Office of Public Sector Information
(1) It shall be the duty of every water undertaker to develop and maintain an efficient and economical system of water supply within its area and to ensure that all such arrangements have been made—
(a) for providing supplies of water to premises in that area and for making such supplies available to persons who demand them; and
(b) for maintaining, improving and extending the water undertaker’s water mains and other pipes,
as are necessary for securing that the undertaker is and continues to be able to meet its obligations under this Part.
(2) The duty of a water undertaker under this section shall be enforceable under section 18 above—
(a) by the Secretary of State; or
(b) with the consent of or in accordance with a general authorisation given by the Secretary of State, by the Director.
(3) The obligations imposed on a water undertaker by the following Chapters of this Part, and the remedies available in respect of contraventions of those obligations, shall be in addition to any duty imposed or remedy available by virtue of any provision of this section or section 38 below and shall not be in any way qualified by any such provision.
(1) For the purpose–
(a) of facilitating the determination of the extent to which breaches of the obligations imposed by the following provisions of this Part are to amount to breaches of the duty imposed by section 37 above; or
(b) of supplementing that duty by establishing overall standards of performance in relation to that duty,
the Secretary of State may, in accordance with section 39 below, by regulations provide for contraventions of such requirements as may be prescribed to be treated for the purposes of this Act as breaches of that duty.
(2) The Secretary of State may, in accordance with section 39 below, by regulations prescribe such standards of performance in connection with the provision of supplies of water as, in his opinion, ought to be achieved in individual cases.
(3) Regulations under subsection (2) above may provide that if a water undertaker fails to meet a prescribed standard it shall pay such amount as may be prescribed to any person who is affected by the failure and is of a prescribed description.
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by subsection (2) above, regulations under that subsection may—
(a) include in a standard of performance a requirement for a water undertaker, in prescribed circumstances, to inform a person of his rights by virtue of any such regulations;
(b) provide for any dispute under the regulations to be referred by either party to the dispute to the Director;
(c) make provision for the procedure to be followed in connection with any such reference and for the Director’s determination on such a reference to be enforceable in such manner as may be prescribed;
(d) prescribe circumstances in which a water undertaker is to be exempted from requirements of the regulations.
(1) The Secretary of State shall not make any regulations under section 38 above unless—
(a) the Director has made to the Secretary of State a written application complying with subsection (2) below;
(b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that a copy of the application has been served by the Director on every water undertaker specified in the application;
(c) such period as the Secretary of State considers appropriate has been allowed for the making—
(i) by the Director; and
(ii) by any affected water undertaker,
of representations or objections with respect to the Director’s proposals and any modifications proposed by the Secretary of State; and
(d) the Secretary of State has considered both the Director’s reasons for his proposals and every representation or objection which has been duly made with respect to those proposals, or any proposed modifications of those proposals, and has not been withdrawn.
(2) An application made by the Director to the Secretary of State complies with this subsection if it—
(a) sets out draft provisions proposed by the Director for inclusion in regulations under section 38 above;
(b) specifies the water undertaker or undertakers in relation to which it is proposed those provisions should apply; and
(c) summarises the Director’s reasons for his proposals.
(3) The Secretary of State shall not make any regulations under section 38 above except where—
(a) the only provisions of the regulations are the provisions proposed by the Director in his application or those provisions with such modifications as the Secretary of State considers appropriate; and
(b) each of the modifications (if any) of the Director’s proposals to which effect is given by the regulations is a modification the proposal to make which has been notified—
(i) to the Director; and
(ii) to any water undertaker appearing to the Secretary of State to be likely to be affected by the modifications.
(1) Where, on the application of a water undertaker—
(a) it appears to the Director that it is necessary or expedient for the purposes of this Part that another water undertaker should give a supply of water in bulk to the applicant; and
(b) he is satisfied that the giving and taking of such a supply cannot be secured by agreement,
the Director may by order require the undertakers to give and to take such a supply for such period and on such terms and conditions as may be provided in the order.
(2) An order under this section shall have effect as an agreement between the water undertakers in question but may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order made by the Director on the application of either of those undertakers, as well as by agreement between the undertakers.
(3) The Director shall not make an order under this section which he considers affects the carrying out by the NRA of any of its functions unless he has first consulted the NRA.
(4) In determining what provision to make by an order under this section in respect of the giving of any supply by a water undertaker the Director shall have regard to the desirability of the undertaker’s recovering the expenses of complying with its obligations under this section and of securing a reasonable return on its capital.
