Administration of apartment buildings in Klaipėda city municipality

Daugiabučių gyvenamųjų namų valdymas ir administravimas yra sudėtinė valstybės būsto politikos dalis, siekiant gerinti gyventojų gyvenamąją aplinką. Straipsnyje, taikant mokslinės literatūros lyginamosios analizės, sisteminimo ir apibendrinimo metodus, nagrinėjamos daugiabučių namų administravimo teisinio reglamentavimo nuostatos ir daugiabučių namų valdymo formos, identifikuojamos pagrindinės su administravimu susijusios problemos. Daugiabučių namų administravimo situacija Klaipėdos miesto savivaldybėje analizuojama, remiantis viešai prieinamuose šaltiniuose pateikta informacija, siekiant atskleisti savivaldybės, kaip institucijos, vaidmenį, vykdant daugiabučių gyvenamųjų namų valdytojų priežiūrą ir kontrolę. Atliekant kokybinį tyrimą gautų rezultatų pagrindu, taikant iš dalies struktūruoto interviu metodą, apklausus Klaipėdos miesto daugiabučių namų valdytojus, t. y. savivaldybės paskirtus daugiabučių namų administratorius, nustatytos pagrindinės daugiabučių namų administravimo problemos, taikomi gyventojų įtraukimo į daugiabučio namo valdymą (administravimą) būdai ir priemonės bei daugiabučių namų administravimo tobulinimo kryptys3. PAGRINDINIAI ŽODŽIAI: daugiabučių namų administravimas, daugiabučių namų administravimo formos, daugiabučių namų valdytojai.In the development of Lithuanian housing policy and the legal framework which regulates the administration and maintenance of apartment buildings, two essential stages can be distinguished, before 1991 and after 1991, when rapid and mass privatisation began after the restoration of independence, and all the most important legal acts regulating the long-term goals of apartment buildings were adopted. Property owners can choose one of three forms of administration to manage the shared ownership of an apartment building: to create an association of apartment building owners, to register a joint activity agreement, or to use the services of an administrator appointed by the municipality. In the cases of an association of apartment building owners and a joint activity agreement, the property owners in an apartment building are given the most opportunities to participate directly in the administrative processes of the apartment building. The functions of all apartment building managers are similar: to represent the interests of apartment owners in an apartment building, and to provide information relating to the common property in accordance with the established legal acts. For the most part, the passivity of multi-apartment block residents and the little interest in house management issues lead to the fact that, despite the existing limitations and shortcomings, the services of an administrator appointed by the municipality are used by the majority of residents living in Lithuanian apartment buildings. In the municipality of Klaipėda, multi-apartment buildings are administered in all three possible forms, but the vast majority, as much as 66% of apartment buildings, are administered by 12 administrators, appointed by the municipality, who take care of the administration and are responsible for the maintenance and modernisation of apartment buildings. The supervision and control function of managers of apartment buildings is assigned to the competence of municipalities, which is implemented during scheduled and unscheduled inspections of administrators’ activities. In Klaipėda city municipality, there is a growing trend for unscheduled inspections. Klaipėda city municipality administration receives the most complaints from residents about the activities of administrators appointed by the municipality who mainly administer the houses. The volume and the nature of residents’ complaints do not decrease every year (even a growth is noticeable), so greater attention should be paid to the supervision and control of apartment building managers by the municipal administration. The results of the empirical qualitative research reveal that, according to the administrators appointed by Klaipėda city municipality, the main problems in the administration of apartment buildings are associated with the residents’ passivity and the lack of communication between the residents and the administrator. The residents are involved in house management and modernisation processes through informational tools and voting during meetings. The means of communication with residents used by the administrators appointed by the municipality cannot be considered as encouraging more active involvement by residents in the administration of the apartment building, as they are basically limited to the formal requirements stipulated by law. It is recommended to facilitate the communication process of the residents with the house administrator, improving the accessibility of the administrator by all means of communication, and ensuring sufficient human resources in the administering company for direct work with the residents. Improvements in the administration and the modernisation of apartment buildings require changes in the areas of state regulation, population activity, financial resources, and the internal activities of managing companies. KEY WORDS: apartment building administration, forms of apartment building administration, apartment building managers