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How do we support homeowners’ associations?

Capital SRL has demonstrated consistency and professionalism throughout more than 20 years of activity in the field (authorized since 2004 for the installation and operation of heating cost allocators), being a trusted partner for homeowners’ associations.

The valid ANRE authorization certifies our technical competence (qualified staff and equipment) for installing compliant devices (E-ITN 30 and E-ITN 40 heating cost allocators compliant with SR EN 834 and JS water meters compliant with MID – Measuring Instruments Directive) and for operating them using a specialized calculation program that follows the regulated allocation algorithm.

Capital SRL provides specialized technical support for implementing metering solutions in full compliance with applicable regulations.

Radio transmission allows remote reading of the indexes without the need to access apartments, while ensuring data accuracy for consumption allocation. It eliminates estimates when owners do not provide meter readings and removes any potential data entry errors.

The devices are equipped with fraud detection functions.

The allocator is designed to detect removal from its mounting plate. In such cases, it records the incident in its memory, displays the “OPEN” message on the screen, and transmits an alert through the radio reading system.

The radio module attached to the water meter detects reverse water flow, magnetic interference, and removal of the radio module from the meter, sending the corresponding alerts via radio reading.

Consumption data is stored for the last 12 months.

The allocator’s history menu ensures transparency and quick access to information.

Daily database backups ensure the integrity of collected data.

Answers for users

The heating cost allocator measures the difference between the radiator temperature and the room temperature over time, recording fractions of degree-hours, commonly referred to as “units.” These units correspond to the amount of thermal energy consumed — the greater the temperature difference between the radiator and the room, the higher the energy consumption, and the more units the allocator records.

The allocators are CE compliant. Due to their design and operating principle, they are not subject to metrological control (just like thermometers are not), which is why they are not included in the official list of measuring instruments subject to legal metrological control (L.O.).

In Romania, the installation and operation of allocators is strictly regulated, controlled, and monitored through an authorization procedure that covers both the service providers and the allocators themselves, ensuring their CE compliance.

If the display works after pressing the control button and does not show “Error,” the allocator is in proper working condition.

Before and after installing allocators, the total energy consumption of the building is measured and billed by the thermal energy supplier based solely on the readings of the thermal energy meter installed at the building connection point. After allocators are installed, the overall consumption decreases, and the distribution of costs between apartments becomes more equitable.

Before installation, the consumption measured and billed at the connection point represents the maximum possible energy output of the building’s system. This cost is distributed by the homeowners’ association on a flat-rate basis (according to each apartment’s floor area). As a result, some apartments end up covering part of the extra consumption generated by others.

Radiator valves are typically fully open, and many are even blocked in this position, which explains why the total energy bill reaches its maximum. Even when thermostatic valves are present, few residents are willing to lower the temperature setting to save energy if they still have to pay a flat rate — meaning they wouldn’t fully benefit from their savings but would continue covering other apartments’ waste.

In most buildings, some apartments have replaced their radiators, often with larger units or by adding extra radiators (e.g., one in the balcony, which generates very high consumption). This extra consumption, recorded by the main meter, is distributed through the flat-rate calculation to all apartments — meaning those with the original radiators pay for others’ additional use.

After allocators are installed, the consumption recorded at the building’s connection point and billed by the supplier is lower. It is distributed by an authorized service provider based on the readings of each apartment’s allocators, using a specialized software that applies the calculation algorithm established by the Regulation on allocating thermal energy consumption among condominium users when using cost allocation systems for heating and domestic hot water, approved by ANRE Order No. 7/2024.

At the same time, thermostatic valves are installed on each radiator. This gives residents the ability to control their consumption and pay only for what they use, encouraging them to reduce waste by setting the valve to an intermediate temperature, depending on their comfort needs and how the room is used throughout the day.

This leads to a reduction — not an increase — in total thermal energy consumption. The main meter records lower usage, the total building bill decreases, and each resident pays according to their actual consumption.

Is there a minimum percentage of owners who must agree to the installation?
The installation of heating cost allocators is a legal obligation for property owners. However, only the homeowners’ association can sign a service contract with an authorized provider.

This means that, regardless of how many owners agree to the installation, the association is required to conclude such a contract to enable the owners to fulfill their legal obligation.

If the homeowners’ association fails to sign the contract, the executive committee may face sanctions for not ensuring compliance with legal provisions and not issuing written decisions to enforce them. Furthermore, the association’s president, members of the executive committee, and the auditor may be held personally or jointly liable for any damages caused to owners whose right to install allocators — and thus pay according to actual consumption — is violated.

Once the contract is signed between the homeowners’ association and the authorized provider, each owner is individually responsible for accepting or refusing the installation of the allocators. The homeowners’ association bears no responsibility regarding the number of metered apartments.

The homeowners’ association must provide the following details: the status of connected and disconnected apartments, spaces with a different use than residential (with a separate contract with the supplier), usable floor areas, and the number of occupants (in the case of water meters).

This information is used to ensure fair cost allocation in accordance with legal provisions.

