Uzbekistan has revised and expanded the rules governing the maintenance and use of apartment buildings, with the updated regulations set to take effect on November 16, 2026.
Under the changes, references to tenants and renters have been removed from the provisions on property owners' rights and obligations. Instead, owners who lease out common-area space within apartment buildings will now be responsible for ensuring that their tenants comply with the maintenance rules.
Management companies will be required to repair or replace defects on apartment building facades within one month of their appearance. Covered defects include:
- peeling, cracking or deterioration of cladding, plaster, textured coatings or paint;
- cracks forming in plaster layers;
- damp stains, salt deposits and general surface soiling caused by damaged gutters.
Under the previous rules, management companies were required to address such faults immediately.
Requirement for management companies to wash stairwell walls at least once a month has been scrapped. Current regulations require management companies to keep the area around apartment buildings, entryways, adjacent land plots, common areas and infrastructure lit and in good working order; the obligation to light infrastructure specifically has now been dropped from those requirements.
Under the revised rules, management companies must keep the heat insulation on heating pipes intact, with an exception for trunk heating lines that pass through a building's basement in transit. If defects are found in transit heating lines running through a building's basement, the management company must notify the heat supply organization and provide it with access for servicing.
Air conditioning outdoor units banned in stairwells
Installing split-system cooling or heating units in building entryways (stairwells) will be prohibited. The existing allowance for installing such units inside balconies or loggias, provided they don't alter a building's external appearance, remains in place.
Elevator use and maintenance
Under the updated rules, companies managing apartment buildings must ensure elevators operate safely and without breakdowns throughout their entire service life, except during scheduled maintenance or repairs.
Elevators will be placed under dispatcher monitoring. Cabins must be equipped with light and sound signals for calling an operator and enabling two-way voice communication, and these communication systems must be kept in working order at all times. Light indicators must also be installed to show when shaft, machine room or block room doors open and close.
Management companies must maintain an elevator logbook for the entire service life of each elevator, service elevators monthly, and conduct a periodic technical inspection once a year. They are also required to ensure safe elevator access for people with disabilities and to prevent the transport of prohibited loads.
Each elevator cabin must display a sign showing the operating rules along with:
- elevator's designated purpose;
- its load capacity (with the number of passengers permitted);
- its registration number on the "Safe Elevator" electronic platform and information confirming its periodic technical inspection;
- contact phone number for the elevator's maintenance organization or emergency service.
Elevator shafts, machine rooms and their access areas must be kept clear and well-lit.
The rules were approved by order of the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services, in coordination with the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the Cabinet of Ministers' Committee for Industrial, Radiation and Nuclear Safety.
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