Lighting of the local area. Rules and standards for lighting the area next to the house Private house courtyard lighting lamps
Light in the courtyard of a private city house or cottage outside the bustle of the city is an important part landscape design. It depends on the street lighting of the yard appearance your site and its comfort in the dark. How safe you will feel inside your home at night also directly depends on the lighting on the street around the building.
Outdoor lighting functions
The tasks of lighting a yard area are:
Comfortable movement of the owners and guests of the house around the territory of the land after sunset. Typically, to solve this problem, yard lights with LED or halogen lamps are placed along all paths.
Decoratively highlight the beauty surrounding nature around the building. To do this, the owners of the site use colored lighting for colorful flower beds, a swimming pool, a small pond, a fountain, alpine slide. The use of an electronic control system makes the yard a “fairy-tale” and unique corner of your country life.
Protection from bad visitors. Bright lighting on the street will reduce the ardor of those who like to profit from other people's property, and complete with motion sensors it will be an excellent barrier for thieves.
How do they light the street?
Issues of light in the evening and at night are resolved by installing street lamps, floodlights or lanterns. These methods of courtyard lighting are used depending on their destination.
When designing a beautiful landscape, you can’t do without lamps to illuminate your yards. These elements on the street will change the appearance of the land beyond recognition. Skillfully selected in the same style, they will create an atmosphere of comfort in the garden under the night sky after working days.
The simplest solution is to place the lamps along garden paths, but this arrangement is applicable for small pieces of area. For more practical illumination, lamps are installed in the form of small floor lamps with frosted glass.
Lamps in the form of polycarbonate balls fit perfectly into the design. Dim lamps inside create diffused light in the middle of a lawn or colorful flower bed.
From the point of view of practicality and economy, the use of devices on solar powered. They charge during the day from sun rays, they do not need to be connected to electrical network.
They also have built-in sensors, and the LEDs automatically emit light as it gets darker outside. By moving these lamps in the garden, you can radically change (according to your mood) the appearance of the area.
The use of various lanterns will also help illuminate the building and the surrounding area in the most interesting styles - English, oriental, French, classical or modern high-tech.
To achieve a targeted light flow, landscape designers use floodlights to illuminate the yard. These devices are distinguished by the type of light source: metal halide, LED, halogen or sodium lamps. It is important that the spotlights are reliably protected from street moisture and dust.
Outdoor light without luminaires
An excellent “highlight” in your yard can be LED bulbs on supports such as the walls of a house, garage, barn, tree trunks and branches, stones.
Such secret lighting will make it possible to transform the local area according to any imagination of the owners. Having taken a photo of the lighting in your yard, you can be proud of your creation and look forward to visiting your family and friends.
Self-contained outdoor lighting
When the question first arises, “how to make yard lighting with your own hands?” you need to start planning the entire yard lighting system, without this you should not start any installation work.
The plan must reflect the exact locations of all lighting fixtures, their types, think over the types of light sources, where the switches will be located, what and where the wires will be laid.
The entrance gate and porch of the house are required for lighting. These places, also equipped with motion sensors, will be illuminated sparingly only when a person approaches and will allow you to control the entire entrance area.
Don’t forget about the light on the playground, in the barbecue area, near the parking lot of your car, at the entrance to the bathhouse (sauna).
Without rushing, you need to think over a plan for laying electrical cables: either through the air or underground. In the first option, this is easier to do, but a special wire is needed to withstand rain, gusts of wind, and snowfall.
The second installation method requires additional costs for digging trenches and laying the cable in a metal hose, but it will not be affected by any weather conditions and the cable will lie in the ground for many years.
We must not forget about grounding! Outdoor wiring should be made from a 3-core cable.
You also need to decide on the location of the distribution panel so that it can be easily accessed. Separate circuit breakers are installed for different lighting branches to switch them off during repair work.
The entire design lighting part should begin in parallel with the planning of paths in the garden, gazebos, terraces, patios, so that all the details of your landscape look like a single whole in one design style.
Photo of yard lighting
Walking along dark alleys in the evening, you can’t help but wonder if an elementary hooligan is hiding somewhere in the shadows? Who is responsible for providing our children and us, the taxpayers, with the most necessary things – electric light? Is there, after all, some kind of law or regulation obliging the same energy-saving company to monitor the condition of the same lamps in a populated area?
