The VMC or Controlled Mechanical Ventilation makes it possible to ensure a good ventilation of the housing. It fully performs this function when properly maintained. Maintaining the VMC of a dwelling is it the role of the tenant or that of the owner?
Controlled mechanical ventilation, how does it work?
Before even understanding how it works, it is important to know the principle of VMC. There are two kinds. There is the single flow VMC and the double flow VMC.
Single-flow CMV
It has an electric extractor which is installed in the attic. This device sucks polluted air from the house thanks to seeds placed in rooms such as the bathroom, kitchen, toilets, etc. The device then rejects the air outside. The extractor creates a vacuum effect that draws air into its seeds as it sucks air out.
This air is purified when it enters your home through the ventilation grilles of your windows and is expelled by the VMC.
The double flow VMC
The double-flow VMC has a slightly different operating principle from that of the single-flow VMC. It also draws in polluted air from damp rooms, but here the air is not ejected directly out of the house. Instead, it passes through a heat exchanger that uses the heat from the intake air to warm the fresh air that comes in from outside.
This device therefore proposes a network of seeds which makes it possible to extract hot air and to introduce fresh air. This heat exchange thus makes it possible to regulate the temperature of the air in the housing. The double flow VMC is ideal for regulating the air temperature in the home by minimizing heat loss.
The repair of the VMC is the responsibility of the owner
The repair of the VMC is in principle the responsibility of the owner. According to the decree n° 2022-120 of January 30, 2002, the owner has the obligation to rent a decent apartment. Ventilation of housing is therefore one of the essential conditions for well-being in housing.
This decree stipulates in its article 2 that the accommodation must have sufficient ventilation and that the opening devices and the ventilation devices must be in good condition. This arrangement makes it possible to evacuate the humidity and to renew the air in the dwelling.
Before renting his apartment, the owner must therefore check the proper functioning of the ventilation system, in particular the VMC.
Who repairs the VMC when it is poorly maintained?
For your VMC to work properly and last, you must maintain and check it regularly. The maintenance of the VMC is therefore the task of the tenant. If the VMC is broken down due to a lack of maintenance, it is the responsibility of the tenant who must pay for its repair.
However, if during the inventory of fixtures at the entrance of the tenant, the VMC was already defective or the ventilation system did not work, we cannot hold it against the tenant.