Underfloor heating in Georgia: water or electric, and the rules that apply

Underfloor heating in Georgia: loops or cables under your feet

Underfloor heating is a heat emitter laid in or under the floor: either water pipes set in the screed and fed by a boiler or heat pump, or electric cables, mats or films that warm the floor directly.

Georgian sellers call the first a წყლის (water) system and the second ელექტრო (electric). Georgia has no separate norm for floor heating. The binding rules are the general ones in Government Resolution No 354 of 13 July 2021 on minimum energy efficiency, published on the Legislative Herald of Georgia: insulation values for floors, a minimum insulation thickness for pipes embedded in the floor, and room-by-room control. They apply only to buildings whose construction permit application was filed after 30 June 2022, and to renovations covering more than 25% of the building envelope.

A buyer from Germany or Scandinavia may expect a water system designed to EN 1264, the European standard for water-based surface heating. We could not confirm that Georgia has adopted EN 1264 as a national standard, so in a Georgian flat the quality of the system depends on what the developer or installer chose and wrote down. Geostat's household energy survey does not count underfloor heating separately either: a boiler-fed floor falls under "individual central heating system", an electric one under "individual heating facilities".

What Resolution No 354 asks of a heated floor

The resolution does not mention underfloor heating by name, but three of its rules decide how such a floor must be built in a covered building. Article 10(8) and Table 7 require heating pipes embedded in the floor to carry at least 6 mm of insulation, against 20 mm for other pipes with an internal diameter of up to 22 mm. Article 10(1) to (3) requires control devices on emitters, with a mechanical shut-off valve or a thermostatic regulator on each one, and limits forced-circulation water systems to a design flow temperature of 60 °C, with 55/45 °C recommended. The third rule is about the floor itself.

Zone 1 includes Batumi and Kutaisi, zone 2 includes Tbilisi, and zone 3 covers mountain areas such as Bakuriani; the full list is in our central heating entry. The lower the number, the better the floor must be insulated. A heated floor over an unheated basement, a car park or an open passage loses warmth downwards unless the slab meets these values, which is why first-floor flats above parking deserve a question about the insulation layer.

We found no separate floor-temperature limit in the text we read. EN 1264 caps the floor surface at 29 °C in the occupied zone and 35 °C in edge zones, about 1 m in front of full-height glazing, and lets national rules set lower values; whether any Georgian rule does, we could not confirm.

The bar rises again for permit applications made after 30 September 2029: according to the International Energy Agency's summary of the 2020 Law on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, those must be for nearly zero-energy buildings.

Water or electric: permits and the cost of running it

Adding floor heating to a finished flat raises a permit question. Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019, Article 4(3), lets an owner repair individual-use engineering networks without a permit, while "network reconstruction" is a type of reconstruction. Whether laying a new heating loop inside one flat counts as repair, we could not confirm; it probably does if no common network of the building is touched, but ask before you lift a floor.

The two systems differ most in what they burn. A water system can run on the same gas boiler as the radiators, and the low flow temperatures that floors need suit condensing boilers and heat pumps. Article 12(6) of Resolution No 354 also requires cooling generators in zone 1 and 2 buildings that need heating to be reversible, working as heat pumps, so a recent building may already have a heat source that can feed floor loops. An electric system draws power at the household tariff, which rises in steps with monthly use.

Because the top block costs about 40% more per kWh than the first, a large electric floor pushes the whole month's extra use into the most expensive step. Other running costs of a flat are set out in our guide to running costs of a let flat.

Where underfloor heating appears in listings and contracts

• ss.ge listing. There is no dedicated underfloor field. The feature turns up in the free text, as "იატაკის გათბობა", the colloquial "თბილი იატაკი" or, in Russian adverts, "тёплый пол", and it may sit behind the generic "ცენტ. გათბობა" tick.
• Frame descriptions. The Tbilisi developer XO describes its green frame as screed "often with heating pipes", and white frame as typically lacking them, while Korter treats white frame as including heating. Pipes cast into the screed are how floor heating usually arrives in a frame flat; our guide to black, white and green frame covers the other differences between the stages.
• Developer specification annex. The wording to look for is "screed with heating pipes" or "heating pipes to radiator points". A useful annex names the rooms that get loops, the pipe type, and whether a manifold (კოლექტორი) and room thermostats are included.
• Handover record. Pipes buried in screed cannot be inspected later, so the handover act should note a pressure test of the heating circuit, as our handover checklist recommends.

The internal measurement drawing, made under Government Resolution No 315 of 3 October 2024 since 1 January 2025, measures the floor but says nothing about what lies inside it. If the heating matters to you, it has to be in the contract annex or the handover act.