Well, one lantern doesn’t work, or it works, but the light is dim, that’s not so bad, but what if there are no lanterns in the courtyard of the house, and there are only a few electric light bulbs above the entrances and they don’t save the situation? You can contact the person in charge of the house, the manager, so to speak. Perhaps he will decide something someday, although this is not his responsibility. Still, I would like to know for sure who will be responsible for the operation of lanterns, light bulbs and other lighting fixtures on the streets in general and in courtyards in particular?
In this article:
What is the problem?
First you need to determine the problem that has arisen:
- The light bulb needs to be replaced.
- The lighting is weak or there is a need for additional light.
- There is no light at all.
If the light bulb is visually damaged or simply does not work, you must first contact the housing and communal services manager, who must take action necessary actions. Contact numbers are provided on the website of this organization, and in some houses they hang on the walls near the mailboxes.
Contact the administration
If there is no response, then you need to contact the city administration directly, since it has an agreement with the electrical networks serving each district. They will take action by contacting the power company, who will have to assess the condition of the lighting fixture and make specific repairs. An appeal in the form of a collective or private complaint with signatures is carried out in the form of a regular application in any form and is submitted to the local Administration of a certain body municipality.
In the text of the appeal, it is important to indicate the following questions to the local administration:
- Which organization is responsible for maintaining lighting fixtures on site?
- As the name of the customer under the contract with this organization
- Who is responsible for maintaining lighting at the required level?
Regarding the issue of insufficient street lighting, you should contact the Management Company by writing an application individually or collectively using the same template. The main thing is to write the full name of each applicant, signature and address of his residence. It is important to understand that the Management Company is directly responsible for the life and health of citizens and it is we who should point out the shortcomings to it, since we have a direct interest in this.
In a situation where there is a complete lack of light in your yard, you must contact the local administration, guided by the Federal Law of October 6, 2003 No. 131-F3 “On general principles local government organizations in Russian Federation", obliging local governments to organize street lighting properly. Which is also regulated by GOST regarding the procedure for organizing lighting, where all standards are prescribed. After completing and sending the application, the response should arrive within seven working days to a month.
Also, to understand the essence of the problem, here are presented building codes and rules. 
Lighting of architectural objects and cultural monuments is a mandatory measure when organizing a street lighting system.
Illumination of main and secondary roads is carried out taking into account the type road surface and its reflective properties.
Each street provides a certain degree of horizontal illumination. For example:
- for wide roads this parameter corresponds to 20 lk,
- regional roads are illuminated within 15 lk,
- for streets local significance 4-6 lux is enough.
If you receive a refusal, you can file a complaint with local organization responsible for maintaining street lighting. Very often refusals are justified by insufficient funding, but these explanations do not make things any better.
Your next step may be to contact the court or prosecutor's office at your place of residence. It is advisable to provide a photo of the area where there is no light and a written (or digital) refusal from the Administration responsible for street lighting.
Who is responsible for street lighting in towns and villages?
As a rule, the budgets of towns and villages do not always adequately finance street lighting. Installing lights along each road is an expensive task and often shelved. Every year, a plan is drawn up to equip streets with lamps and the local Administration considers it in accordance with the budget. It is mandatory to install lights at road intersections where the risk of an accident is most likely, near administrative and educational buildings.
Behind Maintenance The regional department of Energosbyt is responsible, but control over the proper performance of its duties lies with the local municipality. It would be more correct to contact them orally, simply by calling by phone or in writing, filling out the same complaint.
Bottom line
Summarizing all of the above, we come to one simple conclusion - the Administration is responsible for the lighting on the streets of our cities and towns, and it is from them that there should be a demand for the absence or insufficient lighting of the streets.
Lighting should fit harmoniously into the environment on the site. The main attention is always focused on the house itself, and on the elements of the landscape and landscaping. Therefore, the most economical and, most importantly, expedient solution is festive lighting of the building and functional lighting of other details of the personal plot.