(1) It shall be the duty of a water undertaker (in accordance with section 44 below) to provide a water main to be used for providing such supplies of water to premises in a particular locality in its area as (so far as those premises are concerned) are sufficient for domestic purposes, if–
(a) the undertaker is required to provide the main by a notice served on the undertaker by one or more of the persons who under subsection (2) below are entitled to require the provision of the main for that locality;
(b) the premises in that locality to which those supplies would be provided by means of that main are—
(i) premises consisting in buildings or parts of buildings; or
(ii) premises which will so consist when proposals made by any person for the erection of buildings or parts of buildings are carried out;
and
(c) the conditions specified in section 42 below are satisfied in relation to that requirement.
(2) Each of the following persons shall be entitled to require the provision of a water main for any locality, that is to say—
(a) the owner of any premises in that locality;
(b) the occupier of any premises in that locality;
(c) any local authority within whose area the whole or any part of that locality is situated;
(d) where the whole or any part of that locality is situated in a new town, within the meaning of the [1981 c. 64.] New Towns Act 1981—
(i) the Commission for the New Towns; and
(ii) the Development Board for Rural Wales or the development corporation for the new town, according to whether or not the new town is situated within the area for which that Board is for the time being responsible;
and
(e) where the whole or any part of that locality is situated within an area designated as an urban development area under Part XVI of the [1980 c. 65.] Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, the urban development corporation.
(3) The duty of a water undertaker under this section to provide a water main shall be owed to the person who requires the provision of the main or, as the case may be, to each of the persons who joins in doing so.
(4) Where a duty is owed by virtue of subsection (3) above to any person, any breach of that duty which causes that person to sustain loss or damage shall be actionable at the suit of that person; but, in any proceedings brought against a water undertaker in pursuance of this subsection, it shall be a defence for the undertaker to show that it took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the breach.
(5) In this section “local authority”, in relation to the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, includes, respectively, the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple.
(1) The conditions mentioned in section 41(1)(c) above are satisfied in relation to a requirement for the provision of a water main by a water undertaker if—
(a) such undertakings as the undertaker may have reasonably required in accordance with subsection (2) below have been given by the person or persons who have required the provision of the main; and
(b) such security as the undertaker may have reasonably required has been provided for the discharge of any obligations imposed by those undertakings on any person who, under subsection (3) below, may be required to secure his undertakings.
(2) The undertakings which a water undertaker may require for the purposes of subsection (1) above in respect of any water main are undertakings which—
(a) bind the person or persons mentioned in that subsection to pay to the undertaker, in respect of each of the twelve years following the provision of the main, an amount not exceeding the relevant deficit (if any) for that year on that main; and
(b) in the case of undertakings binding two or more persons, bind them either jointly and severally or with liability to pay apportioned in such manner as they may agree.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above a person may be required to secure his undertakings in relation to the provision of a water main if—
(a) it was by virtue of section 41(2)(a) or (b) above that he required, or joined in requiring, the provision of the main; and
(b) he is not a public authority.
(4) Where for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above any sums have been deposited with a water undertaker by way of security for the discharge of any obligation, the undertaker shall pay interest at such rate as may be determined either—
(a) by the undertaker with the approval of the Director; or
(b) in default of a determination under paragraph (a) above, by the Director,
on every sum of 50p so deposited for every three months during which it remains in the hands of the undertaker.
(5) An approval or determination given or made by the Director for the purposes of subsection (4) above—
(a) may be given or made in relation to the provision of a particular water main, in relation to the provision of mains of a particular description or in relation to the provision of water mains generally; and
(b) may be revoked at any time.
(6) Any dispute between a water undertaker and any other person as to—
(a) the undertakings or security required by the undertaker for the purposes of this section; or
(b) the amount required to be paid in pursuance of any such undertaking,
shall be referred to the arbitration of a single arbitrator appointed by agreement between the undertaker and that person or, in default of agreement, by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
(7) In this section “relevant deficit” has the meaning given by section 43 below.
(1) For the purposes of section 42 above the relevant deficit for any year on a water main is the amount (if any) by which the water charges payable for the use during that year of that main are exceeded by the annual borrowing costs of a loan of the amount required for the provision of that main.
(2) The annual borrowing costs of a loan of the amount required for the provision of a water main is the aggregate amount which would fall to be paid in any year by way of payments of interest and repayments of capital if an amount equal to so much of the costs reasonably incurred in providing that main as were not incurred in the provision of additional capacity had been borrowed, by the water undertaker providing the main, on terms—
(a) requiring interest to be paid and capital to be repaid in twelve equal annual instalments; and
(b) providing for the amount of the interest to be calculated at such rate, and in accordance with such other provision, as may have been determined for the purposes of this subsection.