Worked example: a bathroom mat and a whole electric floor

Our arithmetic, using the Telmico and EP Georgia Supply tariffs above and assumed heater ratings; real use depends on insulation, the thermostat and the weather. Not a real case.

A bathroom mat. A buyer finds an electric mat under the tiles of a 6 m² bathroom. At an assumed 150 W per m², it draws 0.9 kW. Run for 3 hours a day over 30 days, it uses 81 kWh a month. If that is the household's only consumption, it costs about GEL 16.2 at Telmico's first step; if it all lands on top of other use in the highest step, about GEL 23.1.

A whole flat on electric floors. A 60 m² flat heated entirely by electric floors at an assumed 100 W per m² draws 6 kW. Run for 6 hours a day for 30 days, it uses 1,080 kWh in the month. Charged block by block, with most of it in the top step, the bill comes to about GEL 287 with EP Georgia Supply and about GEL 291 with Telmico, before lighting, cooking or anything else.

The second case shows how fast an electric floor climbs the tariff steps. If you want warm floors in every room, ask for the running cost of water loops on the boiler as well before you choose.

Underfloor heating and its look-alikes

The last pair matters when a seller says a heated floor "meets the norms": ask which norm, and whether the building's permit date brings it under Resolution No 354 at all.

The term in five languages

In a Georgian contract annex, ask for the formal იატაკის გათბობა together with the system type, წყლის (water) or ელექტრო (electric), rather than the everyday თბილი იატაკი, which says nothing about how the floor is heated.

Warning signs in an underfloor heating offer

• "Warm floor" with no system type. Water and electric floors cost very different amounts to run; get the type in writing.
• No pressure test on record. Once the pipes are buried in screed, a leak means lifting the floor.
• No valve or regulator on each loop. In buildings under Resolution No 354, each emitter needs a mechanical shut-off valve or a thermostatic regulator.
• A heated floor over a car park or open passage. Ask how the slab below is insulated.
• A price per m² quoted as standard. We found no published installed price for Tbilisi or Batumi, so compare written quotes.
• Lifting floors without asking. Whether a new loop counts as repair or reconstruction is not settled for every case.

How to check underfloor heating in a Georgian flat

1. Ask the system type

   Water loops or electric cables.

2. Find the heat source

   Boiler, heat pump or the electricity meter.

3. Read the annex

   Rooms, pipe type, manifold and thermostats.

4. See the pressure test

   Recorded before handover, in writing.

5. Check the slab below

   Insulation over parking or open space.

6. Estimate the bills

   Use the tariff steps, not an average.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Georgian norm for underfloor heating?

Not a separate one. Resolution No 354 sets general rules on floor insulation, pipe insulation and control.

How thick must insulation on floor pipes be?

At least 6 mm for heating pipes embedded in the floor, under Resolution No 354, Article 10(8).

Is there a maximum floor temperature in Georgia?

We found none. The European standard EN 1264 sets 29 °C in occupied zones, but its adoption in Georgia is not confirmed.

Which buildings must follow Resolution No 354?

Those whose permit application was filed after 30 June 2022, and renovations covering more than 25% of the envelope.

What does an electric bathroom mat cost to run?

By our arithmetic, a 0.9 kW mat used 3 hours a day costs about GEL 16 to GEL 23 a month.

Do I need a permit to add floor heating?

Repairing individual-use networks needs none; whether a new loop counts as repair is not confirmed in every case.

How do listings mention underfloor heating?

In free text, as იატაკის გათბობა or თბილი იატაკი; ss.ge has no dedicated field.

What does underfloor heating cost per m² to install?

We found no published installed price for Tbilisi or Batumi; ask for written quotes.

Sources

1. Government Resolution No 354 of 13 July 2021 on minimum energy-efficiency requirements, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
2. Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019, Article 4, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
3. Government Resolution No 315 of 3 October 2024 on internal measurement drawings, Legislative Herald of Georgia
4. EN 1264-3:1997 summary, iTeh standards catalogue (accessed 28 October 2026)
5. Energy Consumption in Households, definitions, Geostat, 2022
6. What is green frame, XO (accessed 13 October 2026)
7. New projects in Tbilisi in white frame, Korter (accessed 13 October 2026)
8. Law of Georgia on Energy Efficiency of Buildings, International Energy Agency, updated 8 April 2026

Change log

• 28 October 2026 - Glossary entry published from the Legislative Herald of Georgia, the iTeh standards catalogue, Geostat, XO, Korter and the International Energy Agency.