- Cost-effectiveness
You shouldn’t spend incredible amounts of money on illuminating the territory of your dacha, where you visit 2 weeks a year. On the other hand, excessive savings can harm the feeling of comfort on the site. Optimal solution- installation electrical diagram, which involves connecting additional consumers in the future or replacing those used with more modern models. 
- Practicality in operation, maintenance and repair
Outdoor lighting should be reliable and easy to use. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully consider the control scheme and ensure free access to each of the key elements of the system.
Exterior home lighting: types and features
Thanks to modern technologies you can implement any, even the most daring and unusual design ideas for illumination of a personal plot. Sometimes combinations various models equipment and methods of controlling external lighting give the most unexpected results.
One of the most popular solutions is flood lighting. It will look great on the main part of the facade, emphasizing the volume and uniqueness of its architecture in the evening. LED lamps are perfect for creating a flood effect - they will highlight the texture of the facade and help create a real kaleidoscope color solutions, perfectly interacting with the external palette of the building.
Accent lighting country houses and dachas are used if it is necessary to highlight certain fragments of the facade or landscape. With the help of such lighting, you can emphasize the aesthetics of various architectural elements - columns, statues, stucco, entrance group etc. 
Contour lighting buildings and structures, as well as landscape elements and furnishings on the site, is carried out using LED tubes. Such lighting for balconies, railings, roofing elements, etc. can make a country house and the area around it stylish and truly cozy. At the same time, LED tubes are easy to install, and during operation they cause a minimum of hassle, while consuming a very small amount of electricity.
Hidden backlight highlights protruding parts or recesses of the facade, as well as the landscape and landscaping elements on the site. With the help of hidden lighting, you can transform cornices, balconies, window sills, stairs, etc. beyond recognition.
Lighting the courtyard of a private house
For lighting local area Do not use overly powerful lamps. Because of them, everything that happens in your yard will be clearly visible from the street, and it will become almost impossible to see what is going on outside the perimeter.
Illumination of the territory of a personal plot performs two functions:
- decorative;
- security
Properly selected lighting will transform the area around your country house or dachas beyond recognition. Street lights and lamps will highlight the beauty design solution and will help hide its shortcomings, and a potential attacker will think twice before breaking into your yard.
By the way, it is not at all necessary that the external lighting of your personal plot consume electricity from sunset to dawn - at any time you can install motion sensors. They will allow you to turn on the lighting of the perimeter, gates, paths, recreation areas and other landscaping elements only when necessary, i.e. when anyone is in the yard. On the one hand, this eliminates the need to control the backlight manually, and on the other hand, it does not allow even the slightest movement to go unnoticed.
When arranging lighting for a house area, it is best to use a smooth fill effect. At the same time, it is recommended to install brighter lighting devices along the perimeter and on the gates in order to limit the view from the street.
Preparing for work
In order for outdoor lighting to be convenient and reliable in operation, its design should be carefully considered. To do this, you will need to decide on the choice of lighting fixtures and how to install them. In addition, do not forget to establish how much and what kind of equipment and materials you will need to bring your outdoor lighting idea to life as accurately as possible.
It is advisable to lay electrical cables in the local area hidden, or at least in such a way as not to harm the design. It is most convenient to lay the wiring for street lighting underground, and for this you will have to work with a shovel. It is quite possible that you will like the option with a strip foundation. It is poured on the sides of paths, around the playground, gazebo, flower beds, etc. reliable protection electrical wiring and installation of lamps. However, many prefer to lay cables in small trenches, of course, with all the protection required in such cases. 
But the outdoor lighting of a country house is limited not only to ground-based lighting devices. After all, you can attach them to trees growing in the yard or to elements of utility structures. At the same time, we should not forget that when laid open, the electrical wiring must be well protected from damage and, like lighting equipment, from climatic factors.
The outdoor lighting panel is connected to the general electrical network of the country house, and required length electrical cables are calculated from it. Modern control systems are complex devices equipped with everything necessary for the uninterrupted operation of the system, including indication of the operation of its individual sections and alarm in the event of abnormal operating conditions.
