Division 4Division 4 Provisions relating to works
(1) The Corporation is the owner of all works installed in or on land, at sea, in or on the seabed, in rivers and other waterways and in or on the beds of rivers and waterways by the Corporation and of all works in or on land or in water vested in or transferred to the Corporation (whether or not the land is owned by the Corporation).(2) The Corporation may, subject to this Act, operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect, improve or do any other things that are necessary or appropriate to any of its works to ensure that, in the opinion of the Corporation, the works are used in an efficient manner for the purposes for which they were installed.(3) The Corporation may sell or otherwise deal with works that it owns.(4) The provisions of this section have effect despite anything contained in section 42 of the Real Property Act 1900.
(1) The Corporation may, by persons issued with certificates of authority under section 39, enter and occupy land or a building in accordance with this Division for any one or more of the following purposes:(a) to operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect, improve or do any other things that the Corporation considers are necessary or appropriate to any of its works or to construct new works and, for these purposes, to carry out any work on, below or above the surface of the land,(b) to read a meter that measures water supplied by the Corporation or material discharged into the Corporation’s sewers,(c) to make a valuation or assessment of the usage of the land or of any building on the land,(d) to find the source of pollution of water supplied by the Corporation and, for this purpose, to dig up and remove material from the land,(e) to ascertain whether a customer contract or other contract for the provision of services by the Corporation is being breached in relation to the connection to or use of works and, for this purpose, to dig up and remove material from the land,(f) to cut off or restrict the supply of water or other services to the land if any contract charges relating to the supply of water or those services to the land by the Corporation are unpaid,(g) to rectify defective or improper work that has not been rectified in accordance with a notice served by the Corporation under a customer contract or other contract,(h) to ascertain the character and condition of the land or a building to enable the Corporation to operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect or improve, or do any other thing to, the Corporation’s systems and services for the purposes of carrying out the terms and conditions of an operating licence,(i) to ascertain the condition and location of any pipe, sewer, drain, channel or fitting or other work used in connection with the land or a building to enable the Corporation to operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect or improve, or do any other thing to, the Corporation’s systems and services for the purposes of carrying out the terms and conditions of an operating licence.(2) Material that has been excavated from land for the purposes of this section may only be removed from the land by the Corporation:(a) if this is necessary for the purpose of ascertaining whether an offence has been committed against this Act, or(b) if the owner of the land has consented to its removal.
(1) The board of the Corporation may authorise an officer of the Corporation or the holder for the time being of an office in the Corporation’s establishment to issue certificates of authority for the purposes of this Act.(2) Such an officer or holder of an office may issue certificates of authority.(3) A certificate of authority must:(a) state that it is issued under this Act, and(b) specify the person or class of persons who are authorised to exercise the power of entry under this Act, and(c) describe the nature of the powers proposed to be exercised, and(d) state the date (if any) on which it expires, and(e) bear the signature of the person by whom it is issued.(4) The Minister may, if the Minister thinks fit, by order published in the Gazette, impose conditions or restrictions on certificates of authority issued under this Act, either generally or in particular cases, including restrictions on the purposes for which and the circumstances in which a power of entry may be exercised.
40 Exercise of powers of entry
(1) Before a person enters any land or building under a power conferred by this Division, the Corporation or a person must serve on the owner or occupier of the land or building notice in writing of the intention to enter the land or building on a day or days specified in the notice unless:(a) entry to the land or building is made with the consent of the owner or occupier of the land or building, or(b) entry is required urgently and the case is one in which the board of the Corporation has authorised in writing (either generally or in the particular case) entry without notice, or(c) entry is made solely for the purpose of reading a meter that measures water supplied by the Corporation or material discharged into the Corporation’s sewers if the meter is not in a dwelling-house or building, or(d) the giving of notice would defeat the purpose for which the power is to be exercised.(2) A power conferred by this Division to enter any land or building may not be exercised unless the person proposing to exercise the power:(a) is in possession of a certificate of authority issued under section 39, and(b) exercises the power at a reasonable time during daylight, unless this would defeat the purpose for which the power is to be exercised or the power is exercised in an emergency, and(c) produces the certificate of authority if required to do so by the occupier of the land, and(d) uses no more force than is reasonably necessary to effect the entry.(3) Nothing in this section authorises the use of force to enter a dwelling-house or any enclosed part of a building occupied as a dwelling or authorises the entry of such premises at night without the consent of the owner or occupier of the premises unless entry is required urgently and the case is one in which the board of the Corporation has authorised in writing (either generally or in the particular case) entry without notice.
