Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

65 Continuing requirements

(1) Building regulations may impose on owners and occupiers of buildings to which building regulations are applicable such continuing requirements as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for securing, with respect to any provision of building regulations designated in the regulations as a provision to which those requirements relate, that the purposes of that provision are not frustrated; but a continuing requirement imposed by virtue of this subsection shall not apply in relation to a building unless a provision of building regulations so designated as one to which the requirement relates applies to that building.

(2) Building regulations may impose on owners and occupiers of buildings of any prescribed class (whenever erected, and whether or not any building regulations were applicable to them at the time of their erection) continuing requirements with respect to all or any of the following matters, namely—

(a) the conditions subject to which any services, fittings or equipment provided in or in connection with any building of that class may be used;

(b) the inspection and maintenance of any services, fittings or equipment so provided ; and

(c) the making of reports to any prescribed authority on the condition of any services, fittings or equipment so provided;

and so much of section 62 of the 1936 Act as restricts the application of building regulations shall not apply to regulations made by virtue of this subsection.

(3) If a person contravenes a continuing requirement imposed by virtue of this section, the local authority, without prejudice to their right to take proceedings for a fine in respect of the contravention, may execute any work or take any other action required to remedy the contravention, and may recover from that person the expenses reasonably incurred by them in so doing.

(4) Where a local authority have power under the preceding subsection to execute any work or take any other action they may, instead of exercising that power, by notice require the owner or the occupier of the building to which the contravention referred to in that subsection relates to execute that work or take that action.

The provisions of Part XII of the 1936 Act with respect to appeals against, and the enforcement of, notices requiring the execution of works shall apply in relation to any notice given under this section, subject however to the modification that in those provisions references to the execution of works shall be construed as references to the execution of work or the taking of other action, and references to work shall be construed accordingly.

(5) The provisions of sections 6, 7 and 8 of the 1961 Act (power to dispense with or relax requirements in building regulations, and related provisions) shall have effect in relation to continuing requirements imposed by virtue of this section subject to the following modifications, that is to say—

(a) a direction under the said section 6 shall, if it so provides, cease to have effect at the end of such period as may be specified in the direction ; and

(b) in subsection (1) of the said section 7 (as amended by this Act), the reference to granting an application subject to conditions shall be read as including a reference to granting an application for a limited period.