How to Choose a Submetering Company: 12 Questions to Ask
Last reviewed October 2026Reviewed by Grant Forehand, Compliance Officer, 20 years with NES
Comparing water submetering companies? Ask these 12 questions on meter ownership, fees, leak alerts, resident support and compliance before you sign.
How do I choose a submetering company?
To choose a submetering company, compare how each provider handles equipment ownership, daily operations, and utility rules. Confirm that you will own the meters and that the hardware is nonproprietary, so you are not locked to one vendor. Ask whether meter reads, billing, resident calls, and collections run in-house or through outside vendors. Request an itemized fee schedule for hardware, installation, and monthly service. Finally, verify that the provider checks local utility rules for your property's address and holds required state utility registrations before you sign an agreement.
If you manage an apartment community, mobile home park, or condominium, utility bills take a large bite out of your operating budget. Choosing a provider comes down to how their service affects your staff and your residents over time. This guide breaks down three common provider models, twelve questions to ask before signing, and the operational differences that matter.
What a submetering company does and the three provider models
At its core, what submetering is comes down to measuring the utility consumption of individual units within a master-metered property. Instead of the property owner paying the entire city bill, types of submeters installed on each unit track water, gas, or electricity use so residents pay for what they use. The submetering company runs this process, but the scope of work depends on the company's business model.
Providers fall into three main groups:
Equipment distributors sell meters, transmitters, and collection gateways to your plumber or maintenance crew. Once they ship the boxes, their job is done. Your on-site team has to read the meters, calculate bills, mail statements, and handle resident questions.
Billing bureaus handle monthly calculations and send statements, but they do not touch the hardware. You or an independent plumber must install and service the system. Each month, the bureau takes usage numbers, applies local utility rates, and sends charges to your property management software. When a transmitter stops sending signals, you must find someone to track down the problem.
Full-service submetering providers handle the entire job under one roof. A full-service firm surveys the property plumbing, supplies and installs the hardware, reads the meters, bills residents, collects payments, and answers resident calls. If a meter breaks or needs warranty work, the same company handles the repair. This eliminates finger-pointing between separate hardware sellers and billing services when readings fail.
12 questions to ask any submetering provider
When evaluating submetering providers, use these twelve questions to separate reliable operators from vendors that leave gaps:
- Meter ownership. Do you own the meters after installation? Make sure you own the meters and that they use nonproprietary technology, so another provider can read them if you ever switch.
- Installation crews. Who installs the equipment and conducts the site survey? Find out if the company uses its own technicians or subcontracts the work to outside crews.
- Reading frequency and leak detection. How often are meters read? Check if meters send daily reads that flag continuous leaks, such as a running toilet, before water bills spike.
- Resident customer service. Who answers resident billing questions, and in what languages? Look for an in-house bilingual team rather than an outside call center that knows little about your property.
- Fee structure. Can they provide an itemized fee breakdown? Ask for a line-item schedule showing equipment, installation, monthly resident billing fees, meter replacements, and portal costs.
- Regulatory compliance. How is utility compliance handled for your specific address? Confirm the company has an in-house team that tracks municipal, county, and state utility rules and files any needed state paperwork.
- Delinquent accounts. How are unpaid resident utility balances handled? Ask whether the company provides dedicated collections support to recover balances from past residents.
- Software integration. What reporting tools are available? Verify that their submetering billing software connects directly with your property management software.
- Complex plumbing options. Can they handle units that cannot be metered easily? Ask if they offer ratio utility billing (RUBS) when plumbing setups make meters impractical.
- Contract terms. What is the contract length and what happens if you cancel? Check the renewal rules and exit terms to avoid restrictive long-term commitments with steep penalties.
- Existing equipment. Can they take over existing meters if you switch providers? Find out if they can read the meters already on your walls to avoid buying new equipment.
- References. Can they provide references for communities of your size? Request contact details for property managers running similar communities.
Red flags to watch for when evaluating providers
Certain contract terms consistently create headaches for multifamily owners:
- Proprietary equipment. Some vendors install meters programmed to work only with their own software. If you end the contract, the meters become useless and you must replace every unit on the property.
- Hidden fees. Proposals that show a low baseline billing fee often hide extra charges for paper statements, portal access, and account setups.
- Vague compliance answers. Many cities and states limit how utility costs are billed back to tenants. A provider that brushes off local rules puts you at risk of fines and mandatory refunds.
- Outside call centers. Billing calls from residents are frequent. Call centers with no direct connection to your property create frustrated residents who end up in your leasing office.
- Heavy exit penalties. Long contracts that renew automatically with costly cancellation fees often point to a company that cannot keep clients on service alone.
Meter ownership
- Why it matters
- Proprietary equipment locks your property to one vendor.
- How NES handles it
- NES installs nonproprietary meters that you own, backed by a warranty.
Reading frequency and leak alerts
- Why it matters
- Infrequent reads allow running toilets to drive up bills for weeks.
- How NES handles it
- Wireless meters report several times a day, feeding MyReads leak detection to flag continuous flow.
