Heating readers in Cologne: They too have to wear masks

Cologne –

The heating reader comes back every year – also in Cologne. The read-off data is necessary so that a proper service charge statement can be drawn up later. But in Corona times, the readers must adhere to special hygiene measures.

• Heating readers must adhere to special hygiene measures
• Minimum distance, face mask, disinfectant
• Do I have to be at home when the heater reader comes?

The reading date is usually announced in good time in the hallway, and a hygiene plan is posted at the same time.

All large companies such as Techem, Brunata-Metrona or Ista, for example, have clear guidelines on how employees should proceed. For example, Brunata-Metrona reports:

• Before entering an apartment, the service partner asks whether there are people who are sick or suspected of being infected.
• Properties must be entered by our service partners with appropriate protective equipment. These include mouth and nose covering and disinfectants.
• The service partners are required to maintain a sufficient distance – at least 1.5 meters – from residents.
• If possible, only our detection devices or smoke detectors should be touched in the apartments and buildings.
• Hygiene is also important when you are out and about.
• Our service partners are allowed to cancel an order if, from their point of view, health protection and / or the required distance cannot be maintained.
• Residents, who do not see the protection of health, are also allowed to do so.
• Ideally, you ventilate your apartment briefly before and after the visit by the fitter (approx. 2 – 5 minutes).

The Ista also points out similar corona protection requirements. In response to an EXPRESS request, a spokesman explains: “When making appointments on site, our service partners are required to strictly adhere to the hygiene measures.” And adds: “In many cases we read by radio without having to enter the apartments.” This is the ideal solution in times of the corona pandemic. If an appointment is not desired, the resident can postpone the reading to another date.

Do I have to be at home when the heater reader comes?

The tenancy regularly results in an obligation to allow the reader access to the apartment once a year. But that does not mean that all residents, comparable to “house arrest”, have to sit personally at home and wait for the reading service, explains lawyer Armin Dieter Schmidt.

Instead, a key can also be deposited, ideally with a neighbor, to whom the reader also has to go into the apartment. Sometimes the property management or the landlord agrees to let the heating reader into the apartment in this way.

Of course, there is also the possibility of making a new appointment.

However, the legal expert warns: It is not a good idea to simply not be at home. Unnecessary journeys by the reader can be billed to the tenant under certain circumstances.

And what about handicrafts in the household? Are Cologne craftsmen still allowed to work at my home in Corona times? What you need to know

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