257.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), it shall be the duty of every water undertaker to keep records of the location of—
(a)every resource main, water main or discharge pipe which is for the time being vested in that undertaker; and
(b)any other underground works, other than a service pipe, which are for the time being vested in that undertaker.
(2) Subject to paragraph (6), it shall also be the duty of every water undertaker to keep records of the location and other relevant particulars of—
(a)every water main in relation to which a declaration of vesting has been made by the undertaker under Chapter II of Part IV but has not taken effect; and
(b)every water main which is the subject of any agreement to make such a declaration which has been entered into by (or on behalf of) the undertaker.
(3) For the purposes of this Article the other relevant particulars of a water main are (in addition to its location) particulars of whether it is a water main in relation to which a declaration has been made under Chapter II of Part IV or a water main which is the subject of an agreement to make such a declaration.
(4) It shall be the duty of every water undertaker to secure that the contents of any records for the time being kept by it under this Article are available, at all reasonable times, for inspection by the public free of charge at an office of the undertaker.
(5) Any information which is required under this Article to be made available by a water undertaker for inspection by the public shall be so made available in the form of a map.
(6) For the purpose of determining whether any failure to make a modification of any records kept under this Article constitutes a breach of the duty imposed by paragraph (1) or (2), that duty shall be taken to require any modification of the records to be made as soon as reasonably practicable after the completion of the works which make the modification necessary; and, where records kept under this Article are modified, the date of the modification and of the completion of the works making the modification necessary shall be incorporated in the records.
(7) Nothing in this Article shall require a water undertaker, at any time before the tenth anniversary of the transfer date, to keep records of—
(a)any pipe which was laid before the transfer date; or
(b)any underground works which were completed before the transfer date,
unless those particulars were shown on the day before the transfer date on a map kept by the Department under Article 48 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 (NI 2) (maps of underground works).
(8) The duties of a water undertaker under this Article shall be enforceable under Article 30 by the Department.
(9) In this Article “discharge pipe” has the same meaning as in Part VIII.