Capital Allowances Act 2001

Chapter 2 Industrial buildings

Buildings in use for the purposes of a qualifying trade

274 Trades and undertakings which are “qualifying trades”

(1) “Qualifying trade” means—

(a) a trade of a kind described in Table A, or

(b) an undertaking of a kind described in Table B, if the undertaking is carried on by way of trade.

Table A

Trades which are “qualifying trades”

1.	Manufacturing	A trade consisting of manufacturing goods or materials.
2.	Processing	A trade consisting of subjecting goods or materials to a process.
		This includes (subject to section 276(3)) maintaining or repairing goods or materials.
3.	Storage	A trade consisting of storing goods or materials— (a) which are to be used in the manufacture of other goods or materials, (b) which are to be subjected, in the course of a trade, to a process, (c) which, having been manufactured or produced or subjected, in the course of a trade, to a process, have not yet been delivered to any purchaser, or (d) on their arrival in the United Kingdom from a place outside the United Kingdom.
4.	Agricultural contracting	A trade consisting of— (a) ploughing or cultivating land occupied by another, (b) carrying out any other agricultural operation on land occupied by another, or (c) threshing another’s crops.
		For this purpose “crops” includes vegetable produce.
5.	Working foreign plantations	A trade consisting of working land outside the United Kingdom used for— (a) growing and harvesting crops, (b) husbandry, or (c) forestry.
For this purpose “crops” includes vegetable produce and “harvesting crops” includes the collection of vegetable produce (however effected).
6.	Fishing	A trade consisting of catching or taking fish or shellfish.
7.	Mineral extraction	A trade consisting of working a source of mineral deposits.“Mineral deposits” includes any natural deposits capable of being lifted or extracted from the earth, and for this purpose geothermal energy is to be treated as a natural deposit.“Source of mineral deposits” includes a mine, an oil well and a source of geothermal energy.

Table B

Undertakings which are “qualifying trades” if carried on by way of trade

1.	Electricity	An undertaking for the generation, transformation, conversion, transmission or distribution of electrical energy.
2.	Water	An undertaking for the supply of water for public consumption.
3.	Hydraulic power	An undertaking for the supply of hydraulic power.
4.	Sewerage	An undertaking for the provision of sewerage services within the meaning of the Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56).
5.	Transport	A transport undertaking.
6.	Highway undertakings	A highway undertaking, that is, so much of any undertaking relating to the design, building, financing and operation of roads as is carried on— (a) for the purposes of, or (b) in connection with, the exploitation of highway concessions.
7.	Tunnels	A tunnel undertaking.
8.	Bridges	A bridge undertaking.
9.	Inland navigation	An inland navigation undertaking.
10.	Docks	A dock undertaking.
		A dock includes— (a) any harbour, and (b) any wharf, pier, jetty or other works in or at which vessels can ship or unship merchandise or passengers, other than a pier or jetty primarily used for recreation.

(2) Item 6 of Table B needs to be read with Chapter 9 (application of this Part to highway undertakings).

275 Building used for welfare of workers

A building is in use for the purposes of a qualifying trade if it is—

(a) provided by the person carrying on the qualifying trade for the welfare of workers employed in that qualifying trade, and

(b) in use for the welfare of such workers.

276 Parts of trades and undertakings

(1) Sections 274 and 275 apply in relation to part of a trade or undertaking as they apply in relation to a trade or undertaking.

But this is subject to subsections (2) and (3).

(2) If—

(a) a building is in use for the purpose of a trade or undertaking, and

(b) part only of the trade or undertaking is a qualifying trade,

the building is in use for the purposes of the qualifying trade only if it is in use for the purposes of that part of the trade or undertaking.

(3) Maintaining or repairing goods or materials is not a qualifying trade if—

(a) the goods or materials are employed in a trade or undertaking,

(b) the maintenance or repair is carried out by the person employing the goods or materials, and

(c) the trade or undertaking is not itself a qualifying trade.

277 Exclusion of dwelling-houses, retail shops, showrooms, hotels and offices etc.

(1) A building is not in use for the purposes of a qualifying trade if it is in use as, or as part of, or for any purpose ancillary to the purposes of—

(a) a dwelling-house;

(b) a retail shop, or premises of a similar character where a retail trade or business (including repair work) is carried on;

(c) a showroom;

(d) a hotel;

(e) an office.

(2) Subsection (3) is about buildings constructed for occupation by, or for the welfare of persons employed—

(a) on, or in connection with, working land outside the United Kingdom which is used as described in item 5 of Table A in section 274 (foreign plantations), or

(b) at, or in connection with, working a source of mineral deposits as defined in item 7 of Table A (mineral extraction).

