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Part VIIIE+W MISCELLANEOUS AND SUPPLEMENTAL

Construction of ActE+W

216 Provisions relating to the service of documents.E+W

(1)Any document required or authorised by virtue of this Act to be served on any person may be served—

(a)by delivering it to him or by leaving it at his proper address or by sending it by post to him at that address; or

(b)if the person is a body corporate, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) above on the secretary or clerk of that body; or

(c)if the person is a partnership, by serving it in accordance with paragraph (a) above on a partner or a person having the control of management of the partnership business.

(2)For the purposes of this section and section 7 of the M1Interpretation Act 1978 (which relates to the service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person on whom a document is to be served shall be his last known address, except that—

(a)in the case of service on a body corporate or its secretary or clerk, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of the body;

(b)in the case of service on a partnership or a partner or a person having the control or management of a partnership business, it shall be the principal office of the partnership;

and for the purposes of this subsection the principal office of a company registered outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom is its principal office within the United Kingdom.

(3)If a person to be served by virtue of this Act with any document by another has specified to that other an address within the United Kingdom other than his proper address (as determined in pursuance of subsection (2) above) as the one at which he or someone on his behalf will accept documents of the same description as that document, that address shall also be treated as his proper address for the purposes of this section and for the purposes of the said section 7 in its application to this section.

(4)Where under any provision of this Act any document is required to be served on the owner, on a lessee or on the occupier of any premises then—

(a)if the name or address of the owner, of the lessee or, as the case may be, of the occupier of the premises cannot after reasonable inquiry be ascertained; or

(b)in the case of service on the occupier, if the premises appear to be or are unoccupied,

that document may be served either by leaving it in the hands of a person who is or appears to be resident or employed on the land or by leaving it conspicuously affixed to some building or object on the land.

(5)This section shall not apply to any document in relation to the service of which provision is made by rules of court.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

Marginal Citations

217 Construction of provision conferring powers by reference to undertakers’ functions.E+W

(1)The purposes to which this section applies shall be the construction of any enactment which, by reference to the functions of a relevant undertaker, confers any power on or in relation to that undertaker.

(2)For the purposes to which this section applies the functions of every relevant undertaker shall be taken to include joining with or acting on behalf of—

(a)the [F1Environment Agency];

(b)one or more other relevant undertakers; or

(c)the [F1Environment Agency] and one or more other such undertakers,

for the purpose of carrying out any works or acquiring any land which at least one of the bodies with which it joins, or on whose behalf it acts, is authorised to carry out or acquire for the purposes of that body’s functions under any enactment or of any function which is taken to be a function of that body for the purposes to which this section or section 3 of the M2Water Resources Act 1991 (functions of [F1Environment Agency] for certain purposes) applies.

(3)For the purposes to which this section applies the functions of every relevant undertaker shall be taken to include the protection against pollution—

(a)of any waters, whether on the surface or underground, which belong to the [F1Environment Agency] or any water undertaker or from which the [F1Environment Agency] or any water undertaker is authorised to take water;

(b)without prejudice to paragraph (a) above, of any reservoir which belongs to or is operated by the [F1Environment Agency] or any water undertaker or which the [F1Environment Agency] or any water undertaker is proposing to acquire or construct for the purpose of being so operated; and

(c)of any underground strata from which the [F1Environment Agency] or any water undertaker is for the time being authorised to abstract water in pursuance of a licence under Chapter II of Part II of the M3Water Resources Act 1991.

(4)For the purposes to which this section applies the functions of every relevant undertaker shall be taken to include the furtherance of research into matters in respect of which functions are conferred by or under this Act, the other consolidation Acts or the M4Water Act 1989 on the [F1Environment Agency], on water undertakers or on sewerage undertakers.

(5)For the purposes to which this section applies the functions of every relevant undertaker shall be taken to include the provision of houses and other buildings for the use of persons employed by that undertaker and the provision of recreation grounds for persons so employed.

(6)For the purposes to which this section applies the functions of every water undertaker shall be taken to include the provision of supplies of water in bulk, whether or not such supplies are provided for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying out of any other function of that undertaker.

(7)For the purposes to which this section applies the functions of every water undertaker shall be taken to include the doing of anything in pursuance of any arrangements under section 20 of the Water Resources Act 1991 between that undertaker and the [F1Environment Agency].

(8)In this section “the other consolidation Acts” has the same meaning as in section 206 above.

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations

218 Meaning of “domestic purposes” in relation to water supply.E+W

(1)Subject to the following provisions of this section, in this Act references to domestic purposes, in relation to a supply of water to any premises or in relation to any cognate expression, are references to the drinking, washing, cooking, central heating and sanitary purposes for which water supplied to those premises may be used.

(2)Where the whole or any part of the premises are or are to be occupied as a house, those purposes shall be taken to include—

(a)the purposes of a profession carried on in that house or, where—

(i)that house and another part of the premises are occupied together; and

(ii)the house comprises the greater part of what is so occupied,

in that other part; and

(b)such purposes outside the house (including the washing of vehicles and the watering of gardens) as are connected with the occupation of the house and may be satisfied by a supply of water drawn from a tap inside the house and without the use of a hosepipe or similar apparatus.

