Search Legislation

New Roads and Street Works Act 1991

 Help about what version

What Version

 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

Changes over time for: Cross Heading: Duties and liabilities of undertakers with respect to apparatus

 Help about opening options

Status:

This version of this cross heading contains provisions that are prospective. Help about Status

Close

Status

The term provision is used to describe a definable element in a piece of legislation that has legislative effect – such as a Part, Chapter or section. A version of a provision is prospective either:

  1. where the provision (Part, Chapter or section) has never come into force or;
  2. where the text of the provision is subject to change, but no date has yet been appointed by the appropriate person or body for those changes to come into force.

Commencement Orders listed in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ box as not yet applied may bring this prospective version into force.

Changes to legislation:

New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, Cross Heading: Duties and liabilities of undertakers with respect to apparatus is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 29 March 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.

View outstanding changes

Changes and effects yet to be applied to Part IV Crossheading Duties-and-liabilities-of-undertakers-with-respect-to-apparatus:

Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act associated Parts and Chapters:

Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):

Duties and liabilities of undertakers with respect to apparatusS

Prospective

138 Records of location of apparatus.S

(1)An undertaker shall, except in such cases as may be prescribed, record the location of every item of apparatus belonging to him as soon as reasonably practicable after—

(a)placing it in the road or altering its position,

(b)locating it in the road in the course of executing any other works, or

(c)being informed of its location under section 139 below,

stating the nature of the apparatus and (if known) whether it is for the time being in use.

(2)The records shall be kept up to date and shall be kept in such form and manner as may be prescribed.

(3)An undertaker shall make his records available for inspection, at all reasonable hours and free of charge, by any person having authority to execute works of any description in the road or otherwise appearing to the undertaker to have a sufficient interest.

(4)If an undertaker fails to comply with his duties under this section—

(a)he commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F1level 5] on the standard scale; and

(b)he is liable to compensate any person in respect of damage or loss incurred by him in consequence of the failure.

(5)In criminal or civil proceedings arising out of any such failure it is a defence for the undertaker to show that all reasonable care was taken by him, and by his contractors and by persons in his employ or that of his contractors, to secure that no such failure occurred.

(6)An order under section 161 (power to make consequential amendments, repeals, &c.) relating to an enactment or instrument containing provision for the keeping of records of apparatus which appears to the Secretary of State to be superseded by or otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of this section—

(a)shall not be subject to the procedure provided for in Schedule 7, and

(b)may make such transitional and other provision as appears to the Secretary of State appropriate for applying in relation to records compiled under that enactment or instrument the provisions of subsections (2) to (5) above and section 139 below.

Textual Amendments

Prospective

139 Duty to inform undertakers of location of apparatus.S

(1)A person executing works of any description in the road who finds apparatus belonging to an undertaker which is not marked, or is wrongly marked, on the records made available by the undertaker, shall take such steps as are reasonably practicable to inform the undertaker to whom the apparatus belongs of its location and (so far as appears from external inspection) its nature and whether it is in use.

(2)Where a person executing works of any description in the road finds apparatus which does not belong to him and is unable, after taking such steps as are reasonably practicable, to ascertain to whom the apparatus belongs, he shall—

(a)if he is an undertaker, note on the records kept by him under section 138(1) (in such manner as may be prescribed) the location of the apparatus he has found and its general description; and

(b)in any other case, inform the road works authority of the location and general description of the apparatus he has found.

(3)Subsections (1) and (2) have effect subject to such exceptions as may be prescribed.

(4)A person who fails to comply with subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F2level 4] on the standard scale.

Textual Amendments

140 Duty to maintain apparatus.S

(1)An undertaker having apparatus in the road shall secure that the apparatus is maintained to the reasonable satisfaction of—

(a)the road works authority, as regards the safety and convenience of persons using the road (having regard, in particular, to the needs of people with a disability), the structure of the road and the integrity of apparatus of the authority in the road, and

(b)any other relevant authority, as regards any land, structure or apparatus of theirs;

and he shall afford reasonable facilities to each such authority for ascertaining whether it is so maintained.

(2)For this purpose maintenance means the carrying out of such works as are necessary to keep the apparatus in efficient working condition (including periodic renewal where appropriate); and includes works rendered necessary by other works in the road, other than major works for road purposes, major bridge works or major transport works (as to which, see sections 143 and 144 below).

(3)If an undertaker fails to give a relevant authority the facilities required by this section—

(a)the road works authority may in such cases as may be prescribed, and

(b)any other relevant authority may in any case,

execute such works as are needed to enable them to inspect the apparatus in question, including any necessary breaking up or opening of the road.

(4)If an undertaker fails to secure that apparatus is maintained to the reasonable satisfaction of a relevant authority in accordance with this section—

(a)the road works authority may in such cases as may be prescribed, and

(b)any other relevant authority may in any case,

execute any emergency works needed in consequence of the failure.

(5)The provisions of this Part apply in relation to works executed by a relevant authority under subsection (3) or (4) as if they were executed by the undertaker; and the undertaker shall indemnify the authority in respect of the costs reasonably incurred by them in executing the works.

(6)A relevant authority who execute or propose to execute any works under subsection (3) or (4) shall give notice to any other relevant authority as soon as reasonably practicable stating the general nature of the works.

(7)Nothing in subsection (3) or (4) shall be construed as excluding any other means of securing compliance with the duties imposed by subsection (1).

Commencement Information

I1S. 140 wholly in force: s. 140(1)(2)(5)-(7) in force at 1.1.1993, see s. 170 and S.I. 1992/2990, art. 2(2), Sch. 2; s. 140(3)(4) in force at 14.7.1992 by S. I. 1992/1671, art. 2, Sch.

141 Liability for damage or loss caused.S

(1)An undertaker shall compensate—

(a)the road works authority or any other relevant authority in respect of any damage or loss suffered by the authority in their capacity as such, and

(b)any other person having apparatus in the road in respect of any expense reasonably incurred in making good damage to that apparatus,

as a result of the execution by the undertaker of road works or any event of a kind mentioned in subsection (2) below.

(2)The events referred to in subsection (1) are any explosion, ignition, discharge or other event occurring to gas, electricity, water or other thing required for the purposes of a supply or service afforded by an undertaker which—

(a)at the time of or immediately before the event in question was in apparatus of the undertaker in the road, or

(b)had been in such apparatus before that event and had escaped therefrom in circumstances which contributed to its occurrence.

(3)The liability of an undertaker under this section arises—

(a)whether or not the damage or loss is attributable to negligence on his part or on the part of any person for whom he is responsible, and

(b)notwithstanding that he is acting in pursuance of a statutory duty.

(4)However, his liability under this section does not extend to damage or loss which is attributable to misconduct or negligence on the part of—

(a)the person suffering the damage or loss, or any person for whom he is responsible, or

(b)a third party, that is, a person for whom neither the undertaker nor the person suffering the damage or loss is responsible.

(5)For the purposes of this section the persons for whom a person is responsible are his contractors and any person in his employ or that of his contractors.

(6)Nothing in this section shall be taken as exonerating an undertaker from any liability to which he would otherwise be subject.

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

You have chosen to open The Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open the Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open Schedules only

The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources