Commencement and completion notices
Commencement and completion notices – section 117
513.Under the 1991 Act, undertakers and roads authorities are under a range of duties to enter information into the SRWR and give information to other persons who have apparatus under the road.
514.A number of these duties require information about when it is intended that the works are going to start and when it is expected that they will finish. The exact duties depend on whether the person carrying out the works is an undertaker, road works authority or roads authority and also on the type of work involved.
515.Section 117 adds to the duties by amending the relevant sections of the 1991 Act to require the person carrying out the works to enter in the SRWR the date that the works actually start, not just the proposed start date. The time frame for the person doing so will be set by regulations, but in most cases the expectation is that the notice will be required on the same day as the works commence. The ability to impose similar duties in relation to the completion of works is also provided for (including the ability to set a time frame for providing that information). Ministers may by regulations require other information, aside from just the start or completion date, to be provided as well.
Undertakers
516.The duties imposed on undertakers merit specific discussion.
517.The new section 114A being inserted into the 1991 Act requires undertakers to give a notice of the date when the works actually began to other persons who have apparatus in the road in question. The undertaker must also enter a copy of the notice in the SRWR. This replicates the position in section 114 of the 1991 Act for proposed works. In practical terms, it means the same people should get notice that works are proposed and a further notice on or shortly after commencement of the works. Failure to give this new second notice is a criminal offence carrying a penalty of a fine up to level 3 (currently £1,000) on the standard scale. (Starting work without having given notice under section 114 is also offence, and carries a penalty of a fine of up to level 4 on the standard scale (currently £2,500).)
518.As with section 114 of the 1991 Act, a person who doesn’t give a notice has a defence to criminal proceedings where they did not know that another person had apparatus in the ground (having made appropriate inquiries to check that).
