Building and Developing
Regulation 5 - Notification
Legal compliance
From the 1st July 1999 the Government introduced the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, which superseded the previous Water Supplier Byelaws for England and Wales.
For many years the Water Supply Byelaws had been enforced by the local water undertaker to protect the public water supply from waste, misuse, undue consumption and contamination. As statutory instruments, the Regulations replaced the local byelaws with national legislation. The implementation of the Regulations has increased the profile of the subject, making the Secretary of State for the Environment accountable.
Under the current legislation, owners and occupiers of premises which have a public water supply connections and anyone who installs or alters such plumbing systems have a legal duty to comply with the Regulations. Failure to comply with the Regulations may result in prosecution as it is a criminal offence if you fail to do so.
Regulation 5 refers to the notification of intended work. Regulation 5 requires any person proposing to install new water systems (Non-domestic premises and/or to alter or extend a plumbing system) in connection with any of the operations listed in the Regulations, the installer must give prior notice of the planned work to the local water undertaker. No work shall begin without the Water Supplier’s consent which shall not be withheld unreasonably.