Water Act 1989

2 (1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph and to paragraph 3 below, the Authority, every water undertaker and every sewerage undertaker shall, for the purpose of carrying out its functions, have power—

(a) to lay a relevant pipe in, under or over any street and to keep that pipe there;

(b) to inspect, maintain, adjust, repair or alter any relevant pipe which is in, under or over any street;

(c) to carry out in a street all such works as are requisite for securing that the water in any relevant waterworks is not polluted or otherwise contaminated; and

(d) to carry out any works requisite for, or incidental to, the purposes of any works falling within paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above, including for those purposes the following kinds of works, that is to say—

(i) breaking up or opening a street;

(ii) tunnelling or boring under a street;

(iii) breaking up or opening a sewer, drain or tunnel;

(iv) moving or removing earth and other materials.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (1)(d) above, the Authority and every water undertaker shall have power to erect and keep in any street notices indicating the position of such underground accessories for its relevant pipes as may be used for controlling the flow of water in those pipes; and that power shall include power to attach any such notice to any building, fence or other structure which is comprised in premises abutting on the street.

(3) A stopcock fitted to any service pipe in a street shall be situated as near as reasonably practicable to the boundary of the street; and the Authority or a water undertaker shall consult with the highway authority concerned before determining in accordance with this sub-paragraph where to fit a stopcock in a highway.

(4) It shall be the duty of the Authority, of every water undertaker and of every sewerage undertaker—

(a) to do as little damage as possible in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by this paragraph; and

(b) to pay compensation for any loss caused or damage done in the exercise of those powers.

(5) Any dispute as to whether compensation should be paid under sub-paragraph (4) above, or as to the amount of any such compensation, shall be referred to the arbitration of a single arbitrator appointed by agreement between the parties to the dispute or, in default of agreement, by the Secretary of State.

(6) For the purposes of section 32 of the [1950 c. 39.] Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 (provisions against duplication of compensation) a payment of compensation under sub-paragraph (4) above shall be treated as made under an enactment passed before that Act.

(7) Where a water undertaker exercises its powers under this paragraph for the purpose of carrying out works of maintenance, repair or renewal in relation to a service pipe belonging to a person other than the undertaker, the undertaker shall be entitled to recover from the occupier of the premises supplied by means of that pipe the expenses reasonably incurred by that undertaker in so exercising that power.

(8) The reference in section 20 of the [1980 c. 66.] Highways Act 1980 (works in special roads) to a power under any enactment to lay down or erect apparatus includes a reference to any power to lay any pipe which is conferred by this paragraph.

(9) The restrictions contained in paragraphs (1) to (5) of section 32 of the [1870 c. 78.] Tramways Act 1870 (protection of tramways) shall apply in relation to any exercise of a power conferred by this paragraph as they apply in relation to the powers mentioned in that section and as if references in that section to a tramway included references to a trolley vehicle system.