Automation of outdoor lighting system
“Smart” lighting of personal plots is just beginning to come into fashion, but everything indicates the highest degree of comfort of such a solution. On the one hand, you will not need to run from switch to switch to illuminate one or another sector of the yard. On the other hand, the automation that controls the backlight allows you to save a lot of money on paying electricity bills. 
The most difficult thing when installing external lighting for the courtyard of a country house is the selection, installation and configuration of automation. Think about exactly which groups of lamps you want to connect motion sensors to, that is, about the areas where only emergency lighting is required. The latter is always connected to the SCHO with a separate branch.
Firstly, about safety precautions. Installation work is carried out only when the power is turned off. All electrical network connections, including consumer connection points, must be reliably insulated. If you are not familiar with the operating principle of the equipment included in the outdoor lighting system, contact a specialist.
Secondly, about the reliability, durability and practicality of street lighting in operation. The main sections of the system, in particular the installation points of lamps, sensors, and controls, should be placed in such a way as to ensure easy access to them for maintenance and replacement. 
Third, it would not hurt to provide for the connection of outdoor lighting to the emergency power system in the event of a complete power outage. And finally fourthly, the illumination scheme for the external area should be calculated with some margin. In the future, this will allow you to modernize the environment around your country house without major measures.
Installing outdoor lighting for a country house requires some skill, as well as a whole list of special tools and materials. They can be purchased at your nearest hardware store or ask neighbors or friends. By the way, installation work It’s better to do it together – this will save both energy and time.
If you have chosen the right materials and equipment, and thoroughly installed the outdoor lighting, the appearance of your site at night will delight you and your guests for many years, without causing any hassle.
In the infrastructure of any city important role Street lighting occupies not only roads and parks, but also the surrounding area. It is this illumination that plays an important role in the life of the city to create safe conditions movement.
Lighting of the local area
At the same time, it is local residents who often have questions regarding how correctly their yard lighting was organized and who should monitor it. This and other issues will be discussed in this article.
Why is house lighting necessary?
Creation quality lighting in the local area is an important part of the infrastructure of every district of the city. Illumination near the house performs the following tasks, which become necessary with the arrival of evening and night:
- creates sufficient illumination of the roadway, which is located in the courtyard of the house. Thanks to it, all irregularities and features of the road surface, as well as the surrounding area, are clearly visible even at night;
- ensuring good visibility for both Vehicle, entering parking spaces, and for pedestrians who are walking around the yard at this time;
- allows people and vehicles to navigate well in space, which minimizes the risk of injury or accident;
- increases safety in yards, since, according to statistics, robbers do not attack their victims in well-lit areas.
Note! High-quality lighting of the house and the surrounding area can improve the crime situation in the area.
Night yard lighting
But so that the night illumination apartment building and the courtyard could perform the functions assigned to it, it must be organized in a certain way, necessarily based on established norms.
Courtyard lighting - how to properly illuminate
Any actions that relate to the organization of lighting in a house, on the street or in any public or industrial structure must be based on specific norms, rules and requirements.
Many today think that the requirement is relevant only for premises where people do their work or relax. But this is a misconception, since improperly organized street lighting can cause no less harm to people’s lives and health than indoor lighting.
All standards that relate to what kind of lighting should be provided for an apartment building and the surrounding area are specified in the regulatory documentation - SNIP. In this case, a big role here is given to the level of illumination, which must be organized in each specific situation.
Below is a table that shows the illumination standards for certain moments of external lighting in the local area.
Note! The illumination standards given in SNIP are advisory in nature and may be slightly modified (but not lower than the established values) when certain parameters change. At the same time, we must strive to ensure that these standards are met as accurately as possible. Indeed, if there is a significant deviation from them, the quality of street lighting will decrease.
At the same time, cities and villages have their own lighting standards, dictated by various parameters and characteristics of the locality.
For example, to influence the calculation that will be carried out to calculate the illumination standard for a particular case, it should be based not only on the instructions of SNIP, but also on:
- the area of the house, as well as the territory adjacent to it;
- the number of lighting fixtures that will be included in the outdoor lighting system, as well as their type;
Note! House lighting can be implemented various types lighting devices: lanterns, spotlights, wall lamps, etc. Moreover, each type of illumination will be characterized by its own technical parameters work.
