Translated using ChatGPT service.
On Tuesday, June 3rd, the government approved amendments to Cabinet regulations drafted by the Ministry of Economics (ME), which cancel the requirement for repeated verification of water consumption meters in apartments of multi-apartment residential buildings.
The cancellation of the repeated verification requirement will also apply to current transformers and voltage transformers (measuring transformers) in industrial enterprises.
“The adopted regulatory amendments will significantly reduce the administrative burden, bureaucracy, and expenses for residents as well as businesses. The changes will affect a significant part of society, meaning that residents will practically feel the impact as real financial savings,” emphasized Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis.
The government approved amendments to Cabinet Regulation No. 1013 “Procedure by which an apartment owner in a multi-apartment residential building settles payments for services related to the use of apartment ownership,” Regulation No. 524 “Procedure for determining, calculating, and accounting for each residential building owner’s payable share for services necessary for the maintenance of the residential building,” and Regulation No. 289 “Rules on the list of measuring instruments subject to state metrological control.”
With these changes, the procedure is set for continued use of water consumption meters in apartments and how each apartment owner’s payable share for supplied water will be determined. Residents will still be able to use the currently installed meters even after their verification validity expires, and this practice will continue until the apartment owners’ association decides on a centralized meter replacement for the entire residential building, setting unified requirements for all meters, such as sensitivity and remote reading capabilities.
The apartment owners’ association must decide on the introduction of a unified water consumption accounting system by January 1, 2027, taking into account the property manager’s evaluation of the economic feasibility of installing remotely readable water consumption meters, which includes open-type data remote reading.
By canceling the repeated verification of water consumption meters, residents’ annual savings are estimated at approximately EUR 4.88 million, and EUR 19.52 million over 4 years (assuming the repeated verification, replacement, and installation of one meter costs EUR 20). By canceling repeated verification for measuring transformers, industrial enterprises will save EUR 4.13 million over 12 years (assuming repeated verification and installation cost EUR 292).