In London it is unlawful to erect or occupy a new building unless a drain has been provided to the satisfaction of the borough council, of such materials, size, level and gradient as the council may direct; such drain shall lead to a sewer if there is one within 100 feet of the building. It may be noted that this section of the Act says nothing about the sewer being “‘at a reasonable level”’, the intention clearly being that new buildings should be erected at such levels that drainage to a neighbouring sewer is possible from the lowest floor thereof.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Always ensure your building's lowest floor can drain into a nearby sewer.</Callout> When a house is to be rebuilt, after it has been pulled down to the level of the ground floor, its level must be raised if this is necessary for its drainage to the sewer, unless such a proposal would be impracticable, in which case the council may allow the installation of pumping or lifting appliances, or may allow part of the building to be so constructed that drainage is not required therefrom.<Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Consider raising the ground level if necessary for proper drainage.</Callout> If any existing building in London is without a sufficient drain, emptying into a sewer, and a sewer of sufficient size is within 100 feet of some part of the building and at a lower level than the building, the borough council can require the owner to construct such a drain to the sewer and to provide proper paved surfaces for carrying surface water to the drain, sinks, and other necessary apparatus.<Callout type="risk" title="Risk">Failure to comply with drainage requirements can result in fines or legal action.</Callout> If any building is without a sufficient drain and there is no sewer within 200 feet of the building, the council may require the owner, as a temporary measure, to construct a drain leading to a cesspool.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Temporary measures like cesspools are allowed but should be avoided if possible.</Callout> The Act is curiously silent as to what is to be done if there is a sewer within 200 feet of the building, but not within 100 feet.<Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Unclear legal provisions can lead to uncertainty and potential non-compliance issues.</Callout> Both in London and in the provinces the authority, on payment of the cost thereof, may undertake the connection of drains to sewers, or do any works of drainage on behalf of the owners of buildings.<Callout type="gear" title="Gear">Local authorities can fund and execute drainage work at their expense.</Callout> Maintenance of Drains and Sewers. We now turn to the subject of the maintenance of drains and sewers. Drains and private sewers are in all cases maintainable by their owners, whilst the local authority has the duty of maintaining public sewers; there are, however, some circumstances in which a provincial local authority can recover the cost of maintaining certain public sewers from the owners whose premises are served by those sewers.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Local authorities may recover maintenance costs under specific conditions.</Callout> As to sanitary accommodation, it is provided in the Public Health Act, 1936, that, where plans are submitted for a new building or the extension of a building, the authority shall reject the plans if these do not show sufficient and satisfactory closet accommodation and the authority do not consider it can be dispensed with; if there is a water supply and sewer available the authority can require the closets to be water-closets.<Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Ensure all new buildings have proper water-closet facilities.</Callout> In the case of existing buildings, if it appears to the authority that there are not sufficient closets, or that those which are provided are in an unfit state and cannot be made fit without reconstruction, they can require the owner to provide water-closets, if there is a water supply and sewer, and in other cases can require him to provide earth-closets.<Callout type="risk" title="Risk">Non-compliance with sanitary accommodation requirements can result in fines or legal action.</Callout> If the present appliances are unfit, but can be made fit without reconstruction, they can order him to do what is necessary. If the present accommodation is in satisfactory condition, but is not a water-closet and a water supply and sewer are available, the authority can require it to be replaced by a water-closet but must bear half the cost of the conversion.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Local authorities may require conversion to water-closets with partial funding.</Callout> All factories, workshops and workplaces must have sufficient sanitary accommodation with proper separation of the sexes. In connection with this, the Home Office has issued an order under the Factory Acts defining adequate accommodation as meaning one closet for every 25 women employed; for men, one for every 25 employed up to 100, and beyond that figure one for every 40 men, if in addition sufficient urinals are provided.<Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Ensure factories have adequate sanitary facilities.</Callout> In large works, where more than 500 men are employed, the number of closets may be reduced to one for every 40 men if a proper system of control is adopted and urinals are also provided.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Properly controlled factories can reduce sanitary accommodation requirements.</Callout> No room, any part of which is over a closet (other than a water-closet or earth-closet) or over a cesspool or ashpit, shall be occupied as a living-room, sleeping-room or workroom.<Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Rooms above toilets can pose health risks and should not be used for living or working.</Callout> The occupier of every building in which there is a water-closet shall cause the flushing apparatus to be kept supplied with water and protected from frost; in a building which has an earth-closet it shall be kept supplied with dry earth or other suitable deodorant.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Proper maintenance of sanitary facilities is crucial.