Eligibility, compliant metering/fixtures, municipal certification and written rental-agreement requirements apply.
The rental agreement must provide for and explain the separate water charge.
§ 22(j) bars additional servicing, administrative, establishment, meter-reading, meter-testing, billing, submetering or other fees.
The statute requires current/prior readings and dates, consumption, charge per unit, total charge and payment due date.
When a tenant can be separately billed for water
Section 22 does not authorize a blanket water fee for every tenancy. The dwelling unit must fit the statute’s eligibility rules, the meter or submeter must measure water for the exclusive use of that unit rather than common areas or another unit, required water-conservation devices must be installed, and the landlord must make the statutory certification to the appropriate local health or enforcement agency.
The tenant must also have a written rental agreement that clearly and conspicuously provides for the separate charge and explains the water-submetering and billing arrangement. Public housing developments identified in § 22(s) are excluded from tenant water-use charges under this section.
How the tenant charge is calculated
For covered submetered billing, § 22(g) calculates the water cost per unit from the landlord’s water-company bill for the billing period, including the customer service charge and taxes but excluding late-payment interest, penalty fees and other discretionary assessments. The statute then limits the dwelling-unit charge to that calculated unit cost multiplied by the water measured for the unit during the same billing period.
Section 22(c) also applies the water-usage framework to sewer service charges calculated through the same primary meter or submeter.
Do not hide an extra billing fee inside the water charge
Section 22(j) expressly says the landlord may not charge or recover an additional servicing, administrative, establishment, meter-reading, meter-testing, billing, submetering or other fee, however denominated. Review a separate “utility admin” or “billing fee” line carefully when it is tied to Massachusetts water billing under this statute.
What the water bill should show
- Current submeter reading and date.
- Immediately preceding submeter reading and date.
- Water consumed since the prior reading.
- Charge per unit of water.
- Total charge.
- Payment due date.
Meter tests and leak adjustments
Within the time allowed to pay a bill, § 22(n) provides a process for a tenant to request an independent submeter test. If the meter is found to measure more water than the unit used, the statute places the test/replacement cost on the landlord and requires billing corrections for overmeasurement; if the meter is accurate, the tenant can be responsible for the test cost.
Section 22(o) separately requires the landlord to estimate water measured because of a qualifying leak and reduce the bill or provide a rebate for the attributable amount, subject to the statute’s notice rule when the tenant knew or should have known about the leak.
Records to compare with a high bill
- Written lease or rental-agreement water-billing provision.
- Current and prior tenant water bills.
- Current and prior meter/submeter readings.
- The charge-per-unit calculation and any provider-bill information supplied by the landlord.
- Any separate administrative, billing or meter fee line.
- Leak repair record and the date notice of the leak was given.
- Any meter-test request, result, replacement record or rebate.
Compare this topic across states
Official sources
Primary law for residential water submetering, tenant eligibility, lease disclosure, bill contents, cost-per-unit calculation, prohibited added fees, meter testing and leak adjustments.
Mass.govMassachusetts law about submetering water for tenants ↗Official Massachusetts law-library guide to the water-submetering statute, State Sanitary Code provisions and certification resources.