UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 13(1) of The Boiler (Efficiency) Regulations 1993

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 It shall be an offence triable summarily to contravene regulation 4(1), 5(3), 6(1) or (3), 7(1)(a), (b) or (c), 9(6), 10(2) or (3) or 11(1).

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 13(1)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Boiler (Efficiency) Regulations 1993, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
9 December 1993
In force from
1 January 1994
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 92/42/EEC (“the Directive”) concerning efficiency requirements for new hot water boilers fired with liquid or gaseous fuels and Council Directive 93/68/EEC (“the amendment Directive”) amending the Directive. The Directive specifies standards of energy efficiency which are to be met by boilers supplied within the European Economic Community. The Directive also applies to appliances which when fitted together make boilers. Regulation 3 and Schedule 3 specify the boilers to which the Regulations do not apply (article 3.2 of the Directive). Regulation 4 implements article 4.2 of the Directive and prohibits the supply or putting into service of new boilers which do not satisfy the “efficiency requirements” defined in regulation 2 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Regulations. Regulation 5 provides that a boiler is deemed to satisfy the efficiency requirements if it complies with the “harmonised standards” (defined in regulation 2 of the Regulation) and also bears the EC mark and is accompanied by an EC declaration of conformity (article 7.1 of the Directive). Regulation 5 and Schedules 4 and 5 specify how boilers may be shown to qualify for the EC declaration of conformity (article 7.2 and Annexes III and IV of the Directive and article 12(3) of the amendment Directive). It also provides that gas boilers are to be assessed in accordance with the legislation implementing Directive 90/396/EEC (article 7.2 of the Directive). The relevant UK legislation is the Gas Appliances (Safety) Regulations 1992. Regulation 6 deals with the supply of appliances. For the purpose of the Regulations “appliance” means either a boiler body or a boiler burner designed to be assembled into a boiler (articles 2 and 7.3 of the Directive and article 12.3 of the amendment Directive). Regulation 7 makes provision about the affixing of the EC mark. This implements article 7.4 of the Directive and article 12.4 of the amendment Directive. Regulation 8 and Schedule 6 make provision for the approval by the Secretary of State of notified bodies to perform functions in Schedule 5 to the Regulations. This implements article 8.1 and Annex V of the Directive. Regulation 9 specifies the powers which notified bodies will have after 1st January 1995 in relation to a boiler or appliance in respect which there is a failure to comply with the Regulations (article 12.5 of the amendment Directive). Regulation 10 and Schedule 7 reflect article 6 of the Directive. It provides for an optional system under which a manufacturer of a boiler may affix to it a label showing between one and four stars, reflecting the level of energy efficiency of that boiler. Regulation 11 requires manufacturers or their authorised representatives to keep certain information available at the disposal of the Secretary of State for a period specified in the regulation (Annexes III and IV of the Directive). Regulation 12 provides for enforcement of the Regulations by weights and measures authorities, in England, county councils in Wales and island or regional councils in Scotland and the Department of Economic Development in Northern Ireland. Regulation 13 provides for the contravention of certain provisions of the Regulations to be an offence and regulations 14 and 15 provide for other matters in connection with proceedings for such offences. Regulation 16 makes transitional provisions reflecting article 9 of the Directive.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source