(3) A determination for the purposes of subsection (2) above shall be made either—
(a) by the undertaker with the approval of the Director; or
(b) in default of such a determination, by the Director.
(4) For the purposes of this section the costs reasonably incurred in providing a water main (“the new main”) shall include—
(a) the costs reasonably incurred in providing such other water mains and such tanks, service reservoirs and pumping stations as it is necessary to provide in consequence of the provision of the new main; and
(b) such proportion (if any) as is reasonable of the costs reasonably incurred in providing any such additional capacity in an earlier main as falls to be used in consequence of the provision of the new main.
(5) In subsection (4) above the reference to an earlier main, in relation to the new main, is a reference to any water main which—
(a) has been provided in the period of twelve years immediately before the provision of the new main; and
(b) was so provided in pursuance of a water main requisition.
(6) Any reference in this section to the provision of additional capacity in a water main provided in pursuance of a requirement under any enactment is a reference to such works carried out or other things done in connection with the provision of that main as are carried out or done for the purpose of enabling that main to be used for purposes in addition to those for which it is necessary to provide the main in order to comply with the requirement.
(7) Any reference in this section to the water charges payable for the use during any year of any main provided by a water undertaker is a reference to so much of the aggregate of any charges payable to the water undertaker in respect of services provided in the course of that year as represents charges which—
(a) have been imposed by the undertaker in relation to premises which are connected with that main; and
(b) are reasonably attributable to the provision of a supply of water (whether or not for domestic purposes) to those premises by means of that main.
(8) An approval or determination given or made by the Director for the purposes of subsection (2) above—
(a) may be given or made in relation to the provision of a particular water main, in relation to the provision of mains of a particular description or in relation to the provision of water mains generally; and
(b) may be revoked at any time except in relation to a water main that has already been provided.
(9) In this section “water main requisition” means—
(a) a requirement under section 41 above (including, by virtue of paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the [1991 c. 60.] Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991, a requirement under section 40 of the [1989 c. 15.] Water Act 1989);
(b) a requirement under the provisions of section 36 or 37 of the [1945 c. 42.] Water Act 1945 or of section 29 of Schedule 3 to that Act (water main requisitions); or
(c) a requirement under any local statutory provision corresponding to section 41 above or to any of those provisions of that Act of 1945.
(1) A water undertaker shall not be in breach of a duty imposed by section 41 above in relation to any locality unless–
(a) the period of three months beginning with the relevant day has expired; and
(b) the water undertaker has not, before the end of that period, so laid the water main to be provided as to enable service pipes to premises in that locality to connect with the main at the places determined under subsection (3) below.
(2) The period mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above may be extended in any case—
(a) by agreement between the water undertaker and the person or persons who required the provision of the main; or
(b) where there is a dispute as to whether the period should be extended, by an arbitrator on a reference under subsection (4) below.
(3) The places mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above shall be—
(a) such places as are determined by agreement between the water undertaker and the person or persons who required the provision of the water main; or
(b) in default of agreement, such places as are determined by an arbitrator, on a reference under subsection (4) below, to be the places at which it is reasonable, in all the circumstances, for service pipes to premises in the locality in question to connect with the water main.
(4) A reference for the purposes of subsection (2) or (3) above shall be to a single arbitrator appointed—
(a) by agreement between the undertaker and the person or persons who required the provision of the water main; or
(b) in default of agreement, by the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
(5) In this section “relevant day”, in relation to a requirement to provide a water main for any locality, means the day after whichever is the later of the following, that is to say—
(a) the day on which the conditions specified in section 42 above are satisfied in relation to the requirement; and
(b) the day on which the places where service pipes to premises in that locality will connect with the main are determined under subsection (3) above.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and to sections 46 and 47 below, it shall be the duty of a water undertaker (in accordance with section 51 below) to make a connection under this section where the owner or occupier of any premises in the undertaker’s area which—
(a) consist in the whole or any part of a building; or
(b) are premises on which any person is proposing to erect any building or part of a building,
serves a notice on the undertaker requiring it, for the purpose of providing a supply of water for domestic purposes to that building or part of a building, to connect a service pipe to those premises with one of the undertaker’s water mains.
