Singapore legislation
Section 31K
Section 31K
Works by DPWCS licensee
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this Part, a DPWCS licensee may, in order to carry out the activities which it is authorised or required by its DPWCS licence to do —
install in, on, over, under, along or across any premises or street and inspect, maintain, adjust, repair, alter, restore, replace or remove any valve, cable, pipe, regulator, apparatus, equipment, plant or station which is or is to be part of the DPWCS; and
carry out any activities that are necessary or incidental to the activities falling within paragraph (a), including —
excavating any premises, street, sewer or drain;
tunnelling or boring under any premises, street, sewer or drain;
removing or using all earth and materials in or under any premises, street, sewer or drain;
erecting or placing any valve, cable, pipe, regulator, apparatus, equipment, plant or station in or under any land or street; and
taking any other action that may be necessary to render any valve, cable, pipe, regulator, apparatus, equipment, plant or station safe and efficient.
(2)
A DPWCS licensee must pay to any person who has suffered damage or loss of value to the person’s property caused by any activity of the DPWCS licensee mentioned in subsection (1) such sum as may be agreed between the DPWCS licensee and the person by way of compensation.
(3)
Any person who —
hinders, obstructs or delays a DPWCS licensee in the performance of its duties or anything which the DPWCS licensee is authorised, empowered or required to do under subsection (1); or
interferes with any works authorised, empowered or required to be done by a DPWCS licensee under subsection (1),shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.
(4)
Except in the case of an emergency arising from any fault in the DPWCS, a DPWCS licensee must not carry out or cause to be carried out works mentioned in subsection (1) without first giving 14 days’ notice to the owner or occupier of the premises stating as fully and accurately as possible the nature and extent of the acts intended to be done.
(5)
In this section, a reference to a DPWCS licensee includes a reference to any employee, agent or contractor authorised by the DPWCS licensee for the purposes of this section.
(6)
To avoid doubt, nothing in subsection (1) derogates from any requirement imposed on the DPWCS licensee by or under any written law to obtain approval from the Government or a statutory authority to carry out any activity mentioned in that subsection.