House lighting fixtures
- type of light source screwed into street-type lamps. Today, incandescent lamps, on the basis of which illumination standards for various rooms and sections of the street are becoming a thing of the past. Instead, LED, halogen and fluorescent light sources are increasingly being used. Each type of light bulb has its own operating parameters (power, etc.), which must be taken into account when making the necessary calculations.
All these manipulations and calculations, which are necessary for high-quality lighting of the house and the surrounding area, must be carried out by qualified specialists and regulated by government agencies responsible for street lighting.
Responsible for light
If the relevant documentation is responsible for the norms and rules for organizing street lighting, then people who work in government agencies are fully responsible for their implementation.
In addition to SNIP, documents of federal, regional or local significance may contain standards for illumination levels and various additional recommendations. For example, in the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 131-FZ of October 6, 2003 (as amended on July 21, 2007) was adopted, which assigns the responsibility of the authorities for the creation of street lighting on the territory of the municipality. According to this law, as well as a number of other legislative documents, local authorities must monitor not only the proper organization of street lighting, but also the maintenance of the system in working order.
Home lighting
In fact, the external lighting of the building area should be monitored by the state housing and communal services service (its individual divisions), as well as divisions of energy companies to implement the technical aspects of street lighting. The territorial administration must pay for their work. Other organizations with which an appropriate agreement has been concluded, or companies whose balance sheet includes the engineering system of a particular settlement, may also be responsible for street lighting of houses and adjacent territories.
It is these organizations that determine following parameters street lighting of the local area:
- duration of operation of lighting devices at night;
- the number of lights that will be installed near the house and the surrounding area;
- What time will the lights turn on?
Therefore, if for some reason there is no lighting on the street, you need to contact the above-mentioned organizations and companies, which will be different for each individual area of the settlement. Of course, the question “where to go or complain if there is no light in the yard of the house” can be answered in different ways. After all, each division will be responsible only for a certain area of the organization of the street lighting system. For example, the city district administration is responsible for the lighting schedule in the evening and night hours, according to Article 16. But the responsibility for maintaining the lighting system usually rests with the owners of buildings.
Who receives complaints
If a malfunction of the lighting system of the house and the surrounding area has been noticed (for example, there is no light at night and in the evening, one lamp is faulty, etc.), you must contact the appropriate institution with a complaint or statement.
Proper yard lighting
But, since it is not always clear where to go, you need to contact your housing and communal services department in order to find out more detailed information about those responsible.
Note! Every resident of any locality has the right to know how the budget is spent, what funds are allocated to support street lighting of houses and surrounding areas, and other issues related to such lighting.
To change the situation when there is no light in the yard, you need to do the following manipulations:
- write a written application;
- contact your local executive authority.
After these steps, the organization that accepted the application must take a number of appropriate actions depending on the reason for the submission of the document by a resident of the area:
- send a repair team to find out the cause of a particular situation (no light, various system breakdowns);
- within the time period specified by the local executive authority must be carried out renovation work to eliminate identified violations.
If this organization does not carry out the above-described manipulations, then it must answer the following questions:
- who manages lighting maintenance in the specified territory;
- who acts as the customer under the concluded contract for maintenance of the lighting system;
- Which organization is assigned to maintain lighting in a specific location?
This information will allow you to competently and correctly draw up a complaint and submit it to the right organization. If there is no response to the submitted complaint, then it is necessary to submit it to a higher executive body.
Options for organizing courtyard lighting
Today, lighting of the local area can be done in several ways.
The first option for organizing yard lighting involves placing wall lamp above the entrance canopy.
Entrance lighting
Any type of lamp, as well as light source (LED, fluorescent, etc.) can be used here. IN Lately For these purposes, they began to use economical light sources that save energy, which is very important for this type of lighting.
This lighting option allows you to illuminate only the area in front of the entrance. Therefore it is rarely used. Usually it comes in combination with other lighting options.
The second option for courtyard lighting involves placing a wall lamp street lamp above the canopy at approximately 8.5 meters above ground level.
Second lighting option
In this case, the lamps should be located at an angle of 25 degrees to the horizon. This type of illumination gives significantly large area illumination of the yard, which will cover not only the area in front of the entrance, but part of the roadway.
