Do I need to seal water meters?

When is meter sealing required?

This year, almost all respectable citizens managed to register a water meter and put a seal.
Although situations often arise when re-filling is needed. It is extremely undesirable to undertake the installation of the meter yourself, because before sealing you will definitely be required to present documents made by the organization that carried out the installation and has permission to do so.

It is extremely necessary to seal the water meter when:

• after you move into a new apartment;
• the meter has expired;
• a major failure occurred in the system;
• the water meter suddenly breaks or is damaged;
• the water supply system was being repaired;
• The ball valve is broken.

This means that water meters need to be sealed immediately after any mechanical impact on the meter has occurred.

How to seal a meter

Purchase and registration of water meters

In order not to encounter problems in the future, you need to approach the issue of choosing a water meter more responsibly. According to the advice of experts, there is no need to buy a special device. The best option would be to purchase a mechanical apartment meter. Electronic devices can break down, which happens quite often, which entails unnecessary costs and worries due to the need for re-registration.

The device for calculating water consumption must be certified. After installation and installation of the seal, responsibility for the meter will lie with the organization carrying out this work. Meters for metering hot and cold water supply have design features. It is almost impossible to make a mistake when purchasing, because a cold water meter has a blue stripe, and a hot one has a red one.

Installing two devices with a red stripe is possible, although it will be much more expensive. But installing a meter with a blue stripe on a hot spring is prohibited.

The body of the stopcock must have an eyelet for installing a seal. If this is not the case, installation of a seal is not possible. With a missing eyelet, it is possible to turn off the tap, disconnect part of the pipeline and collect water without taking it into account.

The most important point when purchasing a water meter is the passport. There is no need to purchase devices without a corresponding passport printed by a printing house; it will not work, just like a photocopy.

The unique identifier specified in the passport must correspond to the serial number of the water meter.

Registration of a water measuring instrument

To register a meter, you must write an application indicating information about the owner. The application also contains the desired date for sealing. You will also need a photocopy of the device’s passport. Country houses can also have centralized water supply. Cold water meters must also be installed there. The hot water supply will most likely be from a boiler.

Installation of devices in private households should only be carried out in a building with a cold period temperature of at least 50 degrees. Otherwise, it will be necessary to carry out work to insulate the pipeline, water meter and room.

Another important requirement is lighting. It should be convenient for maintenance and readings.

Who seals the meters?

A water meter can be sealed only by a representative of the company that has the legal right to draw up documents for this operation, the most basic of which is the sealing act.

Sealing must be carried out in accordance with clause 41 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 167 of February 12, 1999. Before sealing the meter, the specialist must check:

• meter integrity;
• the correctness of its installation.

The employee must provide the owner with a package of documents, which should be kept and presented to the water utility employees when repairing or replacing the meter.

It is important to choose the company that will perform the filling for you. Before the employee gets down to business, the main thing is not to forget to check:

• filling license;
• Is it possible to use warranty and service;
• Availability of forms for registration of documents.

Remember! The company that installed it is responsible for the correct installation of the meter, and the owner is responsible for the presence of the seal and its integrity.

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Who does the filling?

Before considering who is authorized to install seals, it is worth considering the types of protective equipment specified. The following types of fillings are distinguished:

• factory - installed by the manufacturer, preventing interference with the mechanism of the product, but not preventing its installation and connection;
• after connecting the device.

One of the types of fillings is anti-magnetic: read the article about anti-magnetic filling.

The first of these types of protective devices should be of interest to the consumer only in terms of integrity monitoring when purchasing a product. The owner purchases the device with the factory seal already installed, and its reinstallation may be required only after the device has been repaired in the manufacturer’s workshop or a specialized organization.

After the initial connection of the meter, or as a result of dismantling and reinstallation associated with the next verification or repair, the seal must be installed by a representative of the energy supplier or management company (if we are talking about an apartment in an apartment building).

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It is not permitted to install this protective device yourself or to hire the company that installed the device to do so. Such a connection will be considered illegal, and the readings of the device in this case will be invalid. As a result, the owner will pay the organization for work that goes beyond its authority.

