Is it possible to drill a ventilation duct and make changes to the design of the ventilation shaft?

Have you thought about increasing the area of ​​your home using a ventilation duct? But are you worried that such a decision could have negative consequences? I don’t want to become a criminal because of a few square centimeters. Isn't that right? So is it possible to interfere with the design of the ventilation shaft and what could be the consequences?

We will help you find answers to all these questions - in our article we will talk in detail about whether it is possible to drill a ventilation duct or subject it to other structural modifications. We will also dwell on the main legal acts regulating this issue.

Purpose of the ventilation duct

A ventilation duct is part of a ventilation system designed to maintain comfortable and safe living conditions in housing by removing harmful substances (for example, carbon monoxide), moisture, and carbon dioxide outside the building. Its performance is maintained by a service organization, which must regularly carry out medical examinations and mine cleaning.

In addition, a ventilation system is necessary to maintain optimal or acceptable microclimate parameters in each residential or public space. This is stated in one of the most important relevant documents, which is GOST 30494-2011. It also lists the requirements that must be met.

At the same time, air exchange in housing and a number of rooms for other purposes must be present without fail. This is stated in SP 60.13330.2016.

Inside the box there is a general ventilation duct (indicated by the number 1) and several air ducts, which are designed to remove odors, harmful substances, and other impurities from neighboring apartments (indicated by the number 2)

It is prohibited to make any changes to the general building ventilation system, as this leads to a decrease in safety and living conditions and is therefore considered an illegal redevelopment. This is something the state is actively fighting against, as well as regional authorities.

For example, in the capital, for this purpose, a Resolution of the Moscow Government, known to many violators, was issued No. 508-PP. Where is it said that unauthorized redevelopments are illegal procedures, and most importantly, dangerous, therefore they are unacceptable.

And for those who expect to find some loopholes, the city authorities have created a list of operations that cannot be performed. Thus, the document prohibits legalizing such procedures as reducing the cross-section of any ventilation duct.

Apartment owners feel that ventilation ducts are taking away their living space. But this is not true, because without air ducts housing will cease to be suitable for human habitation

In addition, all ventilation systems belong to common house equipment, that is, it belongs in equal shares to all residents of the house. This is stated in Art. 36 Housing Code.

As a result, we can say that it is impossible to drill a ventilation duct located in an apartment or other room.

And that's why:

• To use common property for personal purposes, permission must be obtained from all other co-owners. Moreover, no exceptions are provided. But at the same time, neighbors do not have the right to give permission for redevelopment, especially illegal ones.
• The redevelopment must be approved by the local housing inspectorate, but this government body will not even accept an application for permission to change the design of the ventilation system.

At the same time, violators cannot count on any concessions, mitigation of legislation, or retroactive legalization.

What does the law say about interfering with the ventilation system?

As we have already said, the ventilation system is key to a safe and comfortable stay. And most importantly, it is usually common to a whole group of premises. Therefore, these engineering communications should be protected and taken care of their operability and efficiency.

But in practice everything is different. For example, some residents are often disturbed by ventilation ducts. It seems to them that this design takes up their precious centimeters, which are already few.

Any ventilation duct is part of a single building-wide ventilation system that ensures the removal of harmful substances and moisture from at least several apartments

As a result, many home-grown “homemade” people are trying to extract any benefit from ventilation ducts. This is why they drill a ventilation shaft, without even thinking about whether this can be done and whether such actions are safe.

This procedure, which is harmful to the ventilation system, is not performed for fun, but for the purpose of:

• place some objects (for example, paintings, other decorative items, hangers, horizontal bars);
• pass wires through the duct of the ventilation system - for example, there is a place to install a washing machine, but between it and the socket there is a ventilation duct that can simply be bypassed, but for some reason many craftsmen drill into the structure and insert a thin plastic tube through which they lay wires and they help ensure the connection of the machine to electrical networks;
• reduce the size of the ventilation duct, etc.

When performing the illegal operations listed above, it is not taken into account that the design of the box is far from strong. That is, it is not designed to cope with any significant loads, including vibrations during the same drilling. For example, ventilation ducts are often a self-supporting structure that takes the load only from its own weight and is not designed for any vertical loads.

This is the method used to create ventilation shafts in buildings built in accordance with the requirements of the P-44 project. But this is the largest series of residential panel houses.

