The Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992

15.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph and without prejudice to any other right of entry, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the land would be suitable for use for any purpose connected with the carrying on of the activities which the licence holder is authorised by his licence to carry on, a person authorised in writing by a licence holder may, at any reasonable time, enter the land for the purpose of survey and valuation.

(2) A person authorised to enter upon any land under this paragraph shall not demand to do so as of right unless—

(a) 14 days' notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier; and

(b) if required to do so, he has produced evidence of his authority.

(3) The powers conferred by this paragraph shall not be exercisable in relation to—

(a) land which is covered by a dwelling or will be so covered on the assumption that any planning permission which is in force is acted on; or

(b) land which is covered by a building (other than a dwelling) or will be so covered on the assumption that any planning permission which is in force is acted on except—

(i) with consent given by or on behalf of the occupier of the land; or

(ii) where the occupier has refused his consent, with the consent of the Department.

(4) The power to survey land conferred by this paragraph includes power to search and bore for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the subsoil; but works may not be carried out on the land for this purpose unless—

(a) notice of the proposed works is included in the notice given under sub-paragraph (2); and

(b) where land is held by statutory undertakers who object to the works on the ground that the carrying out of the works would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking, with the consent of the Department.

(5) In this paragraph—

• “building”, except in the definition of “dwelling”, includes any garden, yard, outhouses and appurtenances belonging to or usually enjoyed with a building;

• “dwelling” means a building or part of a building occupied, or (if not occupied) last occupied or intended to be occupied, as a private dwelling;

• “statutory undertakers” has the same meaning as in the [1991 NI 11] Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.