Frequently Asked Questions about Stormwater

The stormwater charge is based on the Land Use and Building Act. Stormwater management is included in its entirety in the Land Use and Building Act chapter 13a, which determines new duties for municipalities. An amendment was made to the act on 1.9.2014, after which stormwater management is not a part of water supply anymore.

The stormwater charge was implemented in the City of Oulu in the beginning of 2016 in accordance with a decision by the City Council. The amount of the wastewater charge was lowered simultaneously. Before, the majority of stormwater expenses were covered in the wastewater charge, but now the new law forbids this.

The charge is used to cover the expenses of stormwater management. The expenses are caused by, for example, the planning, construction and maintenance of the stormwater network, the ditch network and different structures aiming to delay stormwater. All properties and residents on the stormwater system area benefit from having a proper stormwater system. 

The stormwater charge only covers the planning, construction and maintenance of the stormwater systems. The charge is not used for any other purposes.

The stormwater charge is billed annually. An invoice is sent to the property owner or the holder of the city rental property to whose name the property is registered at the time of billing in the city's systems.

The stormwater charge is collected from all properties located on detailed plan areas. 

The municipality is required by law to manage stormwaters on detailed plan areas. The city does not have the same obligation towards stormwater on non-built-up areas outside the city's detailed plan areas.  

You can check if your house is located on a detailed plan area from Oulu Region Map Service. 

A property is a unit of ownership of an independent piece of land or water area registered to the property register. A property includes all the buildings and solid equipment located on it. 

Information about the size and square area of your property can be found on the property tax invoice or the property rent invoice.

A detached house's property size is not relevant for the amount of the stormwater charge. All detached houses pay the same charge. 

The invoice cannot be addressed to a tenant without the title of registration of tenancy. This is the case in, for example, city rental properties where the owner's responsibilities belong to the holder of the property. The property owner and the tenant must agree on paying the charge amongst themselves. 

If you have a management shares agreement on the property, the first invoice is addressed to only one shareholder and also in case any changes are made to the ownership. The invoice is sent to the person whose surname is first in alphabetical order. In case you wish the invoice to be split accordingly to your management shares agreement, please contact the customer service stated in the invoice. The correction to the invoice does not need to be renewed unless any new changes emerge.

Both parties involved in the property sale must agree on paying the invoice amongst themselves. There is usually a delay time of over half a year between the day of the sale and the registration of title. Billing is based on the information in the land register. All changes to property ownerships must be declared to the National Land Survey of Finland. If you wish to transfer the invoice to the name of the buyer, a copy of the bill of sale or some other contract must be presented to the customer service stated in the invoice.

A deceased person's or the heirs' name or names must be in the invoice till the distribution of inheritance. This ensures that all matters concerning taxation and banking can be tended to.

The property's purpose of land-use (determined in the detailed plan) affects the amount of its stormwater charge. Sometimes the purpose of land-use marked in the detailed plan does not reflect reality. A plot determined in the local master plan as an area for industrial use or semi-detached housing can, for example, have a detached house on it. Any declared incorrect markings on the purpose of a property's land-use are revised and corrected. If needed, the stormwater charge is revised and updated.

Even if a stormwater system does not work properly, it does not grant you an exemption from the charge. However, in case city area stormwater causes damage to your property, the problem will be sorted out and solved by the city. 

If any technical difficulties emerge in the system, please contact us through the City of Oulu's electronic feedback service. Stormwater systems are developed and improved in order of urgency.

Stormwater does not remain only on your property. It always transfers to the city's stormwater systems through your property's ditches and sewers. The stormwater charge covers the expenses of the aforementioned and the drainage of the city streets and parks.

The stormwater charge is determined by the municipality, and it is based on your property’s local master plan location. There is no exemption from the charge. The charge concerns all properties located on local master plan areas regardless of whether stormwater is redirected to a ditch, a sewer or infiltrated into soil. 

The charge is subject to public law accordingly to the Land Use and Building Act. Separate contracts or agreements on stormwater are not made.

The responsibilities are divided between the city and the property owner or holder, as regulated in the Act on the Maintenance and Sanitation of the Street and Certain Public Areas 31.8.1978/669.

The property owner or holder is obligated to ensure the sanitation of the property. This involves removing any dirt, debris or leaves from on top of any stormwater well covers and removing any materials that might clog the property's driveway culvert openings. The area obligated to be kept clean extends from the border of the property halfway up to the street adjacent to it.

