Section 43

All and any sums payable by or recoverable from the owner in respect of the costs and expenses incurred by the Authority in connection with the execution of any work which are, under this Act, recoverable from the owner of any premises are, subject and without prejudice to any other rights of the Authority, a first charge on the premises in respect of which the costs and expenses were incurred.

In addition to any other remedies conferred by this Act, any such sum may be recovered in the manner hereinafter provided, and the person liable to pay it is the owner for the time being of any premises in respect of which any sum is due.

Any occupier who, when requested by or on behalf of the Authority to state the name of the owner of the premises, refuses or wilfully omits to disclose or wilfully misstates the name shall, unless the occupier shows cause to the satisfaction of the court for the occupier’s refusal or misstatement, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

If any such sum remains unpaid at the expiry of the prescribed time, a notice is to be served upon the person or any one of the persons, if more than one, liable to pay it, calling on the person to pay that sum together with a fee of such amount as may be prescribed for the cost of the notice, within 15 days of the service of the notice.

If no person liable to pay the sum can be found, the notice is deemed to have been duly served by the posting thereof at the office of the Authority and by fixing a copy thereof on some conspicuous part of the premises in respect of which the costs and expenses were incurred.

At the expiry of the period of 15 days mentioned in subsection (4) or such further period as the Authority may allow, if any such sum or part thereof remains due and unpaid, it is deemed to be arrears and may be recovered as hereinafter provided.

The charge mentioned in subsection (1) attaches, and the powers and remedies hereinbefore conferred become exercisable as from the date of completion of the work, and thereafter those powers and remedies may be exercised against the premises or against any movable property or crops for the time being found thereon, despite any change in the ownership or occupation of the premises subsequent to that date.

The Authority may charge interest at a rate to be prescribed by the Authority on any sum remaining unpaid at the expiry of the prescribed time.