Italy in the cold, can radiators be switched on again? Here are the rules

The drop in temperature is also in the south, but it is the north and part of the centre that is beating its teeth these days, so much so that Venice, Turin, Milan, Genoa, L'Aquila and Pescara have turned the heaters back on in schools and hospitals, which entitles them to do the same in our apartment buildings. Do we need a municipal green light? No, lighting would be justified by the choice made by the municipality.

But what does the legislation provide for in detail? After the extraordinary measures imposed for the 2022-2023 season to meet energy saving targets due to the international gas crisis, heating systems for the 2023-2024 winter season followed the rules laid down in Presidential Decree 412/1993 and Presidential Decree 74/2013. Italy is divided into 6 climate zones based on average annual temperatures: they range from zone A, which is milder, to zone F, where heating systems can be kept on all year round.

The mayors of the municipalities can vary, as is happening at the moment, on the basis of proven needs, the annual periods of operation and the daily duration of the heating systems, activating them in the presence of climatic situations that justify their operation and, in any case, with a daily duration of no more than half of that envisaged at full capacity (i.e. in Milan and Turin 7 hours, in Genoa 6 hours).

What about administrators? The advice is always to act at the urging of the owners, in short, when faced with specific requests to switch it back on in buildings with elderly or otherwise frail residents. The decision would be up to the assembly, but given the tight schedule, convening it would defeat the usefulness of the choice. The administrator, therefore, at the request of a large number of owners and/or in the light of known situations of fragility within the building, can provide for it without a go-ahead, obviously communicating the decision to all by email and on the notice board in the condominium, referring to the municipal provision on switching back on in public buildings.

In our apartment buildings, among other things, more and more frequently some of the owners have an autonomous system and have detached themselves from the central heating system. Even if they own an autonomous system, they are still obliged to participate in the involuntary consumption of the common system, i.e. in the heat losses.