(3)No such reference to domestic purposes shall be taken to include a reference—

(a)to the use of a bath having a capacity, measured to the centre line of overflow or in such other manner as may be prescribed, of more than two hundred and thirty litres;

(b)to the purposes of the business of a laundry; or

(c)to any purpose of a business of preparing food or drink for consumption otherwise than on the premises.

219 General interpretation.E+W

(1)In this Act, except in so far as the context otherwise requires—

(a)is or is to be situated inside or in the close vicinity of the main, sewer or other pipe or inside or in the close vicinity of another accessory for it; and

(b)is intended to be used only in connection with the use or maintenance of the main, sewer or other pipe or of another accessory for it;

(a)any person for or to whom that company provides any services in the course of carrying out the functions of a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker [F6(other than a licensed water supplier)] ; or

(b)any person who might become such a person on making an application for the purpose to the company;

(a)the construction, alteration, improvement, maintenance or demolition of any building or structure or of any reservoir, watercourse, dam, weir, well, borehole or other works; and

(b)the installation, modification or removal of any machinery or apparatus;

(a)a provision of a local Act (including an Act confirming a provisional order);

(b)a provision of so much of any public general Act as has effect with respect to a particular area, with respect to particular persons or works or with respect to particular provisions falling within any paragraph of this definition;

(c)a provision of an instrument made under any provision falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above; or

(d)a provision of any other instrument which is in the nature of a local enactment;

(a)Chapters II and III of Part IV (except sections 98 to 101 and 110 and so much of Chapter III of that Part as provides for regulations under section 138 or has effect by virtue of any such regulations);

(b)sections 160, 171, 172(4), 178, 184, 189, 196 and 204 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 12; and

(c)the other provisions of this Act so far as they have effect for the purposes of any provision falling within paragraph (a) or (b) of this definition;

(a)conveying water from one source of supply to another, from a source of supply to a regulating reservoir or from a regulating reservoir to a source of supply; or

(b)giving or taking a supply of water in bulk;

(a)conveying water from a source of supply to a filter or reservoir or from one filter or reservoir to another filter or reservoir; or

(b)conveying water in bulk, whether in the course of taking a supply of water in bulk or otherwise, between different places outside the area of the undertaker, from such a place to any part of that area or from one part of that area to another part of that area;

(2)In this Act—

(a)references to a pipe, including references to a main, a drain or a sewer, shall include references to a tunnel or conduit which serves or is to serve as the pipe in question and to any accessories for the pipe; and

(b)references to any sewage disposal works shall include references to the machinery and equipment of those works and any necessary pumping stations and outfall pipes;

and, accordingly, references to the laying of a pipe shall include references to the construction of such a tunnel or conduit, to the construction or installation of any such accessories and to the making of a connection between one pipe and another.

(3)Nothing in Part III or IV of this Act by virtue of which a relevant undertaker owes a duty to any particular person to lay any water main, resource main or service pipe or any sewer, [F22lateral drain,] disposal main or discharge pipe shall be construed—

(a)as conferring any power in addition to the powers conferred apart from those Parts; or

(b)as requiring the undertaker to carry out any works which it has no power to carry out.

(4)References in this Act to the fixing of charges in relation to any premises by reference to volume are references to the fixing of those charges by reference to the volume of water supplied to those premises, to the volume of effluent discharged from those premises, to both of those factors or to one or both of those factors taken together with other factors.

[F23(4A)In this Act, unless otherwise stated, references to the supply system of a water undertaker are to the water mains and other pipes which it is the undertaker’s duty to develop and maintain by virtue of section 37 above.]

(5)Until the coming into force of Part III of the M14New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, the definition of “street” in subsection (1) above shall have effect as if the reference to that Part were a reference to the M15Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950; but nothing in this section shall be taken—

(a)to prejudice the power of the Secretary of State under that Act of 1991 to make an order bringing Part III of that Act into force on different days for different purposes (including the purposes of this section); or

(b)in the period before the coming into force of that Part, to prevent references in this Act to a street, where the street is a highway which passes over a bridge or through a tunnel, from including that bridge or tunnel.

(6)For the purposes of any provision of this Act by or under which power is or may be conferred on any person to recover the expenses incurred by that person in doing anything, those expenses shall be assumed to include such sum as may be reasonable in respect of establishment charges or overheads.

(7)References in this Act to the later or latest of two or more different times or days are, in a case where those times or days coincide, references to the time at which or, as the case may be, the day on which they coincide.

(8)Where by virtue of any provision of this Act any function of a Minister of the Crown is exercisable concurrently by different Ministers, that function shall also be exercisable jointly by any two or more of those Ministers.

(9)Sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the M16Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991 has effect (by virtue of sub-paragraph (2)(b) of that paragraph) so that references in this Act to things done under or for the purposes of provisions of this Act or the M17Water Resources Act 1991 include references to things done, or treated as done, under or for the purposes of the corresponding provisions of the law in force before the commencement of this Act.

