domoyega – iStockInformation for new customers
Welcome to Brunata Minol! To ensure you are well-informed from the start, we have compiled all the important information for new customers clearly on this page.
A guide and description of all the steps leading up to the first heating bill
Step 1: Offer and order
We would be happy to create a suitable and affordable offer for you.
Offer for a new property or for switching from another provider
Offer for modernization of the measuring equipment at an existing building
Commission us
After submitting your quote request, you will receive your personal quote link via email. This link will take you to a website where you can view all the important details. Here you can review your quote and contract information and have the option to place your order directly. Should you decide to proceed, you will receive your contract confirmations via email immediately after placing your order.
Site visit
During an on-site visit, the building's specific structural features and equipment requirements will be assessed. It is crucial that all sampling points are prepared for the installation of metering equipment. Your cooperation is essential in this process. Detailed installation specifications and diagnostic data, such as the design and operating temperatures of the heating system, will be used to ensure the highest possible level of billing accuracy.
Step 2: Registration in the customer portal
Manage your building portfolio in a modern and straightforward way via our online service portal "Minol direct". This allows you to achieve maximum flexibility in your business processes, as we offer a customized service module for every stage of the consumption billing process.
Registration
- Follow this Link to registration
- Then click below the two login fields. Registration.
- Use your personal login details for the first login and complete your personal information.
- Select the events you would like to be notified about.
- After successful registration, you will automatically receive a password for your first login to the customer portal via email.
- Now log in to Minol direct with this new password. You will be prompted to change your password the first time you log in.
Benefits
You can now record the cost and user statements for your managed properties directly online. You will no longer receive paper forms for these statements from us, saving you postage and a trip to the mailbox. The Minol direct customer portal provides you with access to all important information about your properties and a comprehensive range of additional online services for meter readings, billing, installations, repairs, and much more. This allows you to handle your administrative tasks related to heating cost billing conveniently and quickly.
Step 3: Device assembly
Thank you for your order and the trust you have placed in us. If we haven't already done so, we will now install the necessary equipment in the building and require some further information from you.
Object recording and assembly
During an on-site visit, the building's specific structural features and technical requirements are assessed. This is necessary to offer and install cost-effective and legally compliant metering equipment. Detailed installation specifications and diagnostic data, such as the design and operating temperatures of the heating system, are used to achieve the highest possible level of billing accuracy.
Technical basic data
During the installation, all apartment and meter data are recorded. In addition, the radiators are measured to determine their heat output and calculate the billing factors. This information is documented in the technical data sheets, which we will send you after installation. Please review these sheets and contact us if you find any discrepancies. Please retain the technical data sheets for your records.
Basic data determination
Shortly after the device installation, you will receive a one-time initial data collection for the building. This will give you an overview of all users, the planned billing scope, and the currently assigned billing period. Please review the information and note any desired changes in the document. In the initial data collection, please enter the user names and apartment sizes in square meters.
In the basic data determination, you define the desired allocation key for fixed and consumption costs. According to the German Heating Costs Ordinance (Heizkostenverordnung), between 30% and 50% of heating and hot water costs should be billed according to a fixed scale. This is usually based on square meters of living space. Billing 100% based on consumption is not recommended, as every heating system experiences boiler, chimney, and pipe losses that should never be passed on to residents based on consumption. By correctly setting fixed costs between 30% and 50%, not only can heating system losses be offset, but also the effects of disadvantageous locations and potentially cold neighboring apartments.
Please send us a completed copy of the basic data collection form.
Further information on allocation keys in heating cost statements
Step 4: After installing the devices
Once the meters are installed, the basis for the first heating bill is established. This typically takes about a year. Until then, please pay attention to a few important things.
Determine the initial heating oil inventory.
For oil heating systems, it is important to record the initial and final oil levels at the beginning and end of the billing period. The initial and final levels must be shown on the heating bill. Billing without initial and final levels is legally invalid. Therefore, determine the initial heating oil level at the planned start of the first billing period and note it down for the first billing statement. Only heating oil consumption occurring from the beginning of the first billing period onward may be allocated in the first billing statement.
