Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 (repealed 1.1.1993)

Provisions relating to code-regulated works: consents, liability of undertakers for damage, etc., and minor amendments E+W+S

17 Exclusion or restriction of requirements of consent as to certain code-regulated works. E+W+S

(1) Undertakers may, without obtaining any consent to which this subsection applies, execute in a [F1 maintainable highway][F1 public road] any code-regulated works which they would be entitled to execute therein with that consent, other than—

(a) works above the surface level of the [F2 highway][F2 road]; and

(b) in the case of undertakers in relation to whom limits of supply are prescribed, works outside their limits of supply.

This subsection applies to any consent of any of the following authorities, bodies and persons which apart from this subsection they or he would have been entitled in the following capacity to require the undertakers to obtain, that is to say any consent—

(i) of the [F3 highway][F3 roads] authority as such or

(ii) of any transport authority, or any bridge authority or managers, who are an authority or managers concerned within the meaning of the street works code, in the capacity which renders them an authority or managers so concerned,

except a consent under [F4 section 20 or section 22 of the M1 Highways Act 1980][F5 section 133 or 135 of the M2 Roads (Scotland) Act 1984], and except that, as regards a consent as to which an order under paragraph 3 of the Sixth Schedule to this Act has effect, this subsection shall have effect subject to the provisions of the order.

(2) All enactments passed or made before the passing of this Act which require the obtaining of consents which the preceding subsection renders not requisite, whether being public general enactments or special enactments, shall cease to have effect in so far as they so require, and no enactment passed after the passing of this Act shall be construed as requiring the obtaining of any such consent unless the contrary intention appears therein, and accordingly—

(a) the provisions specified in the Fifth Schedule to this Act as being consequential on this section (being provisions for the express modification of public general enactments therein specified in accordance with the preceding general provisions of this subsection) shall have effect as regards code-regulated works, so however that the said provisions of that Schedule shall not apply for the purposes of the operation of any of those enactments as incorporated or applied in or by a special enactment with any modification; and

(b) paragraph 1 of the Sixth Schedule to this Act shall have effect as to making provision for the express modification, in accordance with the preceding general provisions of this subsection, of special enactments and of public general enactments for the purposes of their operation as incorporated or applied as aforesaid.

(3) Subject to any order under paragraph 4 of the Sixth Schedule to this Act, a provision made by way of condition imposed on the giving of a consent for the execution of code-regulated works shall be of no effect in so far as it would have been so by virtue of the last preceding section or of section twenty-five of this Act if it had been made by an agreement.

(4) The fact that a [F6 street][F6 roads] authority have given, as to works proposed to be executed in a [F7 street][F7 road], a consent requisite on the basis of their being executed in the [F7 street][F7 road] shall not prejudice the right conferred on the authority by subsection (1) of section five of this Act (as to disapproving or modifying a plan and section on the ground that works ought to be executed in controlled land).

(5) A consent obtained for the purposes of [F8 section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989], to the placing of an electric line of which a plan and section have been the subject of a declaration by an [F9 arbitrator][F9 arbiter] under subsection (7) of section four of this Act shall be deemed to extend to the placing of any such line of which another plan and section are submitted in exercise of the right in that behalf reserved to the undertakers by that subsection.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words “public road” substituted (S.) for words “maintainable highway” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(a)(i)

F2 Word “road” substituted (S.) for word “highway” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(a)(ii)

F3 Word “roads” substituted (S.) for word “highway” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(a)(iii)

F4 Words substituted (E.W.) by virtue of Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30, SIF 115:1), s. 17(2)(a)

F5 Words “section 133 or 135 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984” substituted (S.) for words “section four or section six of the Special Roads Act 1949” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(a)(iv)

F6 Word “roads” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(b)

F7 Word “road” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(b)

F8 Words substituted by Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29, SIF 44:1), s. 112(1)(3), Sch. 16 para. 7, Sch. 17 paras. 33, 35(1)

F9 Word “arbiter” substituted (S.) for word “arbitrator” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(16)(c)

Marginal Citations

M1 1980 c. 66(59).

M2 1984 c. 54(108).

