Energy Act 2013

109 Notices etc

(1) In this section references to a notice are to a notice or other document that is required or authorised to be given to any person under a relevant provision.

(2) A notice to the person must be in writing.

(3) A notice may be given by—

(a) delivering it to the person,

(b) leaving it at the person’s proper address,

(c) sending it by post to the person at that address, or

(d) in the case of a notice to be given to the owner or occupier of any premises (whether or not a body corporate), in accordance with subsection (9), (10) or (11).

(4) A notice may—

(a) in the case of a body corporate, be given in accordance with subsection (3) to a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, and

(b) in the case of a partnership, be given in accordance with subsection (3) to a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business or, in Scotland, the firm.

(5) For the purposes of this section and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the “proper address” is—

(a) in the case of a notice to be given to a body corporate or an officer of the body, the address of the registered or principal office of the body;

(b) in the case of a notice to be given to a partnership, a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business, the address of the principal office of the partnership;

(c) in any other case, the last known address of the person to whom the notice is to be given.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), the principal office of a company registered outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom is its principal office within the United Kingdom.

(7) Subsection (8) applies if—

(a) a person has specified an address in the United Kingdom as one at which the person, or someone on the person’s behalf, will accept documents of the same description as a notice, and

(b) the address so specified is not the person’s proper address (as determined under subsection (5)).

(8) The specified address is also to be treated as the person’s proper address for the purposes of this section and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 in its application to this section.

(9) A notice that is to be given to the owner or occupier of any premises may be given by—

(a) sending it by post to the person at those premises, or

(b) addressing it by name to the person and delivering it to some responsible person who is or appears to be resident or employed at the premises.

(10) If the name or address of an owner or occupier of premises cannot be ascertained after reasonable inquiry, a notice to the owner or occupier may be given by—

(a) addressing it by the description “owner” or “occupier” of the premises to which the notice relates (and describing the premises), and

(b) delivering it to some responsible person who is or appears to be resident or employed there.

(11) If there is no person as mentioned in subsection (10)(b), then the notice may be given by fixing it, or a copy of it, to some conspicuous part of the premises.

(12) This section is subject to provision made in regulations under this Part in respect of notices given under the regulations.

(13) In this section—

• “director”, in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate;

• “employed” has the same meaning as in the 1974 Act;

• “relevant provision” means any of the relevant statutory provisions other than a provision of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000;

and references to giving a notice include similar expressions (such as serving or sending).