Resident support
- Why it matters
- Confusing bills send residents straight to your on-site office.
- How NES handles it
- An in-house, bilingual team in Safety Harbor, Florida, answers resident questions.
Regulatory compliance
- Why it matters
- Noncompliant billing can trigger utility fines and forced refunds.
- How NES handles it
- An in-house team verifies address-level rules, handling filings like Texas PUCT or North Carolina NCUC certificates.
Installation management
- Why it matters
- Poor plumbing work causes leaks and wall damage.
- How NES handles it
- NES technicians install equipment or supply specifications directly to your chosen plumber.
Billing alternatives
- Why it matters
- Some buildings have plumbing layouts that make meters impractical.
- How NES handles it
- NES reviews your layout and sets up ratio utility billing (RUBS) where meters do not fit.
System takeovers
- Why it matters
- Replacing working meters during a vendor change wastes money.
- How NES handles it
- NES can often take over the meters already on site and keep the working ones in place.
Size and fit: matching your property to the right provider
Provider capabilities do not fit every property size. NES focuses on communities of 80 or more units. This includes apartment communities, condominium associations, townhome developments, student housing, and mobile home parks. Running utility billing at this scale takes automated reporting and customer service teams built to process large volumes of resident payments.
Smaller buildings have different requirements. These properties rarely need the multi-channel payment tools or account teams that large communities require. Owners of smaller buildings are often better served by a small-property provider or billing add-ons built into property management software.
Check that your unit count fits the provider's regular workload before you sign. A small firm that takes on a large community can fall behind on resident calls fast.
How to weigh submetering cost against utility recovery
Looking at submetering cost means comparing initial out-of-pocket costs against monthly utility recovery. Submetering installation averages $150 to $300 per unit across the industry. The total price changes depending on meter type, indoor or outdoor placement, new construction versus retrofit work, and how many meters each unit requires.
The biggest variable is access to each unit's water line. When a cold-water line sits open in a utility closet, a technician can finish the install in under 30 minutes. If a water heater must be drained and moved to reach the pipe, labor costs rise.
Financial returns remain consistent once meters are in place. When residents pay for their own water, water use typically drops 15 to 30 percent. Most properties earn back the install cost in 12 to 18 months from the cost they recover, and some sooner.
At one 337-unit community, NES added meters as leases renewed, so for a while both setups ran side by side. The 168 submetered units averaged 3,868 gallons per unit per month, 34% less than the 5,846 gallons used by the 169 units not yet metered. Their average bill was $54.22 a month against $84.72, 36% lower, or about $30 per unit. Across all 337 units, that gap is worth roughly $123,000 a year. Reviewing actual case studies shows what properties can recover.
There are real submetering disadvantages to consider. Upfront equipment costs require initial funding, split plumbing lines in older buildings raise retrofit costs, and monthly billing requires ongoing rule compliance. NES offers financing for properties that qualify, so the initial installation does not have to be paid all at once.
Plumbing retrofits versus ratio utility billing (RUBS)
Not every building works well with physical meters. Your provider needs to inspect the plumbing layout before quoting equipment.
Some buildings have multiple vertical water risers feeding a single apartment. A kitchen sink might connect to one riser while the bathroom connects to another. Metering that setup requires multiple meters in every apartment, which drives up equipment and labor expenses.
Ratio utility billing (RUBS) solves this problem without opening walls. RUBS splits the master utility bill among residents using a set formula based on unit square footage, occupant count, or both.
A RUBS program needs no equipment, so recovery starts with the first billing cycle. Local rules, however, vary. Some places allow meters but restrict RUBS. A knowledgeable provider checks your plumbing and your local laws to suggest the right option.
Utility compliance and legal standards
Submetering follows a detailed mix of state, county, and city rules. Getting them wrong can mean refunds to residents and penalties.
Rules change depending on the state:
- Equipment certification. Some states require certified meter testing before units can be used for resident billing.
- Texas registration. Water and wastewater submetering requires registration with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).
- North Carolina filings. Properties must secure a certificate of authority from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) before billing residents.
- Fee limits. Some states cap late fees and administrative charges on resident statements.
Submetering laws change, so someone has to keep checking them. NES never bills residents more than the property's master-meter cost. Common-area use, such as water for pools, clubhouses, laundry rooms, and irrigation, stays with the owner.
NES uses an in-house compliance team that checks rules for your exact address before sending a quote.
Switching submetering providers without disrupting operations
Property managers sometimes stay with subpar providers because they worry a transition will cause problems. They picture lost meter data, missed collections, and confused residents.
Yet switching submetering providers is straightforward with the right planning. The process starts with a survey of your existing hardware. NES can often take over existing submeters, transmitters, and repeaters if the equipment is working properly. Using the meters already in place avoids installation costs and keeps technicians out of occupied apartments.
The new provider connects to your property management software, imports the rent roll, and starts daily meter tracking. Residents receive a notice explaining the new billing format, the payment portal, and contact details for customer service.
If meters need replacement, water is turned off only briefly during scheduled hours. Residents receive advance notice, no one moves out, and billing shifts over cleanly.
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