Installation of individual electricity meters: who has the right to connect and who must pay

The power supply to a home creates comfortable and safer living conditions.
Electricity is supplied on a paid basis, payments are calculated based on the indicators given by the electric meter. Installation of an electric meter is carried out in apartments and private houses; each metering device has its own service life and eventually requires replacement . New residential buildings are provided with modern models designed for large amounts of energy.

And in houses built earlier, it is necessary to install individual electricity meters of a new type. Such work can be performed by a professionally trained electrician from a company authorized to perform these services.

A consumer who wants to order work needs to know exactly who should install electricity meters. Information about who replaces the device if it is damaged, seals it, and checks the indicators will also be useful.

Legislative basis

There is a list of legislative documents regulating the work; they determine who can install the meter and who is responsible for this electrical equipment. This list includes the Civil Code , Housing Code .

Government Decree No. 530 , signed on 08/31/26, Government Decree No. 491 , also concerns power supply issues . You also need to take into account Federal Law No. 261, which came into force on November 23, 2009.

ATTENTION! By law, the supplier or management company bears primary responsibility for the electricity supply. Their task is to establish a stable supply of electricity to the consumer.

The responsibility of the supplier and management company includes maintenance of electrical equipment, including electricity meters, monitoring of technical condition, inspection, and repair.

Installation of metering devices in various rooms

It matters whether the electrician installs the meter in a privatized or municipal , in the entrance, on the landing.
Many questions arise about who should install and connect the device, at whose expense. According to companies involved in energy sales, meters must be installed at the expense of the consumer , since he is the owner of the apartment or house. He must pay the cost of the IPU and installation work.

But there are regulatory rules for installing electricity meters in an apartment building , which the Management Company and Energosbyt must comply with.

• The meter must be installed on the landing by the management company . The basis for performing the work is an agreement between the management company and the residents of the house. The installation service will be free or subject to the terms of the contract.
• Who pays for the installation of an electric meter in the apartment? It depends on whose property the device is. If the meter is on the balance sheet of the energy supply company or on the balance sheet of the management company, these authorities are responsible for the installation.
• In this situation, you should also start from the agreement, which determines who serves the individual management company. The service also includes installation of a meter.
• The management company replaces devices for free that keep track of electricity consumption in the basement, attic, entryway, and area in front of the house. Be sure to take into account the light on the street near the entrances. In this case, the meters belong to the list of common property. The house meter is serviced under a contract.

Often the terms of the agreement between the supplier and the consumer are hidden; residents of apartments and houses do not read the text of the agreement. And based on this, the management company can include the fee for installing a metering device in the monthly payment for electricity.

IMPORTANT! If the meter is on site, when signing an agreement with the supplier, this fact must be indicated in the text.

Apartment owners whose meters are located on the landing, in non-residential premises . By law, these devices can be located outside the apartment.

Subsequently, the consumer will not be responsible for the condition of the device. And the question will not arise whether it is necessary to pay for its installation or replacement - this is a problem for the management company and the electricity supplier.

Can the management company pay for the installation of smart water, gas or heat meters?

Maybe if such a decision is made by a general meeting of home owners, but in practice such situations are rare. The initiator of consideration of the issue of automation at a general meeting can be the management company itself or the residents of the apartment building.

A positive decision will certainly be beneficial to the management company, because it will reduce both the amount of operational work for collecting evidence and the number of defaulters. In turn, residents will be freed from the need to submit their testimony monthly and pay for unreliable neighbors. But in any case, residents will finance the installation of smart appliances, so the decision to use them within an entire house or community is always made collectively.

Reasons for installing a new meter

The contract with the supplier must stipulate the reasons for replacing the meter. If the management company takes responsibility for maintaining the technical condition of the device, it must replace it at the end of its service life.
Also, the electric meter is changed if it gives inaccurate readings. Perhaps the supplier decided to upgrade the equipment and change the IPU to new models. For this reason, replacement can be carried out in a private house or apartment. Consumers are not required to pay for such work.

