Air-conditioning charges have not been modified: Qatar Cool
Qatar Cool has distanced itself from a controversy surrounding air-conditioning charges being levied by developers on property owners on The Pearl Qatar.
“The fees have always been the same and have not been modified since they were established,” a spokesperson for Qatar Cool said.
The issue became contentious after end users began to complain that the amount demanded by the developers for the service provided by Qatar Cool was exorbitant.
A reader who contacted Gulf Times said the developer had told him that he would be charged about QR140,000 instead of about QR50,000, which was earlier given as the fee for the district cooling service.
Responding to the complaints, which were also discussed on social networking site qatarliving.com, the spokesperson said: “Our business model is based on agreements with tower owners or developers to provide chilled water from central plants via a pipe distribution network.”
The fees between Qatar Cool and each developer are set in the agreement, based on major points like Connection Fee of QR1,800 to QR2,000 per TR (tons of refrigeration), capacity fee (a two-part fee) comprising a one-time fee, currently set at QR5,500 per TR. Similar to the connection fees, this is a one-time payment from the developer to Qatar Cool.
There is also an annual capacity fee of QR720 per TR per year. This is an ongoing fee over the life of the contract payable once per year and covers the operation, maintenance, upgrades, capital investment, insurance and other administrative costs required for operating the district cooling plant. This fee is payable by the developer or transferred to the unit owners by the developer.
The consumption fee is currently set at QR0.206 per TR-HR. This fee is based on the actual usage of the chilled water and is billed monthly based on the meter reading.
The charges also include a three-month refundable deposit for the annual capacity and consumption fees.
“Qatar Cool enters into contracts with the developers for the above, then, usually, the developer divides the cost of the one-time payments, or part thereof, to the unit owners or includes them in the price of the individual units as per the Individual Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the developer and unit owners. The end user is then responsible for the recurring costs afterwards, being the annual capacity and consumption fees.”
The spokesperson said the fees “have always been the same and have not been modified by Qatar Cool since they were established.”
As an example he said Qatar Cool charges for one 200 m2 unit may be QR82,500 (one-time charges to be paid by the developer excluding deposit.)
According to the spokesperson, Qatar Cool is considering entering into agreements with the end users, since The Pearl Qatar is considered a free-hold zone.
“At this stage, Qatar Cool is only contracted with the developers. Qatar Cool does not establish agreements with the unit owners until the unit is handed over.”
The spokesperson said: “We always strive to bring the most reliable and most efficient chilled water to our end users and we look forward to better serving everybody.”
Qatar Cool has posted detailed information about its charges on The Pearl Qatar on its website.
@camelme - Stop making rumours and check the news paper.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=305672...
Air-conditioning charges have not been modified: Qatar Cool
Qatar Cool has distanced itself from a controversy surrounding air-conditioning charges being levied by developers on property owners on The Pearl Qatar.
“The fees have always been the same and have not been modified since they were established,” a spokesperson for Qatar Cool said.
The issue became contentious after end users began to complain that the amount demanded by the developers for the service provided by Qatar Cool was exorbitant.
A reader who contacted Gulf Times said the developer had told him that he would be charged about QR140,000 instead of about QR50,000, which was earlier given as the fee for the district cooling service.
Responding to the complaints, which were also discussed on social networking site qatarliving.com, the spokesperson said: “Our business model is based on agreements with tower owners or developers to provide chilled water from central plants via a pipe distribution network.”
The fees between Qatar Cool and each developer are set in the agreement, based on major points like Connection Fee of QR1,800 to QR2,000 per TR (tons of refrigeration), capacity fee (a two-part fee) comprising a one-time fee, currently set at QR5,500 per TR. Similar to the connection fees, this is a one-time payment from the developer to Qatar Cool.
There is also an annual capacity fee of QR720 per TR per year. This is an ongoing fee over the life of the contract payable once per year and covers the operation, maintenance, upgrades, capital investment, insurance and other administrative costs required for operating the district cooling plant. This fee is payable by the developer or transferred to the unit owners by the developer.
The consumption fee is currently set at QR0.206 per TR-HR. This fee is based on the actual usage of the chilled water and is billed monthly based on the meter reading.
The charges also include a three-month refundable deposit for the annual capacity and consumption fees.
“Qatar Cool enters into contracts with the developers for the above, then, usually, the developer divides the cost of the one-time payments, or part thereof, to the unit owners or includes them in the price of the individual units as per the Individual Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the developer and unit owners. The end user is then responsible for the recurring costs afterwards, being the annual capacity and consumption fees.”
The spokesperson said the fees “have always been the same and have not been modified by Qatar Cool since they were established.”
As an example he said Qatar Cool charges for one 200 m2 unit may be QR82,500 (one-time charges to be paid by the developer excluding deposit.)
According to the spokesperson, Qatar Cool is considering entering into agreements with the end users, since The Pearl Qatar is considered a free-hold zone.
“At this stage, Qatar Cool is only contracted with the developers. Qatar Cool does not establish agreements with the unit owners until the unit is handed over.”
The spokesperson said: “We always strive to bring the most reliable and most efficient chilled water to our end users and we look forward to better serving everybody.”
Qatar Cool has posted detailed information about its charges on The Pearl Qatar on its website.