The property owner or holder is also responsible for ensuring the property's winter maintenance. This involves removing snow and ice from the ditches, rainwater channels, gutter culverts and stormwater well covers on the property.

Maintenance of the driveway and ensuring that the driveway culvert openings are not clogged are also the property's responsibilities.

The city is responsible for ensuring all other procedures that the properties or the government are not responsible for.

If the drainage does not work properly on a public area, please contact us through the city of Oulu electronic feedback service. 
 

Instructions on how to use the electronic service:

1. Select from the menu Asuminen, ympäristö ja kadut.
2. Select Streets, traffic and berths.
3. Select the topic of the feedback to be Street and bike path maintenance.
4. Add text.
5. You can also include attachments.
6. We wish you to include the location of the matter on the map. Marking the location makes processing the matter significantly easier and faster.
7. Leave your contact information.
8. Send the feedback.
    

Once we have received your feedback, the maintenance team will check the situation at the location and take further action based on the matter's urgency and the available resources. If building planning is needed in order to fix the matter, the maintenance team will redirect the feedback to the planning department. Sometimes the required procedures belong to the property owner. This is the case, for example, when the driveway to the plot has sunk, or when the plot's depressions or driveway culverts are clogged.

If the problem does not solve by talking to your neighbor, please contact the Building Supervision through the City of Oulu electronic feedback service. 

Instructions on how to use the electronic service:

1. Select from the menu Asuminen, ympäristö ja kadut.
2. Select Housing and building.
3. Select the topic of the feedback to be Drainage of surface water off the property.
4. Add text.
5. You can also include attachments.
6. We wish you to include the location of the matter on the map. Marking the location makes processing the matter significantly easier and faster.
7. Leave your contact information.
8. Send the feedback.

When granted a building permit, a connection statement, where the stormwater sewer's connecting point and height are marked, is drawn up. Further details on the plot’s stormwater system are presented in the property’s building permit’s HPAC layout plan. 

Stormwater sewerage locations on public areas are presented in a map provided by Oulu Waterworks. Areal water, wastewater and stormwater networks are all presented in the map. If a stormwater network is already located in your area, you can request a connection statement from Oulu Waterworks (in Finnish).  

If no stormwater sewerage exists in the area, please contact us through the city of Oulu's electronic feedback service.

In case a plot stormwater sewer has not been built on the border of the property, building the plot stormwater sewer is the responsibility of the property owner up to the connecting point. The property is responsible for all building expenses of the stormwater sewer, including the repair costs of the street area. To connect the sewer to the city's core network, contact the Oulu Waterworks maintenance, who will drill the connection hole at the expense of the joining person. More detailed instructions are given in the connection statement.

Stormwater flood relief routes must be taken into consideration when planning the levelling of properties, so that there will be no risk of water ingress. The stormwater network may flood onto properties, for example, because of clogging or during heavy rain, when the capacity of the receiving network is exceeded. In this case, it is appropriate that water is conducted through the lowest elevations of the ground surface onto a street or park and subsequently to the flood relief routes of streets.

Instructions on how to use the electronic service: 

1. Select from the menu Asuminen, ympäristö ja kadut. 

2. Select Streets, traffic and berths. 

3. Select as the feedback of the topic to be Other matters related to traffic and streets. 

4. Add text. 

5. You can also include attachments. 

6. We wish you to include the location of the matter on the map. Marking the location makes processing the matter significantly easier and faster. 

7. Leave your contact information. 

8. Send the feedback. 

The runoff water on the plot's building roofs and foundations and in perforated pipes should primarily be infiltrated on the plot by, for example, using an infiltration well or a soaking pit if the condition of the soil allows it. Spillover water should be redirected to a depression or a ditch. Check if you need a connection statement or a building, siting or excavation permit in order to redirect stormwater. Redirecting the property's stormwater to a wastewater sewer is forbidden by the Water Services Act. 

In order to redirect stormwater to a ditch or a depression, and if your permit case is already pending, please contact us through the electronic permit service or, before applying for a permit, through the city of Oulu's electronic feedback service. 

Instructions on how to use the electronic service: 

1. Select from the menu Asuminen, ympäristö ja kadut. 

2. Select Housing and building.

3. Select as the feedback of the topic to be Drainage of surface water off the property.

4. Add text. 

5. You can also include attachments. 

6. We wish you to include the location of the matter on the map. Marking the location makes processing the matter significantly easier and faster. 

7. Leave your contact information. 

8. Send the feedback.