According to the provisions of paragraph 81 (9) of Government Resolution No. 354, adopted in May 2011, these works are performed free of charge. An exception applies to situations where sealing is performed again if previously installed protective equipment is damaged due to the fault of the consumer or third parties.

The cost of sealing in situations in which a fee must be charged to the owner ranges from 200 to 500 rubles, depending on the region and type of energy resource.

Time and cost of sealing

The time frame for sealing a water meter varies greatly for different models. The old model device has a shorter period of time, while the new model has a longer period. Often the employee comes within five days after being called. The homeowner will need to present the installation certificate and the registration certificate for the water meter to the master. As a rule, the inspector only checks the correct installation and the absence of damage to the meter.

The one who must seal the meters is required to inspect the entire unit, as well as provide a commissioning certificate. All documents that the inspector provides must be carefully re-read, because they may contain errors in the date, or the subscription fee or other tariffs may be too high.

Costs for the water meter begin to be calculated from the day the contract is concluded, which is made in two copies, one for each of the parties. According to the instructions, the inspector is obliged to independently photocopy the meter’s passport and return the original to the owner, but it is better to bypass this point slightly in order to get rid of unnecessary legwork. Make copies ahead of time so you can give them to the master immediately after sealing.

According to clause 5 of Article 20 of the Federal Law “On Water Supply and Sanitation” dated January 1, 2013, sealing of water meters should be done free of charge in the following cases:

• water meter installation;
• repair;
• checks.

But, if the water meter was damaged due to the fault of the user, then he will be required to pay from 500 to 2000 rubles, this amount varies for each company.

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If the owner wants to return his money, which was demanded from him for sealing water meters, then he should contact Rospotrebnadzor with a complaint against the service company, and also file an application in court. Although, many consider this a thankless and protracted task.

Features of the filling procedure

Sealing after the initial installation of the device is carried out in the following order:

1. The owner submits an application to the management company or resource supplier about the need to connect a meter.
2. The owner prepares the necessary documentation.
3. On the appointed day, a representative of the resource supplier or management company connects the device and installs protective devices.
4. The results of the work are confirmed by the corresponding act, drawn up in duplicate.

Protective devices are installed in a similar manner during verification or after repair of the device. The consumer removes the old seal independently, after notifying the resource supplier of the need to dismantle the meter.

The owner is required to prepare the following set of documents before the arrival of a representative of the above organization:

• agreements for the supply of resources,
• civil passport,
• meter passport, what to do if you have lost the meter passport.
• documents confirming the verification of the device or its repair (for re-installation),
• documentary confirmation of the installation of the device (if it is installed, and we are talking only about sealing).

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The specified protective equipment must be installed within 15 days from the date of submission of the relevant application, and the date of completion of the work must be agreed upon no later than 3 days.

Features of primary filling

Before sealing the electricity meter, you will need to complete the appropriate documentation. To do this, the owner must submit an application in the prescribed form to the company providing the services. If the sealing was caused by a damaged seal, you will need to pay a fine and attach a supporting receipt to your application.

After this, the company proceeds directly to filling. This work is carried out when installing a new meter, if it has not been installed previously, as well as when replacing one that has become unusable. In this situation, the owner of the living space does not have to pay for the work; financing is provided by the structure providing the services. Do not rush into payment if representatives of the organization insist on it.

During sealing, the owner of the living space has the right to the following actions:

• The owner is obliged to ask for a document with a list and cost of services provided.
• It is necessary to check the prices with the price list, which must be certified by a seal and contain the details of the organization.
• Prepare a formal complaint for illegal actions of representatives of the service provider.
• Fill out an application to the court, attaching the relevant listed documents.

Classifications of fillings

There are several types of seals on meters:

• Primary - set by the manufacturer, has a certain validity period, which is indicated in the instructions and passport (4, 6, 8, 16 years).
• Repeated – security seal of the service provider who recognized the electric meter as accepted for operation.

• Factory ones.
• Service provider seals.

The work is carried out as planned (verification period has expired) or unscheduled: breakdown, suspicion of unaccounted energy consumption, meter relocation.

There are seals on the protection device, but do not confuse them - they do not affect the authenticity of the electricity readings.