The third option for courtyard lighting. It involves the use of both types of lighting devices described in the previous versions.
Third option for courtyard lighting
In addition, floor lamps are used to illuminate the local area. The distance between them is also regulated regulatory documents, as well as lighting standards. With the help of such lighting devices placed along the road, you can provide high-quality illumination of the roadway, as well as playgrounds and parking lots located in the courtyard of an apartment building.
Yard lighting with lanterns
The most effective way illumination of the local area is the use of both lanterns and lamps placed above front door to the entrance.
Where might is right, right is powerless
Japanese proverb
For some reason in our country the idea of hanging everything on more weak side relations, including financial ones, comes to the minds of those in power, and not only those (also those who are financially stronger) constantly. And the courts and state supervisory authorities are not lagging behind them in this regard.
Regular innovations in legislation always involve some costs: time, financial, etc. However, changes to laws often do not indicate sources of funding for their “improvements.” It is supposed that they are paid for by the performers in the person of entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens - after all, it was for them that the authorities came up with these improvements: after all, they think about the good of the people...
It is very sad that easing the tax and supervisory burden for small and medium-sized businesses, improving life and raising its standard for citizens are just proclaimed slogans in our country. In fact, we see the opposite. At the very least, innovations in legislation and law enforcement practice do not contribute to the implementation of these slogans and do not correspond to them.
So in the housing and communal services sector, all improvements for owners always require financing by management organizations (MAs). No one is interested in the fact that the owners do not want to take part in general meetings, where the payment for all mandatory work on maintaining the house should be approved. And in general, the owners do not want to raise this fee in 99% of cases. There is no legal liability for failure to fulfill their obligations by owners in this matter.
Although the norms of housing legislation directly state the imperative rule that all necessary legal requirements for the maintenance of a house are provided through economically justified financing from the owners of premises in an apartment building (hereinafter - MKD).
All responsibility and blame went to the management organizations, which are to blame, however, as always: they work poorly and were unable to hold a meeting so that the owners approved a new tariff for its services, naturally with an increase (after all, a decrease in prices for anything occurred in our country only during the USSR).
It is only for resource supply organizations (RSOs) that tariffs are accepted at the state level with all of them included necessary expenses. And then they try to gain some additional preferences for themselves, successfully lobbying their interests in legislative and judicial bodies.
So, some local government bodies (LGUs) are trying to make the lighting of the local area and intra-block passages (hereinafter referred to as street lighting) the responsibility of the management organization. I have repeatedly seen responses from local self-government bodies addressed to management organizations, where this responsibility of the management was directly pointed out by the “smart heads” of representatives of the municipal government. Not to mention the fact that the standards for the maintenance of common property for electricity and other resources are constantly being cut and do not ensure full reimbursement of these costs, which include lighting of places common use MKD, for owners of apartment building premises. And management organizations are to blame themselves, “entrepreneurial risks”, so to speak...
It is encouraging that, for the most part, the courts and the Prosecutor's Office in this matter do not agree with this opinion of local self-government bodies in all regions. And this fact allows managing organizations to avoid imposing an additional financial burden, which is already considerable, thanks to the smart legislative initiatives of the Ministry of Construction and deputies of various professions.
In accordance with Part 1 of Article 36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Housing Code of the Russian Federation), the owners of premises in an apartment building own, by the right of common shared ownership, the common property in the apartment building.
According to Part 3 of Article 39 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the rules for maintaining common property in an apartment building (MCD) are established by the Government of the Russian Federation.
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 13, 2006 No. 491 approved the Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building (hereinafter referred to as Rules No. 491), which regulate relations regarding the maintenance of common property owned by the right of common shared ownership to the owners of premises in an apartment building.
The composition of common property in an apartment building is determined by part 1 of article 36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, as well as paragraph 2 of Rules No. 491 and is exhaustive.
External lighting networks in the local area are not included in the common property of an apartment building. That is, the obligation of owners of premises in apartment buildings to bear the costs of street lighting in the residential complex of the Russian Federation is not directly contained in Rules No. 491.
