Section 40 – Reports of inspections under section 39
124.Section 40 requires a report about the inspection to be completed by the officer who has inspected the object using the powers set out in section 39. Section 40(3) sets out the contents of the report, and where the object is seized the additional information set out in section 40(4) must also be included in the report. Section 40(5) requires a copy of the report to be attached to an object that has not been seized and if the officer cannot attach a copy of the report to the object, section 40(6) requires the officer to make an attempt to provide this report to whoever appears to be the owner of the object. Section 40(8)-(10) sets out the circumstances where the owner of the object should be served a copy of the report. Where the owner of the object cannot readily be identified, section 40(11) substitutes the requirement to serve a copy of the report on the owner of the object with a requirement to take reasonable steps to bring the report to the attention of anyone likely to have an interest in it.
