When everyone is at home: an aptitude test will be introduced for HOA managers

An aptitude test will be introduced for managing homeowners' associations (HOAs). The Ministry of Construction has supported the relevant draft law of United Russia, and the document has been prepared for submission to the State Duma. Today, managers often do not have special knowledge and thus endanger the maintenance of homes. Now they will need to know how the emergency dispatch service works, what includes a mandatory complex of harvesting operations and whether it is acceptable to set preferential prices and tariffs.

What topics will the HOA managers be examined on?

HOA managers will be required to take a qualification exam. As Izvestia found out, such a bill will be submitted to the State Duma on June 2 by the head of the Committee on Construction and Housing from the United Russia faction Sergey Pakhomov, deputy of the State Duma from the Republic of Tatarstan from the same faction Marat Nuriev and other parliamentarians.

The explanatory note to the document states that in July 2014, a law was passed that introduced licensing of management companies (CC), as well as obtaining a certificate by an official based on the results of passing a qualification exam. Such a system has been operating for more than 10 years and has shown its effectiveness, the document says.

The draft law notes that the strategy for the development of the construction industry and housing and communal services until 2030 defines the task of further improving the quality of management of apartment buildings and improving the professional skills of specialists in this field. The conduct of the qualification exam for HOA managers was discussed at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council on the development of infrastructure for life on April 15, as well as earlier at the State Council commission on "Construction, housing and communal services, urban environment."

In this regard, it is proposed to introduce an exam by analogy with the one that the heads of the Criminal Code are already taking. The document stipulates that this will be a free procedure, and a certificate for a successful candidate will be issued for five years. At the same time, there are cases when the chairman of the Management Board does not need a certificate. This will be acceptable if an apartment building management agreement is concluded with the Management Company or an employment contract is concluded with an individual who already has a qualification certificate.

— The purpose of the bill is to provide knowledge to HOA chairmen, who often include pensioners and veterans. People are respected and reputable, but not always knowledgeable in the field of housing and communal services. This is still a fairly complex area where it is necessary to conclude contracts for the supply of services and resources, constantly monitor legislation, elevators, fire extinguishing systems, and so on," explained Marat Nuriev, the initiator of the draft law, to Izvestia.

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According to him, if the manager in the house does not have all these skills, then he endangers the safety of not only himself, but also all the residents.

— Imagine that a passenger car driver is transferred to drive a large bus without preparation and passing the appropriate exam. It can end sadly, and the same thing happens with the management of the MCD. We have been working on the draft law for more than six months. He is ready and supported by our colleagues from the government and the Ministry of Construction," the deputy explained.

The co-author of the bill, the head of the Committee on Construction and Housing from the United Russia faction, Sergei Pakhomov, noted that the committee is considering this bill in conjunction with the initiative to transform housing and communal services into a HOA, which has already been submitted to the State Duma.

— The new bill also fits into the logic of our decisions. The training of qualified managers should definitely be carried out — it does not matter if the management company is working in the house or there are active people from the HOA. Obviously, they are doing the same job and it should be done well. Therefore, HOA managers should also take appropriate exams, know the legislation and work rules," said Sergey Pakhomov.

The Ministry of Construction's response, which is available to Izvestia, says that the ministry supports the initiative and considers it relevant, but at the same time, deputies are invited to finalize a number of comments. In particular, to prescribe the procedure in case the chairman of the HOA does not have a certificate after the transition period. It is unclear whether a candidate for chairman needs a certificate before being elected to the position.

The press service of the Ministry of Construction told Izvestia that they are interested in improving the skills of specialists working in the housing and communal services sector, including the chairmen of homeowners' associations.

"The HOA is an association of owners of premises in the MCD who manage their property, therefore it is necessary to evaluate the proposed provisions of the initiatives very carefully and carefully," the ministry noted.

What is the danger of an unqualified manager?

Vera Moskvina, Executive Director of the Moscow City Housing and Communal Services Control Association, believes that the bill deserves support.

— If the HOA manages the house independently, then we would like to introduce such an exam not only for the head, but also for his entire board. There's nothing terrible or complicated about it. It's much scarier to look at houses run by incompetent HOA heads. It's not enough to be a good organizer," the expert explained.

According to her, if the chairman does not understand why annual inspections are carried out, what routine maintenance or current and major repairs are, such basic things, then the house may simply begin to collapse.

— I have such examples. For example, in Odintsovo, the chairman of the HOA is actually putting all residents of a relatively new and beautiful complex in danger. The house is actually already in a pre-emergency condition, no work is currently underway in it at all. Pipes are constantly bursting, and emergencies are occurring. Therefore, everyone needs to be brought to a common denominator — both the Management Company and the HOA," Vera Moskvina believes.

Konstantin Krokhin, chairman of the Board of the Union of Housing Organizations in Moscow and head of one of the capital's HOAs, on the contrary, believes that the qualifications of heads of homeowners' associations are higher even without an exam than those of heads of management companies.

— This can be seen in the quality of house maintenance and lower prices for these services. When you come to the house under the management of the HOA or HBC, you have clean, flowers and everything at the city rate. But the criminal code has no quality, there is dirt in the garbage chutes and in the elevators, and they do not know the city rate. I consider this initiative as squeezing out a more effective competitor from the market," the expert said.

The idea of the bill is clear and understandable, I want qualified personnel to manage houses, but we must not forget that a traitor to the HOA is an elected position for which they often do not pay a salary, Tatiana Gotsulenko, director of the Association of Management and Maintenance Organizations in the Housing Sector, told Izvestia.

— HOA management today, as a rule, is a social burden. The appearance of an exam may discourage a person from taking it up, and we are not very good with personnel in this area," she explained to Izvestia.

According to her, the director of both the Management Company and the HOA simply have to organize the work so that there are professional staff at each site, and they do not need to know, for example, all the documentation thoroughly.