The protection of personal data is guaranteed.

For apartments without allocators, consumption is calculated according to legal provisions using specific formulas — either based on the highest consumption recorded by a single radiator equipped with an allocator or on the highest total consumption recorded in an apartment with allocators.

These formulas are designed to ensure fair cost distribution among all apartments, while guaranteeing that no apartment equipped with allocators is disadvantaged compared to those without.

Thermostatic valves are designed in compliance with EN 215-1 standards to provide frost protection for the heating system. Therefore, when the valve is set to the minimum temperature level (*), if the window remains open for a longer period and the thermostatic head is exposed to cold air (below 6–7 °C), the valve automatically opens the radiator. In this case, the radiator consumes energy, and the allocator records it.

It’s important to note that if the window is opened only briefly for ventilation, the amount of thermal energy consumed — and the number of units recorded by the allocator — is very small.

Disconnection from the centralized heating and hot water system is carried out under the conditions set by law. The disconnection is certified by an official disconnection report issued by the supplier.

Disconnecting from the heating system and installing an alternative heating source (such as an individual boiler) does not automatically prove disconnection from the building’s hot water network. From our extensive experience, it’s not uncommon for some owners to disconnect only from the common heating source while remaining connected to the hot water network (to have an alternative hot water source).

The verification of an existing disconnection status at a given moment does not certify compliance with legal disconnection requirements and does not guarantee that the disconnection status will be maintained over time.

The homeowners’ association is responsible for periodically verifying the maintenance of the disconnection status.

Compliance with the MID (Measuring Instruments Directive) means a meter is built to European specifications for measurement accuracy and reliability, assuring users that the device meets the strictest requirements and that its results are correct and legally valid.

The MID certifies initial metrological conformity from the point of manufacture, removing the need for an additional initial metrological verification confirmed by a metrological certificate (which was mandatory for meters made under the old standard).

The MID conformity symbol is printed on the meter face (the CE mark followed by a rectangle containing the letter “M” and the last two digits of the year of manufacture).

In buildings where the water supplier bills total consumption based on the main meter at the building connection (and not individual apartments), individual water meters are used as cost allocators (point 1.3 of Order BRML No. 107 of June 1, 2005, approving NML 003-05 “Water meters”).
For this reason, they are not subject to mandatory periodic metrological verification.

Only the meters installed at the building connection are legally required to undergo periodic metrological verification, according to the Official List of measuring instruments subject to legal metrological control (L.O. – 2012):

  • 4 years for hot water meters

  • 7 years for cold water meters.

Over time, individual meters may develop negative measurement errors exceeding the allowed limits (e.g., turbine rotation slowing down or blocking due to residue buildup). This leads to an increase in the difference between the total consumption recorded at the main meter and the sum of individual meter readings.

If this difference has no other cause, the homeowners’ association may consider requesting a metrological verification or directly replacing all individual meters, as the combined costs of dismantling, transport, verification, and resealing may be close to the cost of installing new meters.

A water meter’s performance is defined by its ability to register low and very low flow rates, because a major source of discrepancies between the consumption recorded by the building’s main meter and the sum of individual meters is the low/very low flow caused by installation leakages that individual meters fail to record.

Therefore, the technical characteristics that define a water meter’s performance are:

  • Accuracy class (ratio between nominal flow and minimum flow): the performance is better when the minimum flow (from which the meter starts recording within permissible error limits) is lower relative to the nominal flow.

  • Registration sensitivity (starting flow and minimum flow): the performance is better when both the starting flow (at which the meter begins to register) and the minimum flow (at which it registers within permissible error limits) are as low as possible.

For meters with the same nominal flow rate, a higher accuracy class automatically implies higher sensitivity (lower minimum flow). Therefore, the relevant comparison criterion is the accuracy class.

For meters with different nominal flow rates, a higher accuracy class does not automatically imply higher sensitivity. Therefore, the relevant comparison criterion is the registration sensitivity.

The main building meter (supplier’s meter) has a much higher accuracy class and sensitivity at low flow rates compared to individual meters, which means its undetected losses are significantly lower.

Even in the theoretical scenario where individual meters had the same accuracy class as the main meter, the main meter — collecting flow from multiple sources — operates far less often below the starting flow (the point at which it begins registering) and minimum flow (the point at which it registers within permissible error limits). As a result, its measurement errors are much smaller.

Therefore, these differences are normal, but they become smaller as the performance of the individual meters improves.

Yes. While differences caused by the gap in accuracy class and sensitivity between the main building meter and individual meters are fully justified, they can be amplified by several factors, such as:

1. Water losses in the building’s common installation (between the main meter and individual meters)

A continuous water flow as small as 3 mm can result in a loss of 26 m³/month. In most cases, such leaks are visible (e.g., water accumulating in the basement), but there may also be hidden leaks, where the water infiltrates directly into the ground. In these cases, detection can be done by closing all vertical risers and checking if the main meter still records a continuous flow.

