Francis Taylor Building
2 Experts
3 Contributions by Francis Taylor Building Experts
PRACTICE NOTES
Maintenance
Every sewerage undertaker is under a duty to ensure its sewers and lateral drains are cleaned and kept in good order so that its area is, and continues to be, effectively drained. Section 79 of the Environment Act 2021, which will commence on a day appointed by regulations of the Secretary of State, places an obligation on undertakers to prepare, publish and maintain a drainage and sewerage management plan. Such a plan sets out how the undertaker will manage and develop its drainage and sewerage systems so that it is, and remains, able to meet its duties under Part IV of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA 1991).
Pending commencement, the Secretary of State has required undertakers to produce non-statutory plans in early 2023 as a planning tool for Ofwat’s 2024 Price Review covering 2025–30. Companies have been asked to assess present capacity and the
Environment
PRACTICE NOTES
A sewerage undertaker is the company named by the Secretary of State or Ofwat to act as the sewerage undertaker for the territory described in its instrument of appointment under section 11(1) of the Water Act 1989, as preserved by section 6(1) of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA 1991). The appointed undertaker may carry out its functions within the boundary depicted on the Sewerage Services Area Map attached to that instrument. Any dispute about the limits of an undertaker’s area is decided by Ofwat, in line with Condition A7 of the Instrument of Appointment. Within its area, the undertaker must provide sewerage services pursuant to its duty under WIA 1991, s 94. ‘Sewerage services’ covers the disposal of sewage and any other services that a sewerage undertaker is required to deliver for the purpose of fulfilling its
Environment
PRACTICE NOTES
Drains
A ‘drain’ is a system used to carry away wastewater from a single building, or from any buildings or yards appurtenant to buildings within the same curtilage. The term also extends to its accessories, for example:
manholes
pumps
(See the accessories definition below.) Whether something like a terrace constitutes ‘one building’ for these purposes is a matter of fact. ‘Curtilage’ means land so closely associated with a building that it forms part and parcel of it.
Lateral drains
A ‘lateral drain’ is the portion of a drain that runs from the curtilage of a building (or buildings or yards within the same curtilage) to the sewer with which the drain connects, or is intended to connect. Alternatively, where context makes a difference, it is the part of a drain specified in a declaration of vesting under section 102 of the Water Industry Act 1991, or in an
Environment
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