</Callout> When plans are deposited for the erection or extension of a building and the site has been filled in, or covered with, material impregnated by offensive animal or vegetable matter, the authority shall reject the plans unless they are satisfied that the material has been removed or has become innocuous. The person who deposited the plans has the right to appeal to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction against their rejection.<Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Ensure all construction materials are free from offensive substances.</Callout> The authority may require the owner to pave and drain any court, yard or passage which gives access to any house or joint access to two or more houses. The authority may require any leaking or overflowing cesspool to be remedied by the person in default.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Local authorities can enforce repairs to cesspools.</Callout> A parish council, or a local authority, may deal with any pool, ditch, gutter or place containing filth, stagnant water or other matter likely to be prejudicial to health, by draining, cleansing or covering it, provided they do not interfere with any private right or with any public drainage, sewerage or sewage disposal works, and may execute any incidental works. This power does not in any way prejudice the right of the local authority to take action if it is a statutory nuisance.<Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Local authorities can act on nuisances but must respect private rights.</Callout> Culverting of Streams Require Approval by Local Authority. No person shall culvert any stream except in accordance with plans and sections approved by the authority, but such approval shall not unreasonably be withheld and there is the usual right of appeal to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction against the authority’s requirements.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Culverting requires official approval.</Callout> The owner or occupier of any land shall maintain and cleanse any culvert in such land. The authority may, if they think fit, contribute the whole or part of the expenses incurred on works in connection with the above-mentioned provisions relating to water-courses, culverts, etc., or may, by agreement with the owner or occupier, execute such works.<Callout type="gear" title="Gear">Local authorities can fund and execute work related to water-courses.</Callout> Collection and Disposal of House Refuse. We now come to the subject of the collection and disposal of refuse, street cleansing and similar matters. Under the Public Health Act, 1936, a local authority may, and if required by the Minister shall, perform any or all of the following services: (a) The removal of house refuse; (b) the cleansing of earth-closets, privies, ashpits and cesspools. If they have undertaken any of these duties and fail to perform them within seven days of a notice from the occupier of any premises, the occupier may recover a sum of five shillings per day during such default.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Local authorities must remove house refuse if required.</Callout> When an authority have undertaken the duty of removing house refuse they may make by-laws imposing duties on the occupiers for facilitating the collection, requiring the use of bins provided by the authority and regulating the use of the bins. If they have not undertaken that duty they may make by-laws requiring occupiers to remove their refuse at specified intervals and to cleanse their earth-closets, privies, ashpits and cesspools.<Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Ensure proper disposal of household waste.</Callout> A local authority may, but cannot be compelled to, undertake the removal of trade refuse; if they do so they must make a charge. Where they have undertaken the duty and fail to fulfil it, after seven days’ notice, the occupier may recover the sum of five shillings per day during the default.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Local authorities can be fined for failing to remove trade refuse.</Callout> Any dispute as to whether any particular refuse is house or trade refuse, or as to the reasonableness of their charges for removing the latter, shall be determined by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.<Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Disputes over refuse classification can lead to legal action.</Callout> It may be noted here that the Superior Courts have held that the question of whether any particular refuse is house or trade refuse depends, not on the nature of the premises from which it is collected, but on the nature of the refuse itself. Thus, if the refuse is of a kind ordinarily removed from dwellings, it is house refuse even if produced on trade premises.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Refuse classification is based on its nature, not origin.</Callout> An authority who undertake the removal of house refuse may, by notice, require the owner or occupier of any buildings to provide such number of covered bins, of such material, size and construction as they may approve. They cannot, however, require the replacement of any existing bin, if this is of satisfactory design and in good condition.<Callout type="tip" title="Tip">Ensure proper waste management practices.</Callout> Alternatively, the authority may provide bins and make an annual charge for their use.<Callout type="gear" title="Gear">Local authorities can provide waste collection bins.</Callout> In London the borough councils must remove house refuse and cleanse earth-closets, privies and cesspools, and are liable to a fine of twenty pounds if they fail to do so, without reasonable excuse, after forty-eight hours’ notice from an occupier. The councils must also remove trade refuse if required to do so by the owner or occupier, but shall make a reasonable charge.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">London borough councils have specific duties regarding waste removal.</Callout> Street Cleansing. In the country, a local authority may, and if required by the Minister of Health shall, undertake the cleansing of streets and may undertake the watering of them. In both London and the country the local authorities, having collected refuse from premises and streets, may dispose of it in such manner as they think fit.