Important Notice for Property Managers: Repeated Verification of Water Consumption Meters in Apartments of Multi-Apartment Residential Buildings Has Been Cancelled

The Ministry of Economics has achieved significant changes in the regulatory framework directly affecting the management and administration of multi-apartment buildings.

On June 3, 2025, the government approved amendments to:

• Cabinet Regulation No. 289 of May 14, 2024, “Regulations on the List of Measuring Instruments Subject to State Metrological Control”;

• Cabinet Regulation No. 1013 of December 9, 2008, “Procedure by Which an Apartment Owner in a Multi-Apartment Residential Building Settles Payments for Services Related to the Use of Apartment Property”;

• Cabinet Regulation No. 524 of September 15, 2015, “Procedure for Determining, Calculating, and Recording Each Apartment Owner’s Share of Payments for Services Necessary for the Maintenance of the Residential Building”.

These amendments eliminate the requirement for repeated verification of water consumption meters in apartments.

According to the new regulations, repeated verification is no longer mandatory and may only be performed when necessary.

If the verification deadline expired before June 6, 2025, and the apartment owner has not verified or replaced the meter, Regulations No. 1013 and No. 524 do not require calculating the payment share based on the total water consumption difference. The installed meter may continue to be used and its readings accepted, unless there are doubts about its accuracy. If needed, the meter should be verified or replaced.

If the property manager has doubts about the meter’s accuracy, they are entitled to request repeated verification:

• In the case of indirect billing, at the expense of the apartment owners’ collective funds;

• In the case of direct billing, at the expense of the authorized person.

Therefore, if there is no other reason for repeated verification besides the expiration of the verification term, starting June 6, 2025, repeated verification is no longer required for water meters installed in apartments, and residents may continue using unverified meters.

This procedure remains in effect until the apartment owners’ collective decides to implement a unified water metering system (Regulation No. 1013, Section 14.1; Regulation No. 524, Section 6.1), which would:

• Define requirements for water meters (e.g., technical specifications, additional equipment) to be purchased and installed collectively;

• Set installation, replacement, and inspection procedures to be carried out by the property manager or another authorized person.

This decision (if not already made) must be adopted by January 1, 2027, taking into account the economic evaluation conducted by the property manager (in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 730 of December 10, 2020, “Minimum Energy Efficiency Requirements for Existing Buildings”) regarding the installation of remotely readable water meters with open data reading. The collective must also consider whether a unified metering system with such meters is feasible. If not economically justified, meters offering the best cost-benefit solution should be selected.

Note: The mandatory repeated verification requirement remains unchanged for water meters (commercial meters) installed at the main inlet of multi-apartment buildings and in private houses.

Action Required: Property managers are encouraged to inform apartment owners about these changes and prepare for decision-making regarding the implementation of a unified water metering system in accordance with the updated regulations.

For more information, please contact:

• Inese Matēviča, Senior Expert, Competition, Consumer Rights and Sustainable Industry Department, Ministry of Economics, tel. 67013066

• Madara Brīvere, Senior Officer, Housing Policy Department, tel. 67013203