Part III Street works in England and Wales
Notice and co-ordination of works
57 Notice of emergency works.
(1)
Nothing in section 54 (advance notice), section 55 (notice of starting date) or section 56 (directions as to timing of works) F1or paragraph 2(1)(d) or 3(1) of Schedule 3A (notification of proposed works or directions as to timings of works) affects the right of an undertaker to execute emergency works.
(2)
An undertaker executing emergency works shall, if the works are of a kind in respect of which notice is F2(or would, but for paragraph 2(6) of Schedule 3A, be) required by section 55, give notice as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within two hours (or such other period as may be prescribed) of the works being begun, to the persons to whom notice would be required to be given under that section.
(3)
The notice shall state his intention or, as the case may be, the fact that he has begun to execute the works and shall contain such other information as may be prescribed.
(4)
An undertaker who fails to give notice in accordance with this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F3level 4 on the standard scale.
(5)
In proceedings against a person for such an offence it is a defence for him to show that the contravention was attributable—
(a)
to his not knowing the position, or not knowing of the existence, of another person’s apparatus, or
(b)
to his not knowing the identity or address of—
(i)
a relevant authority, or
(ii)
the person to whom any apparatus belongs,
and that his ignorance was not due to any negligence on his part or to any failure to make inquiries which he ought reasonably to have made.