<Callout type="warning" title="Warning">Proper street cleaning is essential for public health.</Callout> “Nuisances”? Defined. The next matter to be considered is what are termed “‘statutory nuisances”. The term “nuisance” at law means anything which causes hurt or annoyance, and a person who suffers from a nuisance committed by another may bring an action in tort; but there are certain particular kinds of nuisance in respect of which a local authority can proceed in the public interest; these are named in Acts of Parliament and hence are termed “statutory”? nuisances. The most important examples, from our point of view, under the Public Health Act, 1986, are: (a) Any premises in such a state as to be prejudicial to health, or a nuisance.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Premises that pose health risks can be considered nuisances.</Callout> (b) Any animal kept in such a place or manner as to be preju- dicial to health, or a nuisance. (c) Any accumulation or deposit which is prejudicial to health, or a nuisance.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Accumulations that harm health are considered nuisances.</Callout> (d) Any well, tank cistern, or water-butt used for the supply of water for domestic purposes, if constructed or kept so that the water is liable to contamination prejudicial to health.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Water supplies at risk of contamination are nuisances.</Callout> (e) Any pond, ditch, water-course, ete., so foul as to be prejudi- cial to health, or a nuisance. Under the Public Health (London) Act, whilst the list is not precisely the same, it is substantially similar; but in London an occupied house without a proper and sufficient supply of water is LEGAL NOTES 493 to be dealt with as a nuisance, as also is the absence of water fittings in a house.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Water shortages or lack of fixtures can be considered nuisances.</Callout> Abatement of Nuisances. It is the duty of every local authority, under the Public Health Act, 1936, to inspect their district from time to time for the detection of statutory nuisances. If they discover one they shall serve on the person who caused it an “abatement notice”, or, if they cannot find that person, on the owner or occupier of the premises in which it occurs; the notice will require him to abate the nuisance and to execute any works which may be necessary for that purpose. It is provided, however, that, when the nuisance is due to structural defects, the notice shall be served on the owner; also that, when the offender cannot be found and the nuisance is clearly not caused by the act or omission of the owner or occupier, the authority may themselves abate it.<Callout type="important" title="Important Rule">Local authorities have a duty to inspect for nuisances.</Callout> If the person on whom the notice is served does not comply with it, or if the nuisance is likely to recur, the authority shall apply for a summons for such person to appear before a Court of Sum- mary Jurisdiction. If, on the hearing of the case, it is proved that the nuisance exists, or is likely to recur, the Court shall make a “nuisance order” directing the offender as to what he is to do; the Court also may impose a fine and may award costs to the authority. They may also prohibit the use
Key Takeaways
- Ensure proper drainage and connection to sewers.
- Maintain sanitary facilities in buildings, especially water-closets.
- Proper waste management is crucial for public health.
- Local authorities have the right to enforce compliance with sanitation laws.
Practical Tips
- Always ensure your building's lowest floor can drain into a nearby sewer.
- Properly maintain sanitary facilities and keep them supplied with necessary resources like water or dry earth.
- Ensure all construction materials are free from offensive substances that could cause health issues.
- Regularly inspect for nuisances and take action to abate any found.
Warnings & Risks
- Failure to comply with drainage requirements can result in fines or legal action.
- Rooms above toilets should not be used as living or working spaces due to potential health risks.
- Unclear legal provisions regarding certain sewer distances may lead to non-compliance issues.
- Disputes over refuse classification can lead to legal action.
Modern Application
While the specific laws and regulations have evolved, the core principles of proper drainage, sanitation, and waste management remain crucial for public health. Understanding these historical practices helps in preparing for emergencies where modern infrastructure may be compromised or unavailable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are statutory nuisances under the Public Health Act, 1936?
Statutory nuisances include premises that are prejudicial to health, animals kept in a manner harmful to health, accumulations that harm health, water supplies at risk of contamination, and foul water-courses. These nuisances can be addressed by local authorities for the public interest.
Q: What happens if a local authority fails to remove trade refuse?
If a local authority fails to remove trade refuse after being required to do so by an owner or occupier, they may face fines. The owner or occupier can also recover the sum of five shillings per day during such default.
Q: How are statutory nuisances abated?
Local authorities have a duty to inspect their district for statutory nuisances and serve an ‘abatement notice’ on the person who caused it. If compliance is not achieved, they can apply for a summons to appear before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
Q: What are the consequences of non-compliance with sanitary accommodation requirements?
Non-compliance with sanitary accommodation requirements can result in fines or legal action from local authorities. They may require the owner to provide water-closets, earth-closets, or privies if necessary.
Q: What are the specific duties of London borough councils regarding waste removal?
London borough councils must remove house refuse and cleanse earth-closets, privies, and cesspools. They can be fined twenty pounds for failing to do so without reasonable excuse after forty-eight hours’ notice from an occupier.