“Any order made by a justice for admission of the local authority or any of their officers on premises shall continue in force until the nuisance has been abated, or the work for which the entry was necessary has been done” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 102).
The above clause also gives the necessary powers of entry where the following clause of the Public Health Act is enforced with reference to defective house drainage, instead of the 23rd section which I have quoted.
“On the written application of any person to a local authority, stating that any drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on or belonging to any premises within their district is a nuisance, or injurious to health (but not otherwise), the local authority may, by writing, empower their surveyor or inspector of nuisances, after twenty-four hours’ written notice to the occupier of such premises, or in case of emergency without notice, to enter such premises, with or without assistants, and cause the ground to be opened, and examine such drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool. If the drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on examination is found to be in proper condition, he shall cause the ground to be closed, and any damage done to be made good as soon as can be, and the expenses of the works shall be defrayed by the local authority. If the drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, or cesspool on examination appear to be in bad condition, or to require alteration or amendment, the local authority shall forthwith cause notice in writing to be given to the owner or occupier of the premises requiring him forthwith or within a reasonable time therein specified to do the necessary works; and if such notice is not complied with, the person to whom it is given shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten shillings for every day during which he continues to make default, and the local authority may, if they think fit, execute such works, and may recover in a summary manner from the owner the expenses incurred by them in so doing, or may by order declare the same to be private improvement expenses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 41).
In acting upon the above clause it is well to note the machinery that is necessary in order to secure success in the event of a prosecution.
(1.) The notice to the local authority of the existence of a nuisance arising from a drain, &c., must be in writing, and that authority must then proceed to consider the notice.
(2.) If they agree to take action the local authority may empower their surveyor to enter the premises (with or without notice as the case may require) but this order to him must also be in writing.[211]
(3.) If the surveyor is allowed by the occupier of the premises to enter (and in default he must put the 102nd section which I have quoted in force) he may then open the ground “with or without assistants.”
(4.) If he finds a defective drain he must then report to the local authority in writing, unless he has been primarily invested by the local authority with such powers as will dispense with such report.[212]
(5.) The local authority shall “forthwith cause notice in writing to be given to the owner, &c.” to do the work.
(6.) If the owner executes the work the surveyor must supervise its execution.