The photo shows an apartment building built according to the P-44 project. Such buildings are well known to Muscovites and residents of other regions. Since these are the most common panel houses in Russia. And their peculiarity is that the ventilation ducts there are a self-supporting structure, which is supported only by the walls from falling. Therefore, it is quite easy to damage the integrity and reduce the efficiency of the ventilation system.

Therefore, when drilling a hole, the structure of the ventilation duct is damaged, which leads to its weakening and settlement. As a result, wires and pipes illegally laid through boxes are often damaged. And to avoid this, experienced offenders make oval-shaped holes.And everything would be fine, but even one additional hole made may well lead to cracks and other troubles.

And given the fact that today ventilation systems are often subject to a much greater actual load than the calculated load (the use of fans and hoods affects them), then everything can turn into major problems. For example, holes, cracks and even thin tubes for wires inside can lead to the formation of an area of ​​​​high pressure.

As a result, reverse thrust will occur, which means that:

• harmful substances (for example, carbon monoxide), moisture, and unpleasant odors will not be removed from the home;
• In addition, everything listed in the first paragraph from other apartments can enter the premises.

In addition, not only the residents of this apartment, but also the neighbors may suffer from the actions of the intruder and the backdraft.

Changing the design of the ventilation duct can negatively affect the health of the offender himself and his family members. And most importantly, neighbors suffer from illegal redevelopment

But the worst thing is not even that a conflict may occur with other residents, representatives of the management company or the local housing inspection. By his actions, the violator will provoke other irresponsible citizens using the same ventilation system to do the same. Which is fraught with the appearance of disassembled sections of air ducts, cracks, destruction and other things.

The result is disastrous - residents of thousands of Russian high-rise buildings suffer due to ineffective ventilation systems. Moreover, due to this reason, dozens of tragedies occur annually in buildings equipped with gas appliances. Read more about ventilation requirements in rooms with gas stoves we wrote here.

Consequences of unauthorized drilling of the box

Before you start drilling a ventilation shaft, you should think about whether there is rationality, practicality and benefit in such actions.

Once a person starts drilling a ventilation duct, he automatically becomes an offender. What are the penalties for, which can be imposed right at the scene of the offense?

Employees of a body such as the housing inspection are responsible for the legality of the use of housing stock. Which are given broad rights to impose sanctions on violators

So, if the homeowner decides to carry out these illegal manipulations, he can receive the following benefits:

• Satisfy your curiosity — people often drill into a shaft to see what’s inside. But there is nothing interesting behind the wall of the box, since you can only find there the input ventilation ducts supplied from several apartments, and one common air duct designed to remove contaminated (exhaust) air masses outside the building.
• Arrange a place to place something on the surface of the box - shelves, paintings.
• Add a few tens of square centimeters of usable area.

That is, the standard of living and its comfort will not change significantly. Although it is quite possible to obtain some tactical advantages from changing the design.

Before starting any manipulations with boxes, you should consider the possible consequences:

• A violation may be detected and you will have to pay a fine. Reason for this Art. 7.21 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, where it is said that 2-2.5 thousand rubles will have to be transferred to the budget. Local housing inspectors have the right to impose fines.
• The design of the ventilation duct will need to be restored to its original state - the consequences of the redevelopment will have to be eliminated. But this is not so simple - in some cases you will have to contact the organization that did the ventilation system project, which is expensive.
• An appeal will follow, which, in case of untimely or poor-quality elimination of deficiencies, the management company, housing inspection or neighbors have the right to do (in order to increase the amount of penalties).
• If all the above requirements are ignored, the sale of the home will follow to eliminate the consequences. This rarely happens, but examples are known. This procedure is performed based on Art. 87 Federal Law 229-FZregulating the scope of enforcement proceedings.

As a result, the negative consequences may significantly outweigh the benefits. In addition, practice shows that housing with damaged boxes costs 10-20% less than those with working ones.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

The video tells about what happens when the owner of the premises has violated the integrity of the ventilation duct structure and this has been discovered.

Legislation, public opinion and even common sense are against drilling ventilation ducts. The reason is that this redevelopment will not provide any cardinal advantage, but will reduce, and in some cases significantly, the comfort and safety of living. Microclimate parameters will also worsen, which often leads to various diseases, including asthma.

Have you encountered the issue of violation of the integrity of the ventilation duct and want to supplement the above material with useful information? Or do you still have questions? You can express your opinion, share your experience, and ask for advice from our experts and other site users in the block located below this article.