18 Liabilities of undertakers to street and bridge authorities or managers. E+W+S

(1) If by the execution lawfully of code-regulated works in a [F10 street][F10 road] damage is caused to property of the [F11 street][F11 roads] authority or [F10 street][F10 road] managers in the [F10 street][F10 road], or, in the case of such works in a [F10 street][F10 road] which is carried by or goes under a bridge, to the bridge, the undertakers shall pay compensation to the [F11 street][F11 roads] authority or managers, or to the bridge authority or managers, equal to the expense reasonably incurred by them of making good the damage to that property or to the bridge, as the case may be:

Provided that undertakers shall not be liable by virtue of this subsection in respect of any damage if it would not have been sustained but for misconduct or negligence on the part of the authority or managers or their contractors or any person in the employ of the authority or managers or their contractors.

(2) If any nuisance is caused—

(a) by the execution of code-regulated works, or

(b) by explosion, ignition or discharge of, or any other event occurring to, gas, electricity, water or any other thing required for the purposes of a supply or service afforded by any undertakers which at the time of or immediately before the event in question was in apparatus of those undertakers the placing or maintenance of which was or is a code-regulated work, or which had been in such apparatus before the time of that event and had escaped therefrom in circumstances which contributed to its occurrence.

nothing in the enactment which confers the relevant power to which section one of this Act applies or in any enactment which regulates the exercise of that power, and, if the works or the apparatus, as the case may be, are in controlled land, nothing in the relevant authorisation given under the First Schedule to this Act, shall exonerate the undertakers from any action or other proceeding at the suit either—

(i) of the [F12 street][F12 roads] authority or [F13 street][F13 road] managers, or

(ii) if the works or the apparatus, as the case may be, are in a [F13 street][F13 road] which is carried by or goes under a bridge, of the bridge authority or managers.

(3) The preceding provisions of this section shall not confer any rights on a transport authority (as to whom the provisions of the next succeeding section shall have effect to the exclusion of the preceding provisions of this section).

(4) Subject to the provisions of section thirty-two of this Act the preceding provisions of this section shall not exonerate undertakers from any liability to which they are subject apart from the preceding provisions of this section, whether to a [F14 street authority or street][F14 roads authority or road] managers, to a bridge authority or managers or to any other person.

Textual Amendments

F10 Word “road” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(17)(a)

F11 Word “roads” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(17)(a)

F12 Word “roads” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(17)(b)

F13 Word “road” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(17)(b)

F14 Words “roads authority or road” substituted (S.) for words “street authority or street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(7)(c)

19 Liabilities of undertakers to transport authorities. E+W+S

(1) If either—

(a) by the execution of code-regulated works in a [F15 street][F15 road] which is carried by or goes under a bridge vested in a transport authority or which crosses or is crossed by other property held or used for the purposes of a transport undertaking, or

(b) by any such event as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of the last preceding section occurring as therein mentioned in a case in which the apparatus in question is in such a [F15 street][F15 road] as aforesaid,

damage is caused to the bridge or other property, or flooding or other obstruction thereof is caused, the undertakers shall indemnify the transport authority against expense reasonably incurred by them of making good the damage or removing the obstruction, and against any loss sustained by them in respect of interference with traffic resulting directly from the damage or obstruction:

Provided that undertakers shall not be liable by virtue of this subsection in respect of any damage or obstruction if it would not have been sustained or have occurred but for misconduct or negligence on the part of the authority or their contractors or any person in the employ of the authority or their contractors.

(2) Undertakers having power to maintain apparatus the maintenance of which is a code-regulated work, and which is in such a [F16 street][F16 road] as aforesaid, shall secure that the apparatus is maintained to the reasonable satisfaction of the transport authority and shall afford reasonable facilities to the authority for ascertaining that it is so maintained.

