The Tribunal closed the question about the applicability of housing legislation to the relations under the heat supply contract.

On April 15, 2008 the Federal Arbitrage of the Ural Area left without satisfaction an appeal of “Service Master Stroy”, Ltd. (Perm Region, Gubaha) for Legal Resolution of the Seventeenth Court of Appeal on the case ?50-6898/2007-GZ. The claimant requested to cancel the plea of the Board of Appeals, which in fact settled the pre-contract dispute between “Service Master Stroy”, Ltd. and OJSC “TGC-9” and stated the rightness of the power supplying organization in respect of clauses definition of the power supply contract.

The subject of the dispute reflects the relationships between managing and heat supplying organizations. The managing organization, referring to the necessity of concluding a heat-supply contract on behalf of citizens, insisted on determination of heating power quantity under the contract pursuant to the Rules of Supplying Citizens with Public Utilities, according to the utilities consumption standards (heat and hot water). OJSC “TGC-9” in its turn proved the necessity of such definition in accordance with the Civil Legislation Standards, i.e. pursuant to the actual output of heat energy provided to the houses, managed by the claimant.

In its legal resolution the Court of Appeals approved the position of OJSC “TGC-9” in this dispute and mentioned that legal relationships based on heat-supply contract are regulated by the articles 539-548 of the Civil Code of the RF. It is fundamentally important that the Trial made resolution confirming that the fact of heat-supply contract conclusion by the managing company on behalf of block of flats residents (citizens) had no legal power in the current dispute, consequently the rules of the Housing Code of RF and Rules of Public Utilities Supply did not spread on the parties relations under the heat-supply contract.

So that, the Court of Appeals closed the question in the long disputes about the applicability of housing legislation to the heat-supply contract in favour of power supplying organizations. The final court resolution under this case proves indirectly the right of the power supplying organization to stop (limit) the heat provision of managing companies in case they breach payment conditions in respect of the heat energy deliveries, as this right is established by the article 546 of the Civil Code of the RF.