Many are familiar with the situation when, with the advent of inclement weather, problems with roof leakage begin. Few people will be pleased with the damaged ceiling and the streams of water from above. And if you recently made a fresh repair, then watching dirty stains above your head is all the more unpleasant. If the roof is leaking, what should we do first and who to complain to, let's look at the details.
If you live in your own home
Frequent rains, snow that has begun to melt, often manage to penetrate our homes, seeping through attic floors, insulation layers, and ceilings.
So, the roof is leaking: where to goif you live in your own house? First, let's try to solve everything ourselves.
Water is able to overcome many obstacles in its path, and the slightest damage to the roofing can be a suitable loophole for it.
It often happens that when the roof leaks, it is very difficult to identify the specific location of the leak. After all, it can be at a considerable distance from the place of its obvious manifestation.
Water penetrates very well through the attic and ceilings, soaking into roofing materials, so the damaged place on the roof may not be at all where it drips from the ceiling inside the dwelling.
If you undertook to identify the original place of water ingress, you should get on the roof. Then very carefully inspect the proposed place, and be sure the area around it.
And be sure to check if it was correct
On pitched roofs, it is recommended to explore suspicious areas, moving from the bottom up the slope. That is, knowing where it flows from the ceiling, find this place on the roof, and move from this starting point up the slope.
Most likely, you will find the ill-fated place a little higher than previously thought.
If the roof suddenly leaks, what to do after you find the damage? The owner of a private house, no doubt, will take up the repair of the roof.
This can be done either on your own or with outside help, replacing part of the coating with a new one.
But what about those who live in an apartment building, and not in their own house? Especially often this problem concerns the residents of the uppermost floors, although the leak can be so serious that several apartments at different levels can be flooded at once.
Where to contact if this happened in an apartment building
What should be the actions of the owners of apartments in a large house, and where to turn if the roof is leaking? Residents of apartments flooded with water, first of all, should urgently call the housing and communal services serving their home.
At the same time, it is advisable to find out the name and position of the person who accepted the application for an accident. As soon as possible after this, utility workers along with a plumber should come to your house for inspection.
It is recommended to take a photo of damaged ceilings and walls, and possibly a video recording. This will serve as strong evidence in case of litigation, if it comes to them. Be sure to turn on the shooting date and time function on your camera or camcorder.
In case of a leak that caused damage to the property of citizens, as well as changed the appearance of the apartments, an application is written to the management company. The application is drawn up in two copies, one of which the applicant keeps for himself with the signature of the employee who accepted this application.
Now if the roof of your house is leaking: what to doyou know for sure.
Coming at your call, utility workers are required to draw up an act on the presence of damage in each apartment. The act must be drawn up in the presence of several competent members of the commission and independent witnesses.
The document must be drawn up in two copies, one of which remains with the affected tenant.
When a roof leak causes damage to furniture, household items, things and other things, this must be indicated in the act.
Moreover, the members of the commission must indicate in as much detail as possible the nature of the damage to the property, list everything that has become unusable, and also indicate how serious the damage has been.
The tenant is free to sign the act drawn up by the commission only after its detailed study. Moreover, you have the right not to sign the document if you are not satisfied with everything that is indicated in it, or individual points.
It is worth paying special attention to the fact that the act does not indicate the specific cost of the damage caused to the victims. (This should be spelled out in detail in another act - a defective statement).
The document describes only the cause and features of the accident, its possible perpetrators, and also lists what has become unusable due to the fault of the incident.
In the event that the act of roof leakage did not lead to rational actions of the housing and communal services to correct the consequences, you have the right to file a claim with your management company. The claim should indicate the reason for your appeal, the nature and extent of the accident, as well as the amount of material damage.
The application is written in the name of the head of this company. A copy of your passport must be attached to it, as well as a copy of a document confirming your right to own an apartment. If there was a commission of independent experts, then a copy of the act drawn up by them is attached.
Most often, the management company, having received a statement of this nature, does not bring the case to trial. Therefore, if the roof is leaking, it is better to act in this sequence.
If your company's claim has no effect, and the company is inactive, you should go to court to file an application against it.
Some Tips
Many tenants often find themselves to blame for the fact that housing services do not pay due attention to their problems. Often there is simply no desire to drag out unpleasant chores, believing that all the same, the perpetrators will not be found and the damage will not be compensated.
Unfortunately, the tenants themselves, thus, give public utilities a reason not to fear for their negligence. In many foreign countries, just the opposite is practiced.
Homeowners study and practice their rights so meticulously that management companies simply try to prevent accidents. They know that the slightest violations in their work can lead to huge fines and job loss.
If you have a leak and it seems to you that the damage and troubles are minimal, still apply for a report. This act of roof leakage - a sample that you can find on our website, will be a fairly strong document in your favor.
If the damage to the roof is not repaired by the utility, please contact again. When precipitation stops, water may temporarily stop flooding the ceiling, but this is only temporary - until the next rain or snow.
Therefore, do not succumb to the persuasion of housing and communal services workers that everything will close up by itself, the gap will clog up, and water will no longer flow. By no means, if the roof is not repaired on time, leaks will only intensify over time.
If you are photographing damaged property, as well as repairs damaged due to a leak, do not only set the date of shooting on the camera.
It is highly desirable that the commission that draws up the act officially certifies photographs or video material.Try to perform all actions in the presence of independent experts, or your neighbors.
They will be able to confirm the necessary facts, if required in further proceedings.
Shop receipts for the furniture and equipment you purchased will come in handy. If it has deteriorated and become unusable, it will be much easier for you to confirm its value. Checks for purchased building materials during the last renovation in the apartment can also be useful.
In cases where step-by-step legal actions did not bring a positive result, go higher. That is, observing the chain of command, each time apply to an ever higher authority.
Remember that every organization is influenced by a higher one. Often even mentioning that you will go higher can give a positive result.
With your persistent and decisive actions at the very beginning of the problem, utilities will understand that you will not back down. As a rule, people who are not too lazy to seek their rights remain the winners.
Ask your friends and acquaintances how the process of solving their problem went, if they had to deal with it. How did they act in their case, and what would they advise you in this situation.
When you know who to go to and what to do - if the roof is leaking, you will not be at a loss when a similar problem arises. And decisive and competent actions always end in success.
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