[F24(10)If the Assembly designates a person as Chief Inspector of Drinking Water for Wales under section 86(1B) above, references in this Act to the Chief Inspector of Drinking Water, as respects anything to be done in relation to him, shall be taken as references to the person designated as the Chief Inspector of Drinking Water by the Secretary of State and also the person designated by the Assembly as the Chief Inspector of Drinking Water for Wales.]

Textual Amendments

F2S. 219(1): words in definition of "accessories" substituted (25.7.2003) by Communications Act 2003 (c. 21), ss. 406, 411(2)(3), Sch. 17 para. 110; S.I. 2003/1900, art. 2(1), Sch. 1

F3S. 219(1): definition of "the Assembly" inserted (1.4.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 7 para. 27(7)(a); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2

F4S. 219(1): definition of "the Authority" inserted (1.4.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 7 para. 27(7)(a); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2

F5S. 219(1): definition of "the Council" inserted (1.8.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 7 para. 27(7)(b); S.I. 2005/968, art. 3 (with art. 4, Schs. 1, 2)

F6S. 219(1): words in definition of "customer or potential customer" inserted (1.4.2004 for specified purposes and 1.10.2004 for further specified purposes and otherwise 1.12.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 8 para. 50(2)(a); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2 (with art. 6, Sch. 3); S.I. 2004/2528, art. 2(t) (with art. 4); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 3 (with Sch. 2 para. 8)

F8Words in the definition of “harbour authority” in s. 219(1) substituted (1.1.1996) by 1995 c. 21, ss. 314(2), 316(2), Sch. 13 para. 89(b)

F9S. 219(1): definition of "lateral drain" inserted (28.5.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 97(9)(a), 105(3); S.I. 2004/641, art. 4(b) (with art. 6, Sch. 3)

F10S. 219(1): definition of "licenced water supplier" inserted (1.4.2004 for specified purposes and 1.10.2004 for further specified purposes and otherwise 1.12.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 8 para. 50(2)(c); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2 (with art. 6, Sch. 3); S.I. 2004/2528, art. 2(t); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 3

F11Words in the definition of “local authority” in s. 219(1) inserted (1.4.1996) by 1994 c. 19, s. 22(5), Sch. 11 Pt. I para. 2(2) (with ss. 54(5)(7), 55(5)); S.I. 1996/396, art. 3

F12S. 219(1): definition of “the Monopolies Comismission” repealed (1.4.1999) by S.I. 1999/3434, art. 30(c)

F13Definition of “the NRA” in s. 219(1) repealed (1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1)(3), Sch. 22 para. 125(a), Sch. 24 (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3

F14S. 219(1): definition of "the OFT" inserted (1.4.2003) by Enterprise Act 2002 (c. 40), ss. 278, 279, Sch. 25 para. 25(11); S.I. 2003/766, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)

F15Words in the definitions of “public authority” and “watercourse” in s. 219(1) substituted (1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1), Sch. 22 para. 125(b) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3

F16S. 219(1): words in definition of "public sewer" inserted (28.5.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 99(6), 105(3); S.I. 2004/641, art. 4(b) (with art. 6, Sch. 3)

F17S. 219(1): words in definition of "railway undertakers" substituted (15.7.2003) by The Transport for London (Consequential Provisions) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/1615), art. 2, Sch. 1 para. 15

F18S. 219(1): definition of "regional committee" inserted (1.10.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c.37), ss. 101(01), 105(3), Sch. 7 para. 27(7)(d); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 2(l) (with Sch. 2 para. 8)

F19S. 219(1): words in definition of "service pipe" inserted (28.5.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 92(6)(7), 105(3); S.I. 2004/641, art. 4(a) (with art. 6, Sch. 3)

F20S. 219(1): words in definition of "water main" inserted (1.4.2004 for specified purposes and 1.10.2004 for further specified purposes and otherwise 1.12.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 8 para. 50(2)(b); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2 (with art. 6, Sch. 3); S.I. 2004/2528, art. 2(t) (with art. 4); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 3 (with Sch. 2 para. 8)

F21S. 219(1): words in definition of "water main" inserted (1.4.2004 for specified purposes and 1.10.2004 for further specified purposes and otherwise 1.12.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 8 para. 50(2)(b); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2 (with art. 6, Sch. 3); S.I. 2004/2528, art. 2(t) (with art. 4); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 3 (with Sch. 2 para. 8)

F23S. 219(4A) inserted (1.4.2004 for specified purposes and 1.10.2004 for further specified purposes and otherwise 1.12.2005) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 101(1), 105(3), Sch. 8 para. 50(3); S.I. 2004/641, art. 3(y), Sch. 2 (with art. 6, Sch. 3); S.I. 2004/2528, art. 2(t) (with art. 4); S.I. 2005/2714, art. 3 (with Sch. 2 para. 8)

Marginal Citations

220 Effect of local Acts.E+W

Subject to any provision to the contrary which is contained in Schedule 26 to the Water Act 1989 or in the Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991, nothing in any local statutory provision passed or made before 1st September 1989 shall be construed as relieving any relevant undertaker from any liability arising by virtue of this Act in respect of any act or omission occurring on or after that date.