Russia to Launch Digital Passports for Apartment Buildings in 2026
Starting March 1, 2026, Russia’s housing and utilities sector is set for a landmark transformation as every multi-apartment building in the country receives a digital passport – a unified electronic record consolidating all essential information about a property.
Legal Framework for a Digital Shift
In June 2025, a landmark law was adopted and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, establishing the legal foundations for digital passports for multi-apartment buildings. The measure is designed to become a cornerstone of large-scale digitalization in the housing sector, fundamentally upgrading how residential assets are managed.
Under the law, the President instructed the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities to develop a standardized format for the electronic passport and define the procedures for compiling it within the State Housing Information System.
For newly built properties, developers will be required to submit the relevant data when a building is commissioned. For the existing housing stock, responsibility will rest with property management companies and public authorities.
More Than Just a Digital Record
The digital passport is not simply an electronic copy of a paper document. It is designed as a dynamic data system that will be continuously updated over the life of a building.
Each passport will include a comprehensive technical profile of the property, covering structural characteristics, the condition of engineering systems, maintenance history, energy efficiency indicators, and key installed equipment.
Data sources will include the Unified State Register of Real Estate, technical inventory records, and regular inspections carried out by management companies.
Toward Predictive Building Management
The core objective of the reform is to move from reactive to predictive management of residential buildings.
Today, major renovation programs are often drafted without an accurate picture of actual wear and tear, leading to inefficient allocation of funds. In some cases, budgets are assigned to roof repairs while the foundation is in critical condition.
Digital passports are intended to enable precise diagnostics, helping direct funding to truly urgent needs. Over time, as data accumulates, algorithms will be able to forecast the likelihood of failures in specific building components.
Moscow became the first large-scale testing ground, having created more than 46,000 digital building passports even before the federal law was adopted. Nationwide deployment will be phased in – starting in 2026 for new buildings and later extending to existing housing stock.
For homeowners, the reform promises an unprecedented level of transparency. Through the State Housing Information System, residents will be able to access up-to-date, objective information about their building’s condition, planned repairs, and how funds are being used.
For property management companies and homeowners associations, the digital passport will serve as a powerful planning tool. All data required to prepare justified budgets and work schedules will be centralized, simplifying management and reducing operational risks.
For regional renovation operators and public authorities, the system will provide a clear, data-driven picture of the housing stock. This, in turn, will support long-term infrastructure planning and more effective allocation of public funds.
A Major Catalyst for the Sector
The introduction of digital building passports represents a logical and necessary step in the evolution of Russia’s housing and utilities sector. Rather than merely digitizing paperwork, the initiative effectively creates a digital twin of the country’s entire residential stock.
From 2026 onward, the system is expected to operate at full scale, enabling proactive, data-driven maintenance models. Within a few years, the digital passport is expected to become a standard feature for every residential building, with analytics based on these records forming the foundation for smarter and more sustainable cities.