If the undertakers fail to give to the authority facilities which they are required by this subsection to give, the authority may execute such works as may be needed for enabling them to inspect the apparatus, including any necessary breaking up or opening of the [F16 street][F16 road], and, if the undertakers fail to secure that the apparatus is maintained in accordance with this subsection, the authority may execute any emergency works rendered necessary by the failure, including as aforesaid, and the undertakers shall pay to the authority an amount equal to the cost reasonably incurred by the authority of executing any such works; and—

(a) subsection (5) of section ten of this Act (as to obligations and liabilities of a transport authority executing works) shall have effect in relation to any such works executed by the authority as it has effect in relation to works executed under subsection (3) of that section, but so as to include (notwithstanding anything in proviso (a) to the said subsection (5) the obligations and liabilities as to reinstating and making good imposed by subsection (2) of section seven of this Act;

(b) as soon as is reasonably practicable after beginning any such works the authority shall give to each of the authorities or managers concerned within the meaning of the [F16 street][F16 road] works code, and, if the works are in a [F16 street][F16 road] which is [F17 prospectively a maintainable highway][F17 a prospective public road], to the [F16 street][F16 road] managers also, a notice stating the general nature of the works which they have executed and propose to execute.

(3) Subject to the provisions of section thirty-two of this Act, the preceding provisions of this section shall not exonerate undertakers from any liability to which they are subject apart from the preceding provisions of this section, whether to a transport authority or to any other authority, body or person.

[F18 X1 (4) Where undertakers are required by a transport authority to give an indemnity by virtue of subsection (1) of this section against damage [F19 suffered by the authority as a result of a tort], in respect of which another person would if sued by the authority be liable as a tortfeasor, but in respect of which the undertakers are not so liable, the undertakers shall have the like right to recover contribution from that other person under [F20 section 1 of the M3 Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978] as if the undertakers had been so liable.]

[F18 X1 (4) Where undertakers are required by a transport authority to give an indemnity by virtue of subsection (1) of this section against loss or damage, within the meaning of the M4 Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1940, in respect of which another person would if sued by the authority be liable in respect of a wrongful act or negligent act or omission, but in respect of which the undertakers are not so liable, the undertakers shall have the like right to recover contribution from that other person under section 3 of that Act as if the undertakers had been so liable.]

Editorial Information

X1 S. 19(4) commencing “Where undertakers are required by a transport authority to give an indemnity by virtue of subsection (1) of this section against loss” substituted (S.) for s. 19(4) commencing “Where undertakers are required by a transport authority to give an indemnity by virtue of subsection (1) of this section against damage” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(18)(c)

Textual Amendments

F15 Word “road” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(18)(a)

F16 By Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(18)(b)(i) that in s. 19, as applying to Scotland, in subsection (2) for the word “street” wherever it occurs there is substituted the word “road”

F17 Words “a prospective public road” substituted (S.) for words “prospectively a maintainable highway” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(18)(b)(ii)

F18 S. 19(4) commencing “Where undertakers are required by a transport authority to give an indemnity by virtue of subsection (1) of this section against loss” substituted (S.) for s. 19(4) commencing “Where undertakers are required by a transport authority to give an indemnity by virtue of subsection (1) of this section against damage” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(18)(c)

F19 Words substituted for words “within the meaning of the Law Reform (Married Women and Tortfeasors) Act 1935” by Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 (c. 47, SIF 122:3), Sch. 1 para. 2(a)

F20 Words substituted for words “section six of that Act” by Civil Liability (Contributions) Act 1978 (c. 47, SIF 122:3), Sch. 1 para. 2(b)

Marginal Citations

M3 1978 c. 47(122:3).

M4 1940 c. 42(122:3).

20 Amendments consequential on enactment of the street works code. E+W+S

(1), (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F21

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F22 in like manner any special legislation imposing any like requirement which is in any case incapable of being complied with shall not have effect in that case as concerns undertakers’ works in a [F23 street][F23 road].

(4) The provisions specified in the Fifth Schedule to this Act as being consequential on this section (being provisions for certain minor amendments of public general enactments consequential on the enactment of the street works code) shall have effect.

Textual Amendments

F21 S. 20(1)(2) repealed by Telecommunications Act 1984 (c. 12, SIF 96), s. 109, Sch. 7 Pt. I

F22 Words repealed by Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29, SIF 44:1), s. 112(3)(4), Sch. 17 para. 35(1), Sch. 18

F23 Word “road” substituted (S.) for word “street” by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), Sch. 9 para. 39(19)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 The text of s. 20(4) is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991.