CHAPTER XVI LEGAL NOTES (Part 3)

of the building for human habitation if the nuisance is causing it to be unfit for such habitation. If the person on whom the nuisance order is made does not comply with it he is liable to a further fine, and the authority may do what is necessary in execution of the order and may recover from him the cost of doing so. It is provided, however, that proceedings shall not be taken if the nuisance was necessary for the effectual carrying on of a business or manufacture and the best practicable means have been taken to prevent its being prejudicial to health or an annoy- ance to the neighbouring inhabitants. When a nuisance appears to be caused by two or more persons proceedings can be taken against any or all of them, and the order of the Court may be directed to any or all of those proceeded against. If some of the offenders were not proceeded against, those who were can recover from them a due share of the expense incurred and of any fine imposed. An appeal against a nuisance order of a Court of Summary Jurisdiction and, in fact, against almost any other order of such Court under this Act, can be made to a Court of Quarter Sessions. 494 LEGAL NOTES The procedure for requiring the abatement of nuisances in London is substantially the same as in the provinces. Where a local authority, outside London, have reasonable grounds for believing that any sanitary convenience, drain, private sewer or cesspool is in such a condition as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance, or that a drain or private sewer is so defective as to admit surface water, they may examine its condition and for that purpose may apply any test, other than a water test, and may open up the ground if necessary. If on examination the appliance or work is found to be in good order they must reinstate the ground as soon as possible and make good any damage. If the examination shows the appliance or work to be in bad order they have ample powers under other sections of the Act to require the matter remedied. It may be mentioned here that an officer of the authority has the power to enter any premises, on proving his identity, for the performance of any of his duties under the Act or by-laws, but shall give twenty-four hours’ notice to the occupier of his intention, if the premises are other than a factory, workshop or workplace. If it can be shown that admission is refused, or that the premises are unoccupied, or that the matter is urgent, or that notice of entry would defeat the object of entry, a Justice of the Peace may by warrant authorise entry, if need be by force. Similar powers are given by the London Act, but the works which may be examined include also any water supply, sink, trap, siphon, pipe or other works or apparatus connected therewith, and in cases of urgency the officer can enter without notice without obtaining a warrant. Local Building and Drainage By-laws. Detailed requirements as to the design and construction of new drainage systems and of all kinds of sanitary fittings, as well as to the construction of new buildings, will be found in the local by-laws. A by-law is a law, of purely local application, made by a local authority under power conferred by statute and confirmed by a Government De- partment (the Ministry of Housing and Local Government for all building and sanitary by-laws). In order that it shall be valid a by-law must be (1) intra vires, i.e. within the powers conferred by statute; (2) certain in its terms, i.e. not ambiguous; (8) not repugnant to the law of the land; and (4) reasonable. The fact that a Government Department has confirmed a by-law will not make it valid if it is contrary to any of these four requirements. The by-laws will to some extent vary in different districts, but in general will be very similar to the Model By-laws issued by the LEGAL NOTES 495 Ministry of Housing and Local Government. A fully illustrated explanation of these will be found in the book “Model Building By-laws”, by G. E. Mitchell, published by B. T. Batsford, Ltd. Whilst, in general, by-laws apply only to new buildings, some of them may be applied to structural alterations and to existing buildings, where these are converted to dwelling-houses or become occupied by two or more families. Definition of ““Owner’’, We must not conclude these notes on sanitary law without explaining what is meant by an “Owner” in the Public Health Acts. The Public Health Act, 1986, defines owner as “the person for the time being receiving the rack rent of the