In accordance with paragraph 19 of part 1 and part 3 of article 14 and paragraph 25 of part 1 of article 16 Federal Law dated October 6, 2003 No. 131-FZ “On the general principles of organizing local self-government in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Local Self-Government) to issues of local importance of urban, rural settlements, urban districts organization of improvement of the territory of an urban, rural settlement, urban district(in particular, street lighting).
In accordance with Part 2 of Article 18 of the Law on LSG, financial obligations arising in connection with the resolution of issues of local importance, executed at the expense of local budgets(with the exception of subventions provided to local budgets from the federal budget and budgets of constituent entities of the Russian Federation).
In accordance with clause 4, part 2, art. 45.1 of the Law on Local Self-Government, issues of organizing lighting of the territory of the municipality, including architectural lighting of buildings, structures, structures may be regulated by the Rules for the improvement of the territory of the municipality.
Ministry of Construction of Russia in Letter dated September 18, 2017 No. 33418-ACh/04“On organizing the repair of street (yard) lighting” notes that in accordance with clause 19, part 1 and part 3 of Art. 14 and paragraph 25, part 1, art. 16 of the Law on Local Self-Government includes the organization of improvement of the territory of an urban, rural settlement, urban district (in particular, street lighting) as issues of local importance for an urban, rural settlement, urban district. In this regard, the organization and repair of street (yard) lighting falls within the competence of local governments.
Only possible case the imposition of such responsibilities and expenses for street lighting will be cases when all the following conditions coincide in the aggregate:
land plot the adjacent territory has been formed and is owned by the owners of the apartment building premises;
street lighting included project documentation and utility networks were built at the expense of participants in the shared construction of this apartment building and transferred to the owners as part of the general property of the apartment building;
the specified street lighting performs the functions of illuminating the local area of only one apartment building.
Thus, based on the literal interpretation of the law, if the elements of street lighting are not part of the common property of the apartment building, that is, in the absence of the above conditions, assigning the costs of street lighting to the apartment building to the owners, read the management organization, is contrary to the law. Although there is also reverse law enforcement practice of the courts, which does not guarantee a decision in favor of the MA in a particular case.
Judicial practice on disputes regarding the assignment of responsibilities for street lighting in apartment buildings is as follows.
Decision of the Orenburg Regional Court (upheld by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 3, 2018 No. 47-APG18-4): “From the systematic interpretation of the stated norms it follows that the land plot on which it is located apartment house and the boundaries of which are determined on the basis of state cadastral registration data, with elements of landscaping and landscaping, facades, entrances, buildings and address tables (indicator of street names, house numbers, apartment entrances) on houses in the evening must be illuminated and compliance with established requirements must be borne by property owners.
Letter No. 33418-ACh/04 of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation dated September 18, 2017 cannot become the basis for satisfying the demands of the administrative plaintiff, since from the meaning of this letter it follows that local governments are entrusted with the responsibility for organizing street lighting, then There is lighting for places that are not in the shared ownership of the owners of the premises of an apartment building.
At the same time, clause 5.5.8 of the contested Landscaping Rules provides for the obligation of the owners and managers of the company to provide external lighting for “yard areas”.
Clause 2.23 of the Rules defines “designated territory” as part of the city territory provided in the prescribed manner legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and citizens on the right of ownership, lease, other right of use
Clause 2.32 of the Rules contains a definition of the concept of “domestic territory” - the territory allocated in the prescribed manner for a residential building (building, structure), including that included in the technical passport of the residential building (building, structure), and associated economic and technical structures, and includes: the territory under residential building(building, structure); driveways and sidewalks; green areas; playgrounds for children; recreation areas; sports grounds; areas for temporary parking of vehicles; sites for economic purposes; sites equipped for the collection of solid municipal waste; other territories related to the maintenance and operation of a residential building (building, structure) (clause 2.31).
Paragraph 2.32 defines what refers to the “adjacent territory” - the territory directly adjacent to the boundaries of a land plot, building, structure, residential building, fence, construction site, retail facilities (stationary, non-stationary), organizational facilities Catering, engineering networks and other objects owned, possessed, used by legal or individuals, individual entrepreneurs, with lawns, small architectural forms, and other landscaping and landscaping facilities (clause 2.32).