Billing period for district heating and natural gas supply
Only costs incurred during the relevant billing period may be allocated in the heating and hot water bill. If there is a significant difference between the planned billing period for the heating bill and the energy supplier's cut-off date, an adjustment must be made. Either the energy supplier adjusts their billing period, or the heating bill follows the energy supplier's period. If this discrepancy exists, please contact us so we can find a solution together.
Billing period with a maximum of twelve months
According to the new construction rent regulations and the tenancy law provisions of the German Civil Code (BGB), a billing period may not exceed twelve months. Shorter periods are permitted. Therefore, you should definitely select a billing period of no more than one year. The planned first billing date is shown in the basic data calculation. Please inform Minol in good time if you require a different billing period than the one shown there.
More information on billing deadlines and dates
User change and interim meter reading
If wireless metering equipment is already in place, no interim reading on-site is necessary because interim readings are available throughout the year. If no electronic meters are present, please commission your local Minol branch to take an interim reading of the consumption data when a change of occupant is imminent. If an interim reading is not possible or has been omitted, statistical methods can also be used to allocate consumption between the previous and new tenants. Alternatively, the landlord or property manager can take a self-reading of the consumption data.
Changes or modifications
Please inform Minol of any structural changes to the building so that measures can be taken to ensure complete consumption recording. This includes renovations, reassignments of rooms to different users, or the installation or removal of radiators. You should also promptly notify us of any changes to the billing period, especially if electronic meters with a fixed billing date are used. In these cases, the billing date will need to be reprogrammed.
Step 5: First heating bill
Typically, it is sufficient for you to compile the apportionable costs, provide the names of the users, and, if applicable, their advance payments online once a year. We will remind you in good time of the information we need from you.
We take care of reading the measuring devices.
The first meter reading is typically taken twelve months after the device is installed or at the agreed-upon time. If your apartments are equipped with wireless meters, no on-site reading takes place. All relevant data is retrieved automatically on the specified date, without requiring any action from you. The wirelessly read consumption values are shown on the billing statement. Tenants and owners can then check their meter readings directly on the devices in their own apartments, if needed.
If the meter reading is still done on-site, a meter reader will contact you at least two weeks in advance. You then inform all residents of the building about the reading date. If you have commissioned us to notify your tenants directly, each resident will receive a postcard from us. The meter reading is done electronically with immediate data transmission to the Minol billing center. The tenant or owner present confirms the completed reading with their signature. The electronic meter reading receipt is archived and available to you in the Minol online portal. The meter reading receipt is printed on the Minol billing statement.
They tell us the costs to be passed on and changes to the residents.
Please provide us with a cost and user statement once a year, shortly after the end of the billing period, detailing the costs incurred and to be allocated during the previous billing period, as well as any advance payments and user changes. Ideally, you should use our online services, which guide you step-by-step through each stage of data collection.
Login and registration for Minol direct
Instructions for completing the cost and user statement
We prepare the heating bill
Using data from meter readings, cost and user records, we create consumption-based heating and water bills for the building. Extensive verification processes are employed during billing to ensure your statement meets all technical and legal requirements. The costs for this billing service are eligible for allocation and are automatically distributed by Minol to all building users. You should check the heating bill for completeness and then forward it to your tenants.
The result: a clear and concise statement of heating and operating costs.
At the end of the billing process, what truly matters is a clear and comprehensive statement that typically fits on a single front and back page. The distinctive Brunata Minol statement includes an optimized overall statement for property managers and landlords, allowing for quick review while still containing all essential results and information. The individual statements for apartment owners and tenants are transparent, mathematically easy to understand, and consumer-friendly. All the essential information is readily apparent and fully explained.
Billing for all users for administrators and landlords
Landlords and property managers receive a comprehensive statement of heating and operating costs, allowing for a quick review while still containing all essential information. All user statements are presented here in a concise format.
User statements for homeowners and tenants
The individual statement of accounts for homeowners and tenants is transparent and consumer-friendly. All essential information is readily apparent at a glance and fully explained. All calculation methods are explained in detail on the following pages.