(2) Where a notice has been served for the purposes of this section, the duty imposed by subsection (1) above shall be a duty, at the expense of the person serving the notice, to make the connection required by the notice if—
(a) the main with which the service pipe is required to be connected is neither a trunk main nor a water main which is or is to be used solely for the purpose of supplying water otherwise than for domestic purposes; and
(b) such conditions as the undertaker may have imposed under sections 47 to 50 below have been satisfied;
and, subject to section 51 below, that duty shall arise whether or not the service pipe to which the notice relates has been laid when the notice is served.
(3) A notice for the purposes of this section—
(a) shall be accompanied or supplemented by all such information as the undertaker may reasonably require; and
(b) if the notice has effect so that a requirement is imposed on the undertaker by virtue of section 46(4) below, shall set out the matters that have given rise to the imposition of that requirement;
but, subject to section 51(5) below and without prejudice to the effect (if any) of any other contravention of this subsection, a failure to provide information in pursuance of the obligation to supplement such a notice shall not invalidate that notice.
(4) The duty imposed on a water undertaker by this section shall be owed to the person who served the notice by virtue of which the duty arises.
(5) Where a duty is owed by virtue of subsection (4) above to any person, any breach of that duty which causes that person to sustain loss or damage shall be actionable at the suit of that person; but, in any proceedings brought against a water undertaker in pursuance of this subsection, it shall be a defence for the undertaker to show that it took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the breach.
(6) Where a water undertaker carries out any works which it is its duty under this section to carry out at another person’s expense, the undertaker shall be entitled to recover from that person an amount equal to the expenses reasonably incurred by the undertaker in carrying out the works.
(7) Nothing in this section or in sections 46 to 51 below shall impose any duty on a water undertaker to connect a service pipe to any premises with a service pipe to any other premises.
(8) In the following provisions of this Chapter a notice served for the purposes of this section is referred to as a connection notice.
(1) Where a water undertaker is required to make a connection in pursuance of any connection notice, it shall also be the duty of the undertaker, at the expense of the person serving the notice, to carry out such of the works to which this section applies as need to be carried out before the connection can be made.
(2) This section applies to the laying of so much of the service pipe to be connected with the water main as it is necessary, for the purpose of making that connection, to lay in a street.
(3) In a case where—
(a) the water main with which the service pipe is to be connected is situated in a street;
(b) the premises consisting in the building or part of a building in question together with any land occupied with it abut on the part of the street where the main is situated; and
(c) the service pipe to those premises will—
(i) enter the premises otherwise than through an outer wall of a building abutting on the street; and
(ii) have a stopcock fitted to it by the undertaker in the premises,
this section applies to the laying of so much of the service pipe as it is necessary, for the purpose of making the required connection, to lay in land between the boundary of the street and that stopcock.
(4) In a case where the connection notice is served in compliance with a requirement imposed by a notice by a local authority under section 80 below, this section applies to the laying of so much of the service pipe to be connected with a water main in pursuance of the connection notice as it is necessary, for the purpose of making the connection, to lay in land owned or occupied by a person who is certified by that authority—
(a) to have unreasonably refused his consent to the laying of the service pipe; or
(b) to have sought to make the giving of his consent subject to unreasonable conditions.
(5) Where a water main is alongside a street and within eighteen metres of the middle of that street, subsections (2) to (4) above shall have effect in relation to the laying, for the purpose of making a connection with that main, of a service pipe to any premises as if the street included so much of the land between the main and the boundary of the street as is not comprised in those premises or in any land occupied with those premises.
(6) It shall be the duty of any water undertaker making a connection in pursuance of a connection notice to ensure that a stopcock belonging to the undertaker is fitted to the service pipe which is connected.
(7) Subsections (4) to (6) of section 45 above shall have effect–
(a) in relation to any duties which, by virtue of a connection notice, are imposed on a water undertaker by this section; and
(b) in relation to any works which, by virtue of the service of such a notice, such an undertaker carries out under this section at another person’s expense,
as they have effect by virtue of that notice in relation to the duty which arises under that section or, as the case may be, to works which the undertaker carries out under that section at another person’s expense.
(8) Subject to subsection (9) below, a water undertaker may comply with any duty under this section to lay a service pipe by laying a water main instead; but nothing in section 45 above or this section shall impose any duty on a water undertaker to lay a water main where it has no power to lay a service pipe.