The Housing Code of the Russian Federation in clause 4, part 1, article 36 classifies the land plot on which the property is located as the common property of the owners of an apartment building. this house, with elements of landscaping and improvement, other objects intended for the maintenance, operation and improvement of this house and located on the specified land plot. The boundaries and size of the land plot on which the apartment building is located are determined in accordance with the requirements of land legislation and legislation on urban planning.
Thus, neither the Land Code of the Russian Federation, nor the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, nor the Housing Code of the Russian Federation contains the concept of “yard territory”, nor is this concept given a definition in the Landscaping Rules approved by the appealed decision.
The lack of a clear definition of which land plot belongs to the “yard territory” does not meet the criterion of formal certainty of a legal norm, allows for ambiguous interpretation of legal concepts, and therefore allows for a free (broad) interpretation of this term, and, as a consequence, imposing on the owners the obligation to organize illuminating an area that does not belong to them.”
The impression from the above court decision is twofold. It seems that they do not comply with the higher law and contain ambiguities in the interpretation of the norms of the municipal normative act canceled. However, the court did not dare to say that these responsibilities should be assigned to local self-government bodies by force of law, but preferred to floridly justify that this was not the reason for the decision on the illegality of legal acts. And the Letter of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, precisely based on the norms of housing legislation, was dismissed out of hand in the decision. That is, both ours - it seems, and yours... Okay, at least the illegal norms of the Landscaping Rules were abolished - and thank you for that.
Appeal ruling of the RF Supreme Court in the case: “Guided by the position set forth in the Resolutions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated April 25, 1995 No. 3-P, dated July 15, 1999 No. 11-P, dated November 11, 2003 No. 16-P and dated January 21, 2010 No. 1-P , the explanations contained in paragraph 25 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 29, 2007 No. 48 “On the practice of courts considering cases challenging normative legal acts in whole or in part,” the court of first instance came to the reasonable conclusion that in the absence Without a clear definition of which particular plot of land belongs to the courtyard area, it is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion that the external lighting networks of the courtyard area are part of the common property of an apartment building, therefore, the burden of organizing the lighting of the courtyard area and maintaining the property necessary for this will be placed on persons to whom this territory and property do not belong.”
Appeal ruling of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court dated October 26, 2017 in case No. 33-18622/2017: “At the same time, having established that the Zonalnoye HOA had the main type of activity indicated in the extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, “managing the operation of the housing stock for a fee or on a contractual basis,” the court of first instance came to the incorrect conclusion that the HOA’s responsibilities include carrying out work on the organization of lighting of the intra-block territory. At the same time, the court did not take into account the provisions of subsection. “b” and “h” clause 11 of the Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006 No. 491, by which the maintenance of common property includes ensuring the readiness of intra-house engineering systems electricity supply and electrical equipment included in the common property to be provided public services electricity supply; as well as their current and major repairs.
The erroneousness of the court’s conclusions is directly indicated by subparagraph “e” of paragraph 2 of the said Resolution, according to which the land plot on which the apartment building is located is included in the common property, and the boundaries of which are determined on the basis of state cadastral registration data, with elements of landscaping and landscaping.”
In this case a new decision was made, which satisfied the claims prosecutor of the Dzerzhinsky district of Nizhny Tagil Sverdlovsk region in the interests of an indefinite number of persons to the Administration of the city of Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk region, to assign responsibility for organizing street lighting near the apartment building.
However, judicial acts on claims of RSO against local self-government bodies for the recovery of expenses for street lighting in municipalities are mainly negative for RSO. In principle, this is not a problem for management organizations; after all, bumps must sometimes fall on RSO, but they still cannot collect the cream without any losses. After all, our laws (adopted not without increased influence from nearby RSO forces) allow them to do just that...
As the famous actor Bruce Willis said: “When the going gets tough, you have two options: submit or walk through the fire.” If we apply this expression to relations in housing and communal services, then management organizations, when trying to pin these costs (and not only) on them, have two options: submit or sue all the ideas of local self-government bodies and others like them that do not comply with the law, up to the Supreme courts of the Russian Federation.
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Sincerely, Ilmira Nosik.
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