Reasons for replacing the meter

1. An outdated device with an accuracy class of 2.0.
2. The electric meter began to record inaccurate results. Does not show actual energy consumption.
3. Switching to another type of meter due to the choice of multi-tariff mode.
4. The replacement can be initiated not only by the owner himself, but also by the energy supply organization. This occurs due to the expiration of the installed device’s service life (service life has exceeded 16 years). Then the energy sales company notifies the homeowner in writing that a replacement is required. The owner is obliged to purchase and install the meter at his own expense within 30 days.

If the owner of the residential premises ignores the notification, then after the month has passed, a consumption tariff will be applied to him, based on the average monthly readings for the previous 3 months. This is the maximum time allowed to replace the meter. After this period, energy sales will begin to apply tariffs according to the standards approved by law.

Who carries out the work?

General meter for the house, IPU on the landing - the responsibility of the management company . But how does the law determine the requirements for installing a meter inside an apartment?

The order of work must be followed; if the regulations are violated, the owner of the property will be punished.

IMPORTANT! Such responsible work as installing an electrical power supply unit is performed only by qualified specialists.

They must have permission to perform services, and the owner of the property must provide access to the premises. The consumer can negotiate a convenient time with the craftsmen.

approved models are used for installation , therefore, if you want to select a device yourself, you need to consult with the electricians of the management company.

To carry out replacement work, you need to prepare documents for this work - an application for the installation of a new device, a resolution for replacement, a passport for the electric meter.

The application should indicate why the device is installed (reason for replacement), and the type of device chosen. The application should be submitted to representatives of the organization servicing the house or to the company supplying electricity.

ATTENTION! New IPUs are programmed in a special order; the program must be delivered by network company specialists. Permission for installation should be obtained from the same authority.

If the apartment is a communal apartment and the rooms are not privatized, the work will be performed by a service company, the service should be free .

Self-replacement of the electricity meter

The question often arises whether it is possible to replace the electric meter on your own. If the owner is a specialist in this field, then in principle this is not prohibited.

Important here will be:

• strict adherence to safety rules;
• in the absence of professional skills, installing the meter yourself is prohibited;
• written approval of the resource supplying organization;
• inviting a specialist to remove the seal from the old device, and after installing the new one to seal it.

Let's talk about replacing the electricity meter yourself step by step:

In this case, you should take into account some points and follow a certain procedure.

1. Write an application to Energosbyt explaining the reasons for replacing the meter and obtain permission for it. Bring with you a passport and documents confirming ownership (extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate).
2. Immediately ask all the necessary questions about the meter models. Select the type of meter, depending on the tariff plan. The model must be certified and contained in the Register.
3. It is better to purchase an electric meter from the company that supplies electricity. Buy a metering device. For example, many people are now buying multi-tariff ones, which allow significant savings, since the tariff is much lower at night. It must comply with the technical specifications required by the energy sales organization. To buy a meter, you will need to present a certificate; without it you cannot make a purchase.
4. At the appointed time, they will send a specialist who will record the removal of the seal from the old device.
5. The old meter is dismantled in compliance with safety rules. It will need to be saved for final readings. While the meter is absent, for this period the average tariff for the last 3 months will be charged.
6. Install a new meter and check its operation.
7. Write an application to invite an inspector who will check the installation and seal it.

After replacing the electric meter, the owner of the apartment is issued a sealing certificate.

It is necessary to keep the passport with the technical characteristics of the device, which contains data on the service life. Since it will be useful in the future, the next time you replace the meter.

What is the price? The cost of electricity meters starts from 800 rubles and depends on the technical characteristics. Work to replace the meter is determined by the region from 1 - 2.5 thousand rubles.

