UK Offence Report

Penalty for contravening regulations

regulation 7(1) of The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999

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 Subject to the following provisions of this regulation,

a person who–

a contravenes any of the provisions of regulation 3(1), (2) or (3) or 6(1) or (2);

b commences an operation listed in the Table in regulation 5(1) without giving the notice required by that paragraph;

c commences an operation listed in the Table in regulation 5(1) without the consent required by that paragraph; or

d carries out an operation listed in the Table in regulation 5(1) in breach of

a condition imposed under regulation 5(4); is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
acting without the licence or authorisation required
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; qualified by absence of consent (an element).

What would breach regulation 7(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. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999.
  2. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  3. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 19714 — 19714 - Summary offences under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
1 April 1999
In force from
1 July 1999
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 make provision for preventing contamination and waste of water supplied by a water undertaker. They do not apply to certain water fittings in connection with water supplied for non-domestic purposes, or to water fittings lawfully installed before 1st July 1999: regulation 2. Part II of the Regulations deals with the principal requirements. Regulations 3 and 4 impose general requirements in relation to water fittings. Water fittings must not be installed, connected, arranged or used in such a manner that they are likely to cause waste, misuse, undue consumption or contamination, or erroneous measurement, of the water supplied. They must be of an appropriate quality or standard, and be suitable for the circumstances in which they are used; and they must be installed, connected or disconnected in a workmanlike manner. Regulation 5 requires a person who proposes to instal certain water fittings to notify the undertaker, and not to commence installation without the undertaker’s consent. The undertaker may withhold consent or grant it on certain conditions. This requirement does not apply to some fittings which are installed by a contractor who is approved by the undertaker or certified by an organization specified by the regulator. Where an approved contractor instals, alters, connects or disconnects a water fitting, he must provide a certificate stating whether it complies with the Regulations: regulation 6. Part III of the Regulations deals with enforcement etc. Regulation 7 provides a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale for contravening the Regulations. It is a defence to show that the work on a water fitting was done by or under the direction of an approved contractor, and that the contractor certified that it complied with the Regulations. This defence is extended to the offences of contaminating, wasting and misusing water under section 73 of the Water Industry Act 1991: regulation 8. Regulation 9 enables water undertakers and local authorities who enter premises to carry out inspections, measurements and tests for the purposes of the Regulations. Regulation 10 requires the water undertaker to enforce the requirements of the Regulations; this duty is enforceable by the regulator or the Director General of Water Services. Regulation 11 enables the regulator to relax the requirements of these Regulations on the application of the water undertaker. Regulation 12 requires the regulator to consult water undertakers and organisations representing water users before giving an approval for the purpose of the Regulations, and to publicize approvals. Regulation 13 provides for disputes arising under the Regulations between a water undertaker and a person who has installed or proposes to instal a water fitting to be referred to arbitration. Regulation 14 revokes the existing water byelaws made by water undertakers under section 17 of the Water Act 1945.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 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