premises, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person, or who would so receive the same if the premises were let at a rack rent’. The definition in the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, is substantially the same. The two Acts, however, have different interpretations of the words “rack rent”. In the provincial Act it is a rent not less than two-thirds of the full net annual value; i.e. ‘‘a rent which is not less than two-thirds of a rent at which the property might reasonably be expected to let from year to year, free from all usual tenants’ rates and taxes, and tithe rent charge (if any), and deduct- ing therefrom the probable average annual cost of repairs, insur- ance and other expenses (if any) necessary to maintain the same in a state to command such rent’’, In the London Act rack rent is a rent not less than two-thirds of the ‘‘annual value”, without any reduction for repairs and insurance. A fact worth notice is that, under the wording of these defini- tions, agents and trustees rank as owners, and are therefore personally liable for the obligations of owners under the Acts. There is, however, some protection given to them under the provincial Act; for this says that, where a council claim to recover expenses from a person as being the owner of premises and he is receiving the rent as agent or trustee for another person and has not, and since the date of service of demand has not had, sufficient money in his hands on behalf of that person, his liability is limited to the amount he has, or has had. The council can recover any excess over this only from the person on behalf of whom the agent or trustee is acting. Another matter worth mention here is that, both in London and elsewhere, any expenses recoverable from an owner by the council may be recovered from the occupier, up to the amount of rent which is due from him to the owner, or which may become due 496 LEGAL NOTES after the expenses are demanded. In the absence of any contract to the contrary, the occupier may deduct from his rent such pay- ments as have been recovered from him. { The Housing Acts. Finally, it is necessary to refer to certain provisions of the Housing Act, 1936. Section 2 of this Act pro- vides that in any contract, made before or after the passing of the Act, for the letting for habitation a dwelling-house, or part of a house, at a rent not exceeding in the administrative County of London £40 and elsewhere £26 per annum, there shall, notwith- standing any stipulation to the contrary, be implied a condition that the house is at the commencement of the tenancy, and an undertaking that the house will be kept by the landlord during the tenancy in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation. This condition and undertaking are not to apply where the house is let for a term of not less than three years upon the terms that it be put by the lessee into a condition reasonably fit for habitation, and the lease is not determinable by either party before the expiration of three years. The foregoing shall not apply to a house situate elsewhere than in the County of London, or a borough or urban district with a population of 50,000 or upwards, the rent of which exceeds £16, if the contract was made before the 31st July, 1923. Other parts of the same Act deal with the clearance of areas in which the houses are either unfit for habitation owing to disrepair or sanitary defects, or dangerous to health owing to bad arrange- ment of buildings, or narrowness or bad arrangement of streets; with the redevelopment of areas which contain houses which are overcrowded, unfit for habitation or arranged in a congested man- ner; with the repair or demolition of individual houses which are unfit for habitation; with the remedying of overcrowding of houses, the removal of obstructive buildings and the provision of houses for the working classes. It would be going beyond the scope of a work on sanitation to describe the provisions in detail, so that readers are referred to specialised books on Housing or to the Act itself. se ee a" s> oo schemes, 136 Accidental ventilation, 66 Acetylene gas, 151 Acid discharges, 298 Acidity of water, 183 Activated-sludge process, 409; advantages, 410 Advantages of district heating, 95 Aerobic bacteria, 400 Air cocks, 120 Air-conditioning, 50, 75,76 Air-disconnected drains, 230 Air ducts, 67 Air heaters, 146 Air-lift pumps, 228 Air space, 48 Alloy of lead, 203 Amalgaline jointing, 209 Anaerobic action in septic tanks, 296 Analytical tests, 158 Analytical chemist’s re- port, how to read, 159 “Angus Smith” process, 210 Anti-flooding interceptors, 320 Anti-siphonage ments, 278 Anti-siphonage pipes for W.C.’s, 280; special fitments, 280 Anti-siphonic traps, 281 Are lamps, 153 Arnott valve, 61 Artesian wells, 169 Artificial lighting, 147, 150 Artificial nuisances, 13 Asbestos cement pipes, 199 Atmospheric steam heat- ing, 144 Ault & Shone system, 379 arrange- BACTERIA, 47 aerobic, 400 beds, 400 classes of, 386 “ponding”, 408 INDEX Bacteriologist’s report, reading, 160 Badger, use of, 329 Ball valves, 212 enclosed, free-standing and panelled, 268 overflow and waste, 267 plumbing, 278 Batteries, heating, 79 Bell-mouth junctions, 367 Bends in lead, 430 Bib-taps, 219 Bidets, 272 Biological tests, 158 Bituminous flats, 36 and other forms of drain joint, 300 Blast-furnace cement, 421 Boiler back, 222 cold supply to, 138 common, use of for hot water and radiators, 126 conversion of rating, 127 fuel for, 113 “hot water” and “‘ heat- ing” rating, 125 in Perkins system, 138 insulation, 112 low-pressure, 112 screws, 218 steam, 144 water-tube, 112 Boning rod, 835 Boroughs, legal notes, 482 Bower-Barffing, 211 Brass, 431 Brick earth, 416 Brick kilns, 417 Brickmaking, 417 Bricks, 416 Bricks for sanitary work, 418 Bridge crossings, 378 British Standard Codes, 7, 48 British Standard Designs, 5 497 British Standard Pipes, 299 British Standard Portland Cement, 420 Broken stone substitutes, 423 Bucket and pump, 237 Butlers’ sinks, 270 Buzzing in pipes, 221 By-laws drainage, 494 earth closets, 245 local _ building drainage, 494 model, for drain ven- tilation, 324 privies, 245 plunger and CALCULATIONS, levelling, 335 Calor gas, 103, 151 Calorifiers, 144 Candle filters, 188 Candle-power, 153 instruments for mea- suring, 154 Carbon dioxide, 44 Carbon monoxide, 46 Cast-iron pipes, 197 soil pipes, 282 Caulked lead joints, 283 Cavity walls, 26 Ceiling frets, 61 Ceilings, 41 Cellar floors, 40 Cells, capacity of furnace, 470 Cement British Standard Port- land, 420 high-alumina, 421 manufacture of, 419 neat cement versus sand and cement, 421 rapid-hardening, 420 Roman, 421 “Central” heating schemes, 93 Cesspools, 342 Chalk strata, 163 Chamber, expansion, 139 498 Charging plug, 139 Chemical closets, 246 Chlorination, 189 Chlorine treatment, 413 Cisterns connections to, 218 low-level, 260 slate, 211 W.C., 257 Cleaning arm stopper, 318 Coal gas, 150 Seo Uae Council, Cocks, air, 120 emptying, 120 Collection of house refuse, 492 Colloiders, 898 Colour (of water), 157 removal of, 190 Combined tank and cylin- der, 2838 Combustion, effect of, AT Common suction pump, 234 Compensation water, 174 Composition of sewage, 3884 Concrete, 423 foundations for drains, 803 mixing machines, 424 Condensation water and steam traps, 143 Connection to sewer, 340 Constant system of water supply, 202 Contact beds, 401 Continuous bacteria beds, 401 Continuous-flow settling tanks, 894 Contours, 18 “Controlled tipping”’, 464 Controls, inlet and outlet, 52 Convection type of open grate, 99 Conversion of boiler rat- ing, 127 from laboratory to utility values, 122 formulae, 89 “Cooper's” ventilator, 55 Copper ght-gauge pipes, 204 soft tubes, 204 Corrosion, 428 Covered channels, 196 INDEX County borough councils, legal notes, 480 County councils, notes, 480 Croydon valve, 212 Cubie space per head, 49 Culverting of streams, 490 Customary allowances of cubic space, 49 Cylinder system, 230 legal DAMP-PROOF COURSES, 28 vertical, 26 Daylight factors, 154 measurement, 154 Deep bead ventilators, 54 Deodorising systems, 378 Destructors early types, 466 essentials of, 466 Horsfall, 466 Woodall-Duckham, 469 Detritus tanks, 393 Dibdin’s slate beds, 400 Digestion, sludge, 412 Dips in pipeline, 182 Direct-indirect radiators, 119 Discharge into sea, 388 Disposal methods listed, 388 Disinfectants, disinfest- ants, ete., distinction between, 474 Disinfection, 474 of clothing, 474 of living rooms, 478 Disinfecting stations, 476 Disinfeetors, 475 Disposal of sludge, 411 Distemper, 432 Distributors for rectangu- lar beds, 406 District heating, 95 Domestic water 187 Dortmund tanks, 395 Double-acting ram, 240 Drains air-disconnected, 380 calculations, 305 combined sewer ventila- tion, 376 eoncrete foundations, 308 early, 296 maintenance, 488 mirrors, 442 plugs, 437 principles of design, 296 filters, Drains cont. proprietary forms of joint, 301 repairs, 348 setting out, 335 straight runs for pipes, 303 testing new, 340 under buildings, 297, 812 ventilation, 321, 324, 876, 445 with too steep a fall, 311 Drainage layout of schemes, 325 schemes for semi- detached houses, 328 site, 18 stable, 347 working sections, 330 Draught, prevention of, 60 Drawn copper tubes, 282 Drinking-water taps, 219 Dry systems, 244 Dry weather flow, 379 Duct sizes, 80 Dust chutes, 459 EartsH CLOSETs, 245 Eaves gutters for flat roofs, 37 Egg-shaped sewers, 356 in brickwork, 357 Ejector working, 346 Electric convector hea- ters, 104 Electric panel heaters, 109 Electric ‘‘Unit*’ heaters 106 Electrically heated radia- tors, 109 Electricity, 108, 152 Equilibrium valve, 214 Eupatheoscope, 85 Eupatheostat, 85 Exhaust steam heating, 148 Expansion joints, 114, 285 Expansion pipe, 225 _ System, 228 Eyes, inspection and cleaning, 286 Facroriges, acid dis- charges from, 298 Fan chambers, 76 Filter, types of, 76 Filter-bed material, 406 Fireclay pipes, 298 aa Qe ha Flap valves, 369 F i 33 Flat roofs, 34 Flats, bituminous, 36 Flatted dwellings, 459 Flow, reversal, 228 Flushing drains with insufficient fall, 309 flap valves, 369 penstocks for, 371 sewers, 369 tanks, 310 valve closets, 261 Fluxes, 432 Force pump, 236 Formaldehyde, 474 Formalin, 474 Formation, Permian, 164 Formulae for radiators, 120 Foul waste drains, 330 Fresh-air inlet pipes, 3238 GALTON SYSTEM, 60 Garchey system, 461 Gas Calor, 103, 151 coal, 150 -discharge lamps, 153 -filled lamps, 152 -fired water radiators, 102 fires, 101; ventilating, 102 measurement, 94 petrol or air, 15] testing supply, 444 water, 151 Gate-type waste and over- flow, 264 Gauge of aggregate, 423 Glass, Vita, 148 Gradients, self-cleansing, 804 for sewers, 383 Grates continuous-burning open, 98 convection, 99 development, 96 Grease traps, 291, 311 Grips for drain joints, 337 for pipe sewers, 359 Ground floors, 40 Ground moisture, 21 Ground water, 14 INDEX Gullies flushing, 311 in basements, 312; in- spection, 445 trapped, 288 Gunmetal, 431 Gutters for flat roofs, 37 HARD WATER, 180 Hardness in water, 179 measurement, 180 Heat definition, 88 measurement, 88 specific, 90 transfer of, 90 transmission, 122 Heaters air, 146 electric convection, 106 electric convector, 104 electric ‘‘ Unit’’, 106 oil, 101 panel, 109 Heating batteries, 79 exhaust steam, 143 hot-air, 145 panel, 140 vacuum steam, 145 High-alumina cements, 421 High-pressure systems, 187 Hips, 31 Hopper, use of R.W., 290 Horizontal one-pipe sys- tems, 180 Hot water circulation, 227 service pipes, 224 Hotel refuse containers, 462 House exterior of, 444 refuse, 492; calorific value, 458; compo- sition of, 458 Housing Acts, 496 Humidifying chambers, V7 Humidity, 11 percentage of, 45 Hydrants, 202 Hydraulic mean depth, 306 Hydraulic rams, 239 Hydraulic tables, 308, 383 Hydrocyanie gas, 478 Hydrolytiec tanks, 396 499 Hydrostat ram, 240 Hygrometer, 45, 88 IMHOFF TANK, 398 Impounding reservoirs, 190, 193 Impurities from gas com- bustion, 151 Indirect system in boilers, 233 Inlets, fresh-air, 323 Inspection bends, 312 chambers, 314, 820 and cleaning eyes, 286 means of, 312 of water levels, 445 Insulation of boilers, 112 Intake and fan chamber, 76 Intereepting traps, 315 Interceptors anti-flooding, 320 petrol, 347 Interior rising main, 206 Internal ducts, 292 Inverts, covered, 315 Tron pipes, 427; protection, 297 salts in solution, 1838 ““spun”’ pipes, 427 wrought, 426; pipes, 427 Irrigation, 389 JOINTING Amalgaline, 209 drawn copper tubes, 210 hot-water pipes, 118 R.W. pipes, 283 water mains, 197 Joints bituminous, 800 caulked lead, 283 expansion, 114, 285 flanged, 114 for concrete sewers, 354 for drain pipes, 300 for lead service pipes, 209 “Grips” for drain, 337 plumber’s wiped, 283 proprietary forms of, 301 Junctions, no right-angled j.’s on sewer, 367 KEENE’S CEMENT, 422 Kelvin bib-valve, 220 Knapen system, 23 500 LAGGING, 137 Lampholes, 363 Lamps are, 153 gas-discharge, 153 gas-filled, 152 Land filtration, 389 interchange on sewage farm, 391 Latent heat, 89 Lavatory basins, 263 Lavatory ranges, 266 Layout of sewers, 350 Lead, 428 bends in, 430 contacting Portland cement, 429 pipes, 429 red, 428 ternary alloys, 428 tin-lined pipes, 429 traps and bends, 430 white, 428 wool, 430 Leadite, 430 Leap weirs, 373 Level, surveyor’s, 336 Lift-pump, 234 Lighting, artificial, 150 natural, 147 Light-gauge copper pipes, 204 Limewash, 482 Line and_ gradient in drains, adjustment for, 836 Lined iron pipes, 199 London fog, 12 house drain law, 486 legal notes on sewers, 486 most important — sta- tutes in force, 482 Louvred panels, 55 Louvred turrets, 64 Low-pressure boilers, 112 Low-pressure hot-water systems, 111 Low-pressure steam, 142 ““MADE”’ SOIL, 15 Maguire’s Rule, 304 Manholes, 445 for large sewers, 363 for streets, 863 of