On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 08/03/2004.
PART VIII
SUPPLEMENTARY
32. The Authority may cause such lighting apparatuses, street name signs, traffic signs, directional signs and other road related facilities to be put up or fixed upon or against the walls of any building or enclosure or to be put up or erected in such other manner within any street, road or place as it thinks proper.
32A.
—(1) No person shall —
(a)
deposit or cause or allow any article or thing to be deposited on any public street, five-footway or private footway; or
(b)
cause or allow any article or thing to remain on any public street, five-footway or private footway,
so as to create any obstruction or inconvenience to the passage of the public on such public street, five-footway or private footway.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(3) Where an authorised officer finds on any public street, five-footway or private footway any article or thing which has been deposited or left to remain there in contravention of subsection (1), he may, by notice in writing, direct —
(a)
the owner of the article or thing;
(b)
the person who caused the article or thing to be deposited or to remain on the public street, five-footway or private footway; or
(c)
the owner or occupier of any land or building fronting, adjoining or abutting on the public street, five-footway or private footway,
to remove the article or thing within such time as may be specified in the notice.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(4) Where any person on whom a notice under subsection (3) has been served fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with it —
(a)
he shall be guilty of an offence; and
(b)
an authorised officer may remove or cause the article or thing to be removed and detain the article or thing, at the risk of its owner, at such place as the authorised officer may determine.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(5) Where any article or thing has been removed from a public street, five-footway or private footway under subsection (4)(b), the Authority may recover any costs reasonably incurred by it in connection with such