Water Industry Act 1991

199 Sewer maps. E+W

(1) Subject to subsections (6) to (8) below, it shall be the duty of every sewerage undertaker to keep records of the location and other relevant particulars—

(a) of every public sewer [F1 , lateral drain] or disposal main which is vested in the undertaker;

(b) of every sewer [F2 or lateral drain] in relation to which a declaration of vesting has been made by the undertaker under Chapter II of Part IV of this Act but has not taken effect; and

(c) of every drain or sewer which is the subject of any agreement to make such a declaration which has been entered into by the undertaker under section 104 above.

(2) For the purposes of this section the relevant particulars of a drain, sewer or disposal main are (in addition to its location) particulars—

(a) of whether it is a drain, sewer or disposal main and of the descriptions of effluent for the conveyance of which it is or is to be used; and

(b) of whether it is vested in the undertaker or, if it is not, of whether it is a sewer in relation to which a declaration has been made under Chapter II of Part IV of this Act or a drain or sewer which is the subject of an agreement under section 104 above.

(3) The records kept by a sewerage undertaker under this section shall be kept separately in relation to the area of each local authority within whose area there is any drain, sewer or disposal main of which that undertaker is required to keep records and to whom the undertaker is required under section 200 below to provide copies of the contents of those records.

(4) It shall be the duty of every sewerage undertaker to secure that the contents of all the records for the time being kept by it under this section are available, at all reasonable times, for inspection by the public free of charge at an office of the undertaker.

(5) Any information which is required under this section to be made available by a sewerage undertaker for inspection by the public shall be so made available in the form of a map.

(6) For the purpose of determining whether any failure to make a modification of any records kept under this section constitutes a breach of the duty imposed by subsection (1) above, that duty shall be taken to require any modification of the records to be made as soon as reasonably practicable after the completion of the works which make the modification necessary; and, where records kept under this section are modified, the date of the modification and of the completion of the works making the modification necessary shall be incorporated in the records.

(7) Nothing in this section shall require a sewerage undertaker to keep records of any particulars of a drain, sewer or disposal main laid before 1st September 1989 if—

(a) the undertaker does not know of, or have reasonable grounds for suspecting, the existence of the drain, sewer or disposal main; or

(b) it is not reasonably practicable for the undertaker to discover the course of the drain, sewer or disposal main and it has not done so.

(8) Nothing in this section shall require a sewerage undertaker, at any time before 1st September 1999, to keep records of any particulars of any such drain, sewer or disposal main laid before 1st September 1989 as would not be excluded from its records by virtue of subsection (7) above unless—

(a) those particulars were shown on 31st August 1989 on a map kept by a local authority under section 32 of the M1 Public Health Act 1936 (sewer maps); or

(b) it is a drain or sewer in relation to which a declaration of vesting, or an agreement to make such a declaration, has been made since 31st August 1989.

(9) The duties of a sewerage undertaker under this section shall be enforceable under section 18 above by the Secretary of State.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 199(1)(a) inserted (28.5.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 97(8)(a), 105(3); S.I. 2004/641, art. 4(b) (with Sch. 3 para. 7)

F2 Words in s. 199(1)(b) inserted (28.5.2004) by Water Act 2003 (c. 37), ss. 97(8)(b), 105(3); S.I. 2004/641, art. 4(b) (with Sch. 3 para. 7)

Marginal Citations

M1 1936 c. 49.