31.—(1) An undertaker executing street works shall in reinstating the street comply with such requirements as may be prescribed as to the specification of materials to be used and the standards of workmanship to be observed.
(2) He shall also ensure that the reinstatement conforms to such performance standards as may be prescribed—
(a)in the case of interim reinstatement, until permanent reinstatement is effected, and
(b)in the case of permanent reinstatement, for the prescribed period after the completion of the reinstatement.
This obligation is extended in certain cases and restricted in others by the provisions of Article 33 as to cases where a reinstatement is affected by subsequent works.
(3) The Department may issue or approve for the purposes of this Article codes of practice giving practical guidance as to the matters mentioned in paragraphs (1) and (2); and regulations made for the purposes of this Article may provide that—
(a)so far as an undertaker complies with such a code of practice he shall be taken to comply with his duties under this Article, and
(b)a failure in any respect to comply with any such code is evidence of failure in that respect to comply with those duties.
(4) An undertaker who fails to comply with his duties under this Article commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F1level 5] on the standard scale.
F1Words in art. 31(4) substituted (1.10.2007) by Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/287 (N.I. 1)), arts. 1(3), 25(2)(i) (with art. 25(5)); S.R. 2007/365, art. 2, Sch.