In the context of the topics dealt with on the Smartest Metering Platform (SMT Platform), submetering refers, among other things, to those services that are related to the metering and billing of heat and water costs behind the house connection or within a central heating or hot water supply system.

In Germany, the consumption-based billing of heating and hot water costsis regulated in the Heating Costs Ordinance (HeizkostenV), whereby costs are initially divided into a consumption-independent and a consumption-dependent portion as a rule.

The billing of cold water costsis governed by §§ 556 ff. BGB (German Civil Code ) in conjunction with the Betriebskostenverordnung (BetrKV) (Operating Costs Ordinance), the obligation to equip with cold water metersis regulated by the respective state building code. The apportionable costs are specified in the above-mentioned ordinances.

The price of a consumption unit is not known in advance, line losses within the system are distributed to the users.

Author: Dr.-Ing. Bernd Ritter (Engelmann Sensor GmbH), September 2019