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to a building which this subsection is about if the building—

(a) is likely to be of little or no value to the person carrying on the trade when the land or source is no longer worked, or

(b) will cease to be owned by that person on the ending of a foreign concession under which the land or source is worked.

(4) “Foreign concession” means a right or privilege granted by the government of, or any municipality or other authority in, a territory outside the United Kingdom.

(5) Subsection (1) is subject to section 283 (non-industrial part of building disregarded).

278 Building used by more than one licensee

A building used by more than one licensee of the same person is not in use for the purposes of a qualifying trade unless each licensee uses it, or the part to which the licence relates, for the purposes of a qualifying trade.

Qualifying hotels and sports pavilions

279 Qualifying hotels

(1) A hotel is a qualifying hotel if the following conditions are met—

(a) the accommodation in the hotel is in a building of a permanent nature,

(b) the hotel is open for at least 4 months during April to October, and

(c) when the hotel is open during April to October—

(i) it has 10 or more letting bedrooms,

(ii) the sleeping accommodation it offers consists wholly or mainly of letting bedrooms, and

(iii) the services provided for guests normally include the provision of breakfast and an evening meal, the making of beds and the cleaning of rooms.

(2) Whether a hotel meets the conditions in subsection (1)(b) and (c) at any time in a chargeable period is to be determined by reference to the period given under subsections (3) to (5) (“the reference period”).

(3) If the hotel was in use for the purposes of a trade carried on by—

(a) the person claiming the allowance, or

(b) a lessee occupying the hotel under a lease to which the relevant interest is reversionary,

throughout the 12 month period ending with the last day of the chargeable period, the reference period is that 12 month period.

(4) If the hotel was first used for the purposes of a trade carried on as described in subsection (3) after the beginning of the 12 month period referred to there, the reference period is the 12 month period beginning with the date on which it was first so used.

(5) If a hotel does not qualify under subsection (3) because it had fewer than 10 letting bedrooms until too late a date, the reference period is the 12 month period beginning with the date when it had 10 or more letting bedrooms.

(6) A hotel is not to be treated as meeting the conditions in subsection (1)(b) and (c) at any time in a chargeable period after it has ceased altogether to be used.

(7) A building (whether or not on the same site as any other part of the hotel) which is—

(a) provided by the person carrying on the trade for the welfare of workers employed in the hotel, and

(b) in use for the welfare of such workers,

is to be treated for the purposes of this section as part of the hotel.

(8) If a qualifying hotel is carried on by an individual (alone or in partnership), accommodation which, when the hotel is open during April to October, is normally used as a dwelling by—

(a) that individual, or

(b) a member of his family or household,

is to be treated for the purposes of this section as not being part of the hotel.

(9) In this section—

• “building” does not include a structure, and

• “letting bedroom” means a private bedroom available for letting to the public generally and not normally in the same occupation for more than one month.

280 Qualifying sports pavilions

A building is a qualifying sports pavilion if it is—

(a) occupied by a person carrying on a trade, and

(b) used as a sports pavilion for the welfare of all or any of the workers employed in that trade.

Commercial buildings (enterprise zones)

281 Commercial buildings (enterprise zones)

For the purposes of this Part as it applies in relation to qualifying enterprise zone expenditure, “commercial building” means a building which is used—

(a) for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation, or

(b) as an office or offices (whether or not for the purposes of a trade, profession or vocation),

and which is not in use as, or as part of, a dwelling-house.

Supplementary provisions

282 Buildings outside the United Kingdom

A building outside the United Kingdom which is in use for the purposes of a trade is not an industrial building at any time when the profits of the trade are not assessable in accordance with the rules applicable to Case I of Schedule D.

283 Non-industrial part of building disregarded

(1) This section applies if, apart from this section, but taking into account section 571 (parts of buildings etc.)—

(a) part of a building would be an industrial building, and

(b) part (“the non-industrial part”) would not.

(2) If the qualifying expenditure relating to the non-industrial part is no more than 25% of the qualifying expenditure relating to the whole of the building, the whole of the building is an industrial building.

284 Roads on industrial estates etc.

(1) A road on an industrial estate is an industrial building if the estate consists wholly or mainly of buildings that are treated under this Part as industrial buildings.

(2) For the purposes of this Part as it applies in relation to qualifying enterprise zone expenditure, “industrial estate” includes an area (such as a business park) which consists wholly or mainly of commercial buildings.

285 Cessation of use and temporary disuse of building

For the purposes of this Part—

(a) a building is not to be regarded as ceasing altogether to be used merely because it falls temporarily out of use, and

(b) if a building is an industrial building immediately before a period of temporary disuse, it is to be treated as being an industrial building during the period of temporary disuse.