2. Permanent low-flow leaks in individual installations

A single faucet or toilet with a constant flow of 5.99 l/h (below the starting flow of 6 l/h) can cause an undetected loss of 4.3 m³/month per apartment. The more low-flow leaks exist in individual installations, the greater the overall difference between the main and individual meter readings.

3. Difference between allocated and actual consumption in unmetered apartments

The actual consumption in unmetered apartments can far exceed the allocated amount based on the regulated consumption norm (5.1 m³/person/month for cold water and 3.3 m³/person/month for hot water).

  • If the number of residents in an unmetered apartment increases without the association being informed, the allocated consumption remains artificially low.

  • If there is a permanent leak (e.g., a faucet or toilet running continuously), real consumption can reach hundreds of cubic meters per month.

4. Difference between allocated and actual consumption in apartments with old meters

If an apartment uses old meters but is still considered “metered,” there’s no guarantee those meters still measure accurately or comply with metrological standards. Real consumption may be significantly higher than the recorded one.

5. Blockage of the individual meter’s turbine by debris

A water meter may fail to record not only when unused but also if the turbine is blocked by impurities.
This often occurs after maintenance work on the water network. A blocked meter is not covered by warranty and cannot be detected through radio reading. If combined with a permanent leak, undetected losses can be significant.
The association can periodically check for meters with zero consumption (new index – old index = 0) to identify possible blockages.

6. Fraudulent actions

Meters with radio modules installed by the company are sealed with uniquely numbered steel wire and detect magnetic tampering or reverse flow. Fraud attempts (e.g., bypassing, intentional blocking, seal breaking) can be easily detected through a simple visual check by the homeowners’ association.

7. Unmetered water sources in common spaces

Any unmetered source in shared areas will contribute to the difference between main and individual readings.

8. Time gap between main and individual meter readings

This cause has a limited and reversible effect: the difference evens out automatically in the next billing cycle.

9. Supplier billing based on estimated, not actual, consumption

If the hot water bill includes a three-letter code in the “Observations” section, it means the supplier has estimated the consumption (e.g., SIE – suspected error, COF – fraud, REF – access refused, etc.). The association must contact the supplier to resolve the cause of the estimate.

10. Incorrect or non-standard connection of the main meter

In rare cases, a building’s main meter may also record consumption from neighboring buildings, leading to inflated bills.

11. Main meter serial number errors between neighboring buildings

It’s possible (though unlikely) for the supplier to have swapped main meter serial numbers between adjacent buildings, resulting in incorrect billing.

12. Meters exceeding their recommended service life

After extended use, many individual meters may develop negative measurement errors due to turbine wear or blockage.
Before deciding on metrological verification or replacement, all other potential causes listed above should be ruled out.

Yes. If water flows through the meter in the opposite direction, the meter will record in reverse. However, the meter’s radio module detects the direction of flow and separately records and transmits both the volume flowing in the normal direction (actual consumption) and the volume flowing in reverse.

Reverse flow is not a malfunction of the water meter. The radio module detects either:

  • a system nonconformity,

  • an installation error (e.g., the meter was installed backwards from the start or reinstalled incorrectly after maintenance),

  • or a combination of both.

In these cases, the meter may record only reverse flow.

This reverse flow detection function is a major advantage of radio meters compared to old, non-radio meters.

Reverse flow and the resulting rollback of the meter index can occur due to installation nonconformities (bypasses) combined with significant pressure differences between the connected water systems. Common situations include:

  • Defective faucet creating a bypass between the cold and hot water paths:

    • Case 1: Cold water flows through the cold water meter (normal direction), enters the faucet through the cold inlet, exits through the hot outlet, then flows in reverse through the hot water meter and back into the hot water riser. This reverses the hot meter index, which is detected and recorded by the radio module.

    • Case 2: The opposite occurs, with hot water reversing the cold water meter index.
      This effect is amplified when one of the networks (hot or cold) is not supplying water, creating a large pressure difference.

  • Incorrect simultaneous use of the centralized hot water system and an individual hot water source (boiler/individual heater), with a bypass (an open valve) between the two systems.
    Cold water flows through the cold meter, enters the boiler, then exits as hot water and flows in reverse through the hot water meter, reversing its index.

  • Improper installation or faulty check valve on the cold water inlet of an individual hot water source (boiler/individual heater).
    Cold water enters the boiler through the cold inlet, then the heated water with higher pressure flows back into the cold water column through the same path, reversing the cold water meter index.

  • Bypass through an instant heating valve/system.

All of these situations are not meter defects, but installation issues. The radio module’s reverse flow detection function allows for quick identification of such problems.

Disadvantages:

  • For all consumers: Reverse flow occurs either from the hot-water network into the cold-water network or vice versa, depending on the pressure difference. In both cases, the water quality is altered relative to its intended use.

  • For the owner: The volume that flowed in reverse is a loss. That water originates from the network from which the reverse flow occurred, is recorded in the normal direction by that network’s meter, and is then pushed into the other network where the meter records reverse flow.

Recommendation:
The most reliable way to prevent/eliminate reverse flow through the meter is to install check valves.