Many of us have had to return home in the dark more than once. At such moments a person understands how important lighting is inside. apartment building and around it. But what to do if there is no light either in the entrance or in the yard? Who should I contact and who is responsible for this? Let's look into this issue
In this article:
Entrance lighting
With the onset of darkness, the lights must be turned on in the entrance and stairwells of a residential building. First of all, this is necessary for the safety of residents. Lighting in the entrance of an apartment building must meet the following requirements:
- in public spaces a general lighting system is used;
- if the house has more than 6 floors and more than 50 people live, then the building must be equipped with evacuation lighting;
- evacuation lamps are installed in the main passages and in front of elevators;
- It is allowed to use incandescent lamps, halogen and LED lamps;
- It is recommended to cover the lamp with anti-vandal, impact-resistant glass or metal mesh;
- The light intensity must comply with established standards.
Illumination standards are regulated by special regulatory documents, SNiP and GOST and are standardized according to VSN 59-88. Lux values for seats common use are presented in the table:
Residents have the right to complain to the management company not only that there are no lamps, but also that their light is not intense enough.
Lighting in the basement
There are special requirements for organizing basement lighting due to the special microclimate inside the room. As a rule, it is always humid there and dampness may occur, so lamps must meet electrical and fire safety standards.
The power must be reduced to 42 W using a step-down transformer. The lamp body must be grounded. It is not recommended to connect copper and aluminum wires, which react when exposed to moisture. The wiring is placed in special corrugated pipes called a sleeve.
Lighting of the local area
Before you figure out what standards the lighting of the local area and courtyard of an apartment building must meet, you need to understand what is included in this concept - “domestic area”. According to the law this is:
- the land plot on which the house is built, its dimensions are determined by the cadastre;
- landscaping elements (this includes, among other things, lamps);
- objects intended for use at home ( heating points, transformer, children's and sports grounds, car parking).
Directly lighting the courtyard of an apartment building can be done in three ways:
- A lantern under the canopy above the door to the entrance. This is convenient because you can take a low-power lamp and you won’t need much light. The disadvantage is that it will only illuminate small area in front of the door.
- Lantern over the entrance canopy. It is advisable to take a lamp with a luminous flux of at least 3500 Lm and a circular luminous intensity. Placed at a height of 5 meters at an angle of 25 degrees to the horizontal. But, despite the fact that the entire yard is illuminated in this way, the area next to the door remains in darkness.
- A combination of the two previous options. Most the best way lighting the yard, but it consumes a lot of electricity.
Standards have also been developed for lighting the surrounding area, which are presented in the table:
Some residents insist on installing lighting fixtures with a motion sensor to save energy. It makes sense to install such lamps inside entrances, whereas on the streets they will not work quite correctly. On the street, the sensor can be triggered by the movement of an animal, and the light will turn on when it is not required.
Who is responsible for lighting the house?
According to Federal Law No. 131, authorities are responsible for the illumination of streets, roads and courtyards local government. But maintaining the functionality of the lamps is the responsibility of the residents of the house.
According to the Housing Code Russian Federation Responsibility for light inside residential buildings and in the local area lies with the management company with which the residents entered into an agreement. The text of the agreement states what services the management company provides, what it is responsible for, and what the procedure is for dealing with problems or controversial issues that arise.
What to do if residents find that there is no light in the entrance, common areas, basement or adjacent area? They need to take the following steps:
- An act is drawn up that describes the problem.
- The act is signed by at least 3 people. These could be neighbors, a senior person in the building, or the chairman of the house.
- Evidence of the existence of the problem is attached to the report. For example, a photo of the absence of light in the evening.
- The documents are transferred to the management company.
- Within seven days, management company employees check and analyze information, troubleshoot problems and draw up their own report on the problem.
- A document detailing all actions taken to resolve the problem is handed over to the applicants.
If Management Company fails to fulfill its responsibilities, refuses to fulfill what is stated in the contract, residents have the right to terminate the agreement with it and enter into an agreement with another organization.
Who pays for the lighting of the courtyard and entrances of an apartment building? According to the Federal Law, the area around the house, like the entrances, is common property. The costs of lighting and troubleshooting are borne directly by the building occupants. Moreover, the costs are divided for each owner depending on the area of his apartment.
You should pay attention to whether it is documented that this particular local area is the common property of this particular house. If there are no such notes, then inclusion of payment for it in the receipt is unlawful.
Lighting of multi-storey buildings is strictly regulated by laws and sanitary standards. If one of the important parameters- there is no light at all, it is not bright enough, the lighting is organized without taking into account the safety of the residents, then the residents of the house have the right to apply to the management company, the local administration or even to the court.
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 at local residents Questions often arise regarding how well 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?
Creating high-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 both for vehicles entering parking spaces and for pedestrians who are walking around the yard at this time;
- gives people the opportunity to vehicles have good spatial orientation, 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 in order for the night lighting of an apartment building and courtyard to perform its assigned functions, it must be organized in a certain way, necessarily based on established standards.
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. At the same time, 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.
Standards for illumination of the local area
It is these lighting standards that should be relied upon by organizations involved in the creation of street lighting for houses and the surrounding 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 it is accepted The federal law No. 131-FZ of October 6, 2003 (as amended on July 21, 2007), 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 proper organization street lighting, but also maintaining 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 sheets include engineering system specific locality.
It is these organizations that determine the following parameters for street lighting in 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 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);
- must be carried out within the time period specified by the local executive authority 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. Recently, economical light sources have begun to be used for these purposes, which allow saving 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 lighting the yard involves placing a wall-mounted street lamp above the canopy at approximately a height of 8.5 meters from ground level.
Second lighting option
In this case, the lamps should be located at an angle of 25 degrees to the horizon. This illumination option provides 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 by regulatory documents, as are lighting standards. With the help of such lighting devices placed along the road, it is possible to 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.
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 owners and guests of the house around the territory land plot after sunset. Typically, to solve this problem, yard lights with LED or halogen lamps are placed along all paths.
Decoratively emphasize the beauty of the 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. Use in this case electronic system control makes the yard a “fabulous” 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.
Upon registration beautiful landscape There is no way to do without lamps to illuminate courtyards. 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 the 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 obtain a targeted light output landscape designers Floodlights are used 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 should reflect the exact locations of all lighting fixtures, their types, consider the types of light sources, where the switches will be located, what wires will be laid and where.
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).
Take your time, you need to think over a laying plan electrical cables: either by 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 affect any weather 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
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Answers Denis Radchenko, head of the contractual legal department of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations:
First of all, you need to find out which authority is responsible.
Issues of street lighting are under the control of executive (state or municipal) authorities, which, in turn, engage on a contractual basis organizations that service technical facilities that provide street lighting.
As taxpayers, residents of any settlement have the right to know how the budget allocated for street maintenance is spent, to influence the choice of contractors involved in providing street lighting, including through deputies.