,000 rubles.

The law was adopted a long time ago, but the biggest difficulty is to prove the fact of violation. Even if the police arrive, they will not be able to punish the smoker if he does not smoke at that very moment. But of course there are options.

Intimate talk"

The first step is to have a heart-to-heart talk with your smoking neighbor and explain to him that tobacco smoke penetrates into the apartment and harms your health and the health of your children. Tell that there is a law prohibiting smoking, show an excerpt from the text. Invite him to use his personal balcony or go outside instead of the entrance. By law, smoking is allowed in the apartment, as well as on the open balcony equipped with a fire escape. But if mutual understanding cannot be reached, then more radical methods will have to be used.

What else can be done?

1. First, we recommend contacting the management company or the building maintenance directorate with a request to hang signs warning about the prohibition of smoking in entrances and elevators.
2. You can also post no-smoking notices yourself. Indicate in it:

• request to refrain from smoking in the entrance;
• number and name of the law prohibiting smoking in public places;
• the amount of the fine;
• a call to call the police or contact the local police officer if facts of violation of the law are discovered;
• police department phone number.

Most likely, you should not expect an immediate reaction from a smoker. But he will see that the neighbors are serious and will not put up with the constant smell of tobacco smoke.

1. The next step is to record the violation. It will come as a surprise to many that smokers are allowed to be photographed so that evidence can later be presented to law enforcement. Moreover, we are not talking about an invasion of privacy, since the entrance is considered a place of public use.
2. When evidence is collected, you can call the police or contact the local police officer and file a statement. Law enforcement officers can conduct an explanatory conversation or issue a fine.
3. If the police or local police officer do not react in any way, you will have to contact the prosecutor’s office with a complaint and evidence of the offense - photo and video materials. However, this is a last resort measure that should only be resorted to if all other options have been exhausted.

Based on materials from the site “From Hand to Hand”

Smoking restrictions on the way home

Smoking restrictions apply to public transport. You cannot smoke inside the vehicle, at bus stops, at airports, or at train stations. The only exceptions are areas designated specifically for smoking.

Smokers area

When smokers are forced to travel on long-distance trains, they have to give up their bad habit for a while.

It is prohibited to smoke in the train toilet or on the platform during a stop.

Sometimes conductors can “turn a blind eye” to smoking if the offender helps them fulfill the plan for selling Russian Railways lottery tickets (buy a ticket for 100 rubles). But this scheme is a violation of the law.

How to arrange smoking areas in the entrance

If the vast majority of residents indulge in cigarettes, the smoking problem can be resolved amicably by jointly organizing a driveway “smoking room.” What should be done for this?

1. Hold a general meeting of residents of this entrance. At least half of the residents are allowed to attend.
2. The meeting held and the decision made should be recorded in the minutes, where all those present (full name), the issue under consideration and the number of voters should be indicated.

To obtain the opportunity to arrange a smoking area, it is necessary that the number of those who voted “for” prevail over those who did not agree . The selected room (or separate nook) must comply with all current fire and sanitary safety standards. The smoking room must also have fire extinguishers and a functioning ventilation system.

How to deal with violation of the anti-tobacco law