PART 1 | 1. This Act is the Sewerage and Drainage Act 1999. |
2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “authorised officer” means any person appointed as an authorised officer under section 3(2); |
| “Board” means the Public Utilities Board continued under section 3 of the Public Utilities Act 2001; |
| “building” has the meaning given by the Building Control Act 1989; |
| “competent authority” means an authority appointed under section 5 of the Planning Act 1998; |
| “drain” includes any canal, culvert, conduit, river or watercourse; |
| “drain‑line” means any pipe or sewer which is connected to the sewerage system of any premises; |
“drainage reserve” means —| (a) | any land set aside for drainage works pursuant to development proposals approved by a competent authority; | | (b) | any land vested in the Government under section 29; or | | (c) | any State land that is reserved for the purposes of the Board (permanently or temporarily) in connection with drainage works or a storm water drainage system; [Act 42 of 2022 wef 01/11/2024] |
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| “drainage works” includes any engineering works for the construction, alteration and maintenance of any stormwater drainage system; |
| “earth retaining structure” means any structure, structural system or other means used to maintain the shape of excavation to enable the access to, repair of or replacement of a sewerage system or part thereof; [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
| “fittings” means any apparatus or parts used for any sanitary facility or drain‑line of any premises; |
“flood protection measure” means any measure or system, or any specification required for any premises, for the purpose of —| (a) | preventing stormwater from entering any premises; | | (b) | removing from any premises into the stormwater drainage system (such as by pumped drainage systems), stormwater that has entered the premises; or | | (c) | regulating or controlling (including by means of detention tanks) the entry of stormwater into the stormwater drainage system from any premises; [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
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| “industrial water” means any water reclaimed from the sewage treatment works for use in industries that do not require high grade potable water; |
| “licensed plumber” means an individual who holds a plumber’s licence as defined in section 2 of the Public Utilities Act 2001; |
| “Magistrate’s Court limit” has the meaning given by the State Courts Act 1970; |
| “occupier”, in relation to any premises, includes any person having the charge, management or control of the premises or any part thereof; |
“owner”, in relation to —| (a) | any premises, includes —| (i) | the person for the time being receiving the rent of the premises, whether on the person’s own account or as agent or trustee or as receiver, or who would receive the rent if the premises were let to a tenant; and | | (ii) | the person whose name is entered in the Valuation List prepared under section 10 of the Property Tax Act 1960; |
| | (b) | the common property of any building erected on land comprised in a strata subdivision plan approved by the competent authority, includes —| (i) | the management corporation having control of the building; | | (ii) | a managing agent appointed by a management corporation or by the Commissioner of Buildings under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004; and | | (iii) | a liquidator appointed for that management corporation; and |
| | (c) | the limited common property of any building erected on land comprised in a strata subdivision plan approved by the competent authority, includes —| (i) | the subsidiary management corporation having control of that limited common property; | | (ii) | a managing agent appointed by a subsidiary management corporation or by the Commissioner of Buildings under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004; and | | (iii) | a liquidator appointed for that subsidiary management corporation; |
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| “premises” includes messuages, houses, buildings, lands, tenements, easements and hereditaments of any tenure, whether open or enclosed, whether built or not, whether public or private, and whether maintained under statutory authority or not; |
“public sewerage system” includes —| (a) | sewerage systems which were vested in the Government before 1 April 1999 under the repealed Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act (Cap. 348, 1985 Revised Edition) or any other written law; | | (b) | sewerage systems with respect to which a declaration of vesting has been made under section 8; | | (c) | sewerage systems constructed by the Government or the Board on behalf of the Government on any private property at the expense of the Government or acquired by the Government; | | (d) | sewerage systems constructed on any private property and maintained by the Board; and | | (e) | sewerage systems owned or managed by the Board; |
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“public sewers” includes —| (a) | sewers which were vested in the Government before 1 April 1999 under the repealed Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act (Cap. 348, 1985 Revised Edition) or any other written law; | | (b) | sewers with respect to which a declaration of vesting has been made under section 9; | | (c) | sewers constructed by the Government or the Board on behalf of the Government on any private property at the expense of the Government or acquired by the Government; and | | (d) | sewers constructed on any private property and maintained by the Board; |
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“qualified person” means a person who is registered as —| (a) | an architect under the Architects Act 1991 and has in force a practising certificate issued under that Act; or | | (b) | a professional engineer under the Professional Engineers Act 1991 and has in force a practising certificate issued under that Act; [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
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| “reclaimed water” means treated water which has been recovered from a public sewerage system; |
| “Registrar of Deeds” means the Registrar of Deeds appointed under the Registration of Deeds Act 1988; |
| “Registrar of Titles” means the Registrar of Titles appointed under the Land Titles Act 1993; |
| “reservoir” means a body of water maintained as a reservoir by the Board in any Catchment Area Park or Central Water Catchment Area (as defined in regulations made under section 72 of the Public Utilities Act 2001); [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
| “sanitary appliances” includes washbasins, bathtubs, sinks, urinals, toilet bowls, bidets and other similar fixtures; |
| “sanitary facilities” includes bathrooms, toilets, facilities for washing and sanitary appliances, together with the associated pipework, whether above or below the ground, which connect, directly or otherwise, to a private sewage treatment plant or a public sewerage system; |
“sanitary works” means —| (a) | constructing, altering, repairing, replacing, discontinuing or closing up any discharge pipe, ventilating pipe, drain‑line, fitting, floor trap, inspection chamber, grease trap, pump or any other appurtenance related to the conveyance of sewage or sullage water from any sanitary appliance or sanitary facility to a sewerage system; and | | (b) | installing, fixing, altering, repairing or removing a sanitary appliance or sanitary facility, and any other connected works; |
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| “sewage” includes waterborne domestic waste and trade effluent; |
“sewerage system” means a system of sewers, pipes, drain-lines, pumping systems, sumps, tanks, flow control systems, sensors, odour control and ventilating systems, chambers, manholes, sewage treatment systems or water reclamation facilities, or other appurtenances, for use in connection with one or both of the following purposes:| (a) | the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage; | | (b) | the recovery and treatment of water which is supplied to the Board or by the Board, |
| and includes any pipes and tanks for the temporary collection of sewage that do not connect downstream to or empty into any sewer; |
[Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
| “sewerage works” includes engineering works for the construction, alteration and maintenance of any sewerage system or any part thereof; [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
| “stormwater” means rainwater and surface water but does not include sewage; |
“stormwater drainage system” means a system of drains for the conveyance or storage of stormwater and includes —| (a) | any weir, grating, float, boom, gauge, tidegate, sump, storage pond, pumping station, maintenance access, and debris interception and removal facility related to such system; | | (b) | any structure constructed to convey, store or measure stormwater or for flood alleviation; and | | (c) | any bridge over or railing for any such drain or any appurtenance thereof; |
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| “temporary building” has the meaning given by the Building Control Act 1989; |
| “Town Council” means any Town Council established under section 4 of the Town Councils Act 1988; |
| “trade effluent” means any liquid, including particles of matter and other substances in suspension in the liquid, which is the outflow from any trade, business or manufacture or of any works of engineering or building construction; |
| “works” has the same meaning as “building works” in the Building Control Act 1989 and includes sewerage works, drainage works and sanitary works. [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
(2) For the purposes of the definition of “sewerage system” in subsection (1), regulations made under section 74 may provide —| (a) | for any thing to be excluded from the definition; or | | (b) | for any thing to be included in the definition. [9/2002; 47/2004; 10/2012; 5/2014; 11/2018] [Act 38 of 2024 wef 01/03/2025] |
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