(9) Where a water undertaker exercises its power under subsection (8) above to lay a water main instead of a service pipe—
(a) paragraph (a) of section 51(1) below shall have effect as if any additional time reasonably required by reason of the laying of the main instead of the service pipe were included in the time allowed by that paragraph for the laying of the service pipe; but
(b) the expenses recoverable by virtue of section 45(6) and subsection (7) above shall not exceed such amount as it would have been reasonable for the undertaker to have incurred in laying a service pipe instead of the main.
(1) Subject to subsection (3) and sections 48 to 50 below, where the owner or occupier of any premises (“the relevant premises”) serves a connection notice on a water undertaker, the undertaker may make compliance with one or more of the requirements specified in subsection (2) below a condition of its complying with the duties to which it is subject by virtue of that notice.
(2) The requirements mentioned in subsection (1) above are—
(a) a requirement that such security as the undertaker may reasonably require has been provided for the discharge of any obligations imposed by virtue of section 45(6) or 46(7)(b) above on the person who served the connection notice;
(b) a requirement, in a case where the connection required by the connection notice is necessary as a consequence of a disconnection made by reason of any person’s failure to pay any charges, that the person serving the connection notice has paid any amount owed by him to the undertaker—
(i) in respect of a supply of water to the relevant premises; or
(ii) in respect of expenses incurred in the making of the disconnection;
(c) a requirement that a meter for use in determining the amount of any charges which have been or may be fixed in relation to the relevant premises by reference to volume has been installed and connected either—
(i) by the undertaker; or
(ii) in accordance with specifications approved by the undertaker;
(d) a requirement that—
(i) so much of the service pipe to the relevant premises as does not belong to, or fall to be laid by, the undertaker; and
(ii) the plumbing of the premises,
comply with specifications approved by the undertaker for the purpose of ensuring that it will be reasonably practicable for such a meter as is mentioned in paragraph (c) above to be installed and connected as so mentioned;
(e) a requirement that a separate service pipe has been provided—
(i) to each house or building on the relevant premises; or
(ii) where different parts of a building on the relevant premises are separately occupied, to each of those parts or to any of them;
(f) a requirement, in relation to the relevant premises—
(i) that such a requirement as may be imposed under section 66 below has been complied with; or
(ii) in a case where such a requirement could be imposed but for there already being such a cistern as is mentioned in that section, that the cistern and its float-operated valve are in good repair;
(g) a requirement that there is no contravention in relation to the water fittings used or to be used in connection with—
(i) the supply of water to the relevant premises; or
(ii) the use of water in those premises,
of such of the requirements of regulations under section 74 below as are prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph; and
(h) a requirement that every such step has been taken as has been specified in any notice served on any person under section 75 below in relation to the relevant premises.
(3) A condition shall not be imposed by a water undertaker under this section on a person who has served a connection notice except by a counter-notice served on that person before the end of the period of fourteen days beginning with the day after the service of the connection notice.
(4) This section shall be without prejudice to the provisions of sections 233 and 372 of the [1986 c. 45.] Insolvency Act 1986 (conditions of supply after insolvency).
(1) Where for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) of section 47 above any sums have been deposited with a water undertaker by way of security for the discharge of any obligation, the undertaker shall pay interest at such rate as may be determined either—
(a) by the undertaker with the approval of the Director; or
(b) in default of a determination under paragraph (a) above, by the Director,
on every sum of 50p so deposited for every three months during which it remains in the hands of the undertaker.
(2) An approval or determination by the Director for the purposes of this section—
(a) may be given or made in relation to a particular case or description of cases or generally; and
(b) may be revoked at any time.
(1) The power conferred on a water undertaker to impose conditions under section 47 above for the purposes of metering—
(a) shall be exercisable in relation to any premises even if the undertaker has no immediate intention, when the power is exercised, of fixing charges in relation to those premises by reference to volume; but
(b) shall not be exercisable so as to require the alteration or removal of any pipe laid or plumbing installed before 1st April 1989.
(2) Specifications approved by any water undertaker for the purposes of subsection (2)(c) or (d) of section 47 above may be approved—
(a) in relation to particular premises; or
(b) by being published in such manner as the undertaker considers appropriate, in relation to premises generally or to any description of premises.
(3) Any dispute between a water undertaker and any other person as to the terms of any condition imposed under section 47 above for the purposes of metering shall be referred to the arbitration of a single arbitrator appointed—
(a) by agreement between the undertaker and that person; or
(b) in default of agreement, by the Secretary of State.
(4) References in this section to the imposition of a condition under section 47 above for the purposes of metering are references to the imposition of conditions by virtue of subsection (2)(c) or (d) of that section.
Water Industry Act 1991