Sewerage and Drainage Bill

Bill No. 3/1999

Read the first time on 20th January 1999.
An Act to provide for and regulate the construction, maintenance and improvement of sewerage and land drainage systems, to regulate the discharge of sewage and trade effluent and for matters connected therewith, and to repeal the Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act (Chapter 348 of the 1985 Revised Edition).
Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title and commencement
1.  This Act may be cited as the Sewerage and Drainage Act 1999 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
Interpretation
2.  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“appointed day” means the date of commencement of this Act;
“authorised officer” means —
(a)a Deputy or an Assistant Director of Sewerage and Drainage appointed under section 3(1);
(b)a public officer who is authorised by the Director to act on his behalf under section 3(3); or
(c)a member, an employee or agent of a Town Council or statutory board who is authorised under section 4(1) to perform or exercise all or any of the functions, duties or powers of the Director under this Act;
“building” has the same meaning as in the Building Control Act (Cap. 29);
“competent authority” means an authority appointed under section 5 of the Planning Act (Cap. 232);
“designated filing authority” means any person designated by the Director for the submission of building plans under section 34(3);
“Director” means the Director of Sewerage and Drainage appointed under section 3(1);
“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 any land set aside for drainage works pursuant to development proposals approved by a competent authority;
“drainage works” includes any engineering works for the construction, alteration and maintenance of any storm water drainage system;
“fittings” means any apparatus or parts used for any sanitary facility or drain-line of any premises;
“industrial water” means any water reclaimed from the sewage treatment works for use in industries that do not require high grade potable water;
“Magistrate’s Court limit” has the same meaning as in the Subordinate Courts Act (Cap. 321);
“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 the person for the time being receiving the rent of the premises, whether on his 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 the person whose name is entered in the Valuation List authenticated under section 15 of the Property Tax Act (Cap. 254); and
(b)the common property of any building erected on land comprised in a strata subdivision plan approved by a competent authority, means the management corporation having control of the building, a managing agent appointed by a management corporation or by the Commissioner of Buildings under the Land Titles (Strata) Act (Cap. 158) or a liquidator appointed pursuant to that Act for the management corporation;
“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 the appointed day under the repealed Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act (Cap. 348) or any other written law;
(b)sewerage systems with respect to which a declaration of vesting has been made under section 9;
(c)sewerage systems constructed by the Government on any private property at its expense or acquired by the Government; and
(d)sewerage systems which are constructed on any private property and are maintained by the Government;
“public sewers” includes —
(a)sewers which were vested in the Government before the appointed day under the repealed Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act or any other written law;
(b)sewers with respect to which a declaration of vesting has been made under section 10;
(c)sewers constructed by the Government on any private property at its expense or acquired by the Government; and
(d)sewers erected on private property which are maintained by the Government;
“qualified person”, in relation to any sewerage or drainage works, means a qualified person appointed under section 6(3) or 9(2)(b) of the Building Control Act (Cap. 29) in respect of works which include the sewerage or drainage works, and whose qualification is appropriate to the nature of those works;
“registered plumber” means a plumber whose name is entered in the register of plumbers maintained under section 37;
“Registrar of Deeds” means the Registrar of Deeds appointed under the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269);
“Registrar of Titles” means the Registrar of Titles appointed under the Land Titles Act (Cap. 157);
“sanitary appliances” includes wash basins, bath tubs, sinks, urinals, toilet bowls and other appliances which connect, directly or otherwise, to a private sewage treatment plant or a public sewerage system;
“sanitary facilities” includes bathrooms, toilets, facilities for washing and sanitary appliances, together with the associated pipe-work, whether above or below the ground, which connect, directly or otherwise, to a private sewage treatment plant or a public sewerage system;
“sewage” includes water-borne domestic waste and trade effluent;
“sewerage system” means a system of sewers, pumping stations, sewage treatment plants and treatment works for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage and recovery of industrial water and includes any industrial water main and pipe, drain-line, grease trap, cesspit, septic tank, privy and any appurtenance thereof;
“sewerage works” includes engineering works for the construction, alteration and maintenance of any sewerage system;
“storm water” means rainwater and surface water but does not include sewage;
“storm water drainage system” means a system of drains for the conveyance or storage of storm water 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 storm water or for flood alleviation; and
(c)any bridge over or railing for any such drain or any appurtenance thereof;
“temporary building” has the same meaning as in the Building Control Act (Cap. 29);
“Town Council” means any Town Council established under section 4 of the Town Councils Act (Cap. 329A);
“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 (Cap. 29) and includes sewerage works, drainage works and the construction and alteration of sanitary facilities.