Features of self-installation of an electric meter

If residents of an ordinary or communal apartment decide to independently install a new meter inside their living space, they must fulfill a number of mandatory requirements:

• Only certain meter models are used for accounting; this issue needs to be clarified with the management company. The price of the device depends on the model; all purchase costs are borne by the consumer.
• After installation, you should definitely invite a representative of the management company or Energosbyt. He must seal the device, put it into operation, and draw up a commissioning report indicating the initial indicators.
• You can find out exactly how much electricity costs and how to calculate payments based on indicators.

ATTENTION! Based on the commissioning certificate, an agreement is drawn up with the electricity supplier. This document regulates issues of maintenance, inspections, and replacement.

Electricity meter rules and terms

According to the rules established by law, violation of the procedure for replacing and removing the seal from an old meter entails a fine. At the same time, it is possible to use a recalculation based on already paid energy consumption for the last three years at the maximum tariff.

The electric meter must be operated according to the service life specified in the device passport. When the period has expired, the owner is obliged to contact the energy saving company, and it must send a specialist to replace the electric meter within 10 days.

What if the meter is broken?

If you find problems that require repair of the electricity meter, you should contact your energy sales office. There is no need to try to repair the device yourself, which could lead to breaking the seal, since breaking the seal will result in penalties being applied to the owner.

To eliminate the malfunction, you need to write a statement to the energy supply organization indicating the breakdown and the address of the premises. They are required to coordinate the departure of the master. The electrician will check the condition of the seal and diagnose the problem and draw up the appropriate report. If the meter cannot be repaired, it will need to be replaced.

The procedure for servicing PUE in private houses, SNT and on the street

According to the law, maintenance of meters, including installation, in private homes must be carried out by service organizations that supply electricity.
But if the device is damaged due to the fault of the consumer, the owner of the home is responsible. Sometimes energy suppliers insist that the meter be mounted on the outside wall of the house so they can access it to check the readings. But according to the PUE, the device must be in a dry room, so there is no reason to take it outside.

Metering devices in an apartment building, located on the landing, in the entrance, are included in the common property of the building. They are installed and replaced by a service company .

Residents of municipal apartments are not required to pay for the installation of meters that will take into account the electricity consumption in their housing. If the apartment is privatized and the meter is located inside the housing, maintenance costs are the responsibility of the property owner.

SNT members can also enter into agreements for the supply of electricity to their site. They can act as individual consumers . To conclude a contract, you must provide evidence of the technological possibility of connection.

The meter must be located on the site, even if the SNT management requires it to be installed on a pole located close to the road. The conditions for servicing metering devices on the territory of gardening partnerships are stipulated in the contract with the supplier ; you need to be strict in drawing up each of its clauses.

Reasons and procedure

Typically, the requirement to remove the meter arises in the case of connecting a house or cottage under construction or, if necessary, to verify or replace the meter. The service life of most of them does not exceed 16 years.

When taking the device outside, installation costs will not be so significant and will consist of purchasing a box with machines and a meter. Additionally, you will have to purchase wires to connect the box to the input into the house.

Electrical networks agree on the installation location of the device and develop a project according to which all connections must be made. The electric meter is being installed. For example, as shown in the figure, its placement on the facade of the house.

After fulfilling the conditions described in the technical specifications, the electrical networks connect the electricity.

In a similar way, the electricity meter is removed from the site. Installation is carried out on the nearest power pole. As shown in the below picture.

In this case, it is necessary to comply with the following condition: nothing should interfere with the electrical network worker during repair work on the line. Those. The shield is mounted at a distance that allows the electrician to freely climb the pole with the help of crampons.

The optimal solution for removing the device is to use a free-standing support designed for mounting a special box for installing the meter. It should be borne in mind that different technical conditions are issued for connecting a single-phase line and a three-phase line.

To connect three phases, it is necessary to install a grounding loop and carry out its verification. And install a lightning protection device in the shield. Without these measures, the power grid will not connect.

These are the basic provisions that apply to all consumers. However, there are some differences.