(1) The Corporation, in exercising its functions under this Division, is to do as little damage as practicable and is, subject to this Division, to compensate all persons who suffer damage by the exercise of the functions.(2) Compensation may be made by reinstatement, repair, construction of works or payment.(3) If the Corporation installs a sewer on land in exercise of powers under this Division, the Corporation is required to pay compensation only if the sewer damages, or interferes with, a building or other structure on the land or causes other physical damage to property or if an access chamber or main ventilator is constructed on the land.
(1) The Corporation may, for the purpose of exercising its functions in relation to systems or services in accordance with an operating licence and after giving reasonable notice to persons likely to be affected, including the appropriate roads authority under the Roads Act 1993, open and break up:(a) the soil and pavement of a public road or public reserve, and(b) any pipe, sewer, drain or tunnel in or under or any ground under a public road or public reserve.(2) The person having the control and management of a public road or public reserve may require the Corporation to comply with conditions in exercising its powers under this section, including conditions for restoration of the surface and removal of rubbish.(3) If a public road or public reserve is damaged by a malfunction of a main of the Corporation, the person having the control and management of the public road or public reserve may require the Corporation to make good the damage without delay.(4) If the Corporation fails to comply with a condition under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (3), the person affected by the failure may remedy it and recover the cost of doing so as a debt owed to the person by the Corporation.(5) A person desiring to connect premises with a water main or sewer main of the Corporation that is available for connection may (subject to such conditions as may be imposed by or under any Act or law) open and break up the soil and pavement of a public or private road or way or a footpath or public reserve to the extent required to make the connection.
43 Altering position of conduit
(1) The Corporation may serve a written notice on a person if:(a) the Corporation, in order to comply with an operating licence, needs an alteration to be made in the position of a conduit owned by the person, and(b) the alteration would not permanently damage the conduit or adversely affect its operation.(2) The notice must:(a) specify the alteration needed, and(b) require the alteration to be made within a reasonable time stated in the notice, and(c) include an undertaking by the Corporation to pay the reasonable cost of the alteration.(3) If the alteration is not made as required by the notice, the Corporation may make the alteration in a manner that does not damage the conduit permanently or adversely affect its operation on completion of the alteration.(4) The Corporation may, for the purposes of subsection (3), exercise any powers of the person on whom the notice was served, in addition to or instead of any powers of the Corporation.(5) Except as provided by subsection (4), this section does not confer on the Corporation or the owner of the conduit any additional powers of entry or powers to carry out works than would be available apart from this section.(6) In this section, conduit means anything that is in or under a public road (or any other land on which no building or other structure is located) and is used for the conveyance of a substance, energy or signals.
(1) Land in or on which a work of the Corporation is installed is taken to be the subject of a covenant in favour of the Corporation pursuant to which the owner from time to time of land in or on which the work is installed must ensure that:(a) the work or any structure owned by, or under the control or management of, the Corporation is not wilfully or negligently destroyed, damaged or interfered with, and(b) the Corporation and persons issued with certificates of authority under section 39 are not delayed or obstructed in and about the taking, in relation to the work, of any of the steps referred to in section 37 (2), and(c) no structure is placed in, on or near the work in a manner that interferes with the operation of the work, and(d) ground is not opened to expose any pipe or other work of the Corporation without reasonable excuse, or the consent of the Corporation, and without giving the Corporation at least 2 days’ written notice of intention to open the ground unless that requirement is waived by the Corporation.(2) A lease, including a residential tenancy agreement within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, is taken to include a term requiring the lessee of land referred to in subsection (1) or any part of it to comply with the same obligations, in relation to land, as are imposed by that subsection on the owner who has leased the land to the lessee.(3) A covenant to which subsection (1) relates is enforceable as a duly created covenant.(4) It is a defence to proceedings by the Corporation under this section that the owner or, in a case to which subsection (2) applies, the lessee could not reasonably have prevented action taken by any person that would, if capable of prevention by the owner or lessee, have resulted in a breach of this section by the owner or lessee.(5) A person who, on land in, on or near which any work owned by the Corporation is installed, places a structure in, on or near the work in a manner that interferes with the operation of the work, must, on receiving a written notice from the Corporation requiring the removal of the structure within a period specified in the notice, remove the structure and compensate the Corporation for all loss or damage suffered by the Corporation as a result of the placement of the structure in, on or near the work.(6) If a person fails to comply with a notice under subsection (5) within the period specified in the notice or within any extension of that period allowed by the Corporation in writing, the Corporation may remove the structure and recover from the person the cost of the removal together with compensation for all loss or damage referred to in that subsection.(7) The provisions of this section have effect despite anything contained in section 42 of the Real Property Act 1900.
45 Compensation to Corporation for damage
(1) Without limiting section 44, a person who, without the consent of the Corporation, carries out any activity that causes destruction of, damage to or interference with any work owned by the Corporation in circumstances in which the person should have known that the destruction, damage or interference would result from the carrying out of the activity, is liable to compensate the Corporation for all loss or damage suffered by the Corporation as a result.(2) The Corporation is not entitled to compensation both under this section and another provision of this Act for the same destruction, damage or interference.(3) A reference in this section to a person extends to any person:(a) who caused the carrying out of the activity, or(b) by whose order or direction the activity was carried out, or(c) who aided, assisted, counselled or procured the carrying out of the activity.(4) The Corporation may proceed against a person for recovery of its loss or compensation for its damage under this section whether or not the Corporation has proceeded against the person principally responsible for the loss or damage or any other person involved in the carrying out of the activity that caused the loss or damage.
46 Interference with works by trees
(1) If the Corporation has reasonable cause to believe that a tree is destroying, damaging or interfering with a work of the Corporation, the Corporation may, by written notice, require the owner of the land on which the tree is situated, within a reasonable period specified in the notice, to remove the tree, including all roots of the tree that are or may be destroying, damaging or interfering with the work.(2) The Corporation must reimburse the owner for the reasonable expenses of any action taken by the owner under this section unless the Corporation establishes that:(a) after the work was first laid or installed, an owner or occupier planted the tree, or caused or permitted the tree to be planted, in, on or near the work in circumstances in which the owner or occupier should have known that destruction of, damage to or interference with the work would result, or(b) the work of the Corporation is located, within the land on which the tree has been planted, on land that was the subject of an easement in favour of the Corporation (or a predecessor of the Corporation) or an easement for water supply, sewerage or stormwater drainage purposes when the tree was planted.(3) An owner given notice under this section may, with the consent of the Corporation and without destroying, damaging or interfering with the Corporation’s works, take steps, other than removal of the tree, to eliminate the cause of the destruction of, damage to or interference with the Corporation’s works and any reasonable expectation of the destruction, damage or interference occurring in the future.(4) No compensation is payable by the Corporation to a person for the expenses of taking steps under subsection (3).(5) If, in circumstances other than those referred to in subsection (3), an owner fails to comply with a notice under this section within the period specified in the notice or within any extension of that period allowed by the Corporation in writing, the Corporation may remove the tree at its own expense.(6) The Corporation may recover from an owner the cost of removing a tree under subsection (5), but only if the Corporation establishes:(a) that the tree was planted during the ownership of that owner, and(b) that:(i) an owner or occupier should have known that the planting of the tree would result in the destruction of, damage to or interference with the work concerned, or(ii) the tree was planted on land that was then the subject of an easement in favour of the Corporation (or a predecessor of the Corporation) or an easement for water supply, sewerage or stormwater drainage purposes.(7) This section applies despite the existence of a tree preservation order or environmental planning instrument, but does not apply to any tree that is the subject of or is within an area that is the subject of:(a) an interim heritage order, or a listing on the State Heritage Register, under the Heritage Act 1977, or(b) an order in force under section 136 of the Heritage Act 1977, or(c) an interim protection order under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, or(d) a protection conferred by any similar law.(8) Nothing done by an owner of land in compliance with a notice under this section or by the Corporation under subsection (5) constitutes an offence against any law under which a tree preservation order or environmental planning instrument relating to the land is made.(9) In this section, tree includes shrub or other plant.
46A Approval of infrastructure activities in area of operations
(1) In this section:infrastructure activity means any development or other activity of any kind:
(a) that is proposed to be carried out within the area of operations of the Corporation:(i) on land owned or leased by, or leased to, the Corporation, or(ii) on other land but under a contract to which the Corporation is a party, and(b) that, but for this section, would be subject in any respect to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, the Local Government Act 1993 or any instrument in force under either of those Acts.(2) The Minister may approve the carrying out of an infrastructure activity, if the Minister certifies in the instrument of approval that the carrying out of the activity is:(a) required to protect the quality of water supplied by the Corporation, and(b) required in the interests of public health or public safety, and(c) required to be carried out urgently.(3) If the Minister has given such an approval, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the Local Government Act 1993 and any instruments in force under either of those Acts do not apply to or in respect of:(a) the approval of the Minister to the carrying out of that activity, or(b) the carrying out of that activity, or(c) the use at any time of the works with which that activity is concerned, or(d) the land on which that activity is carried out or proposed to be carried out or on which those works are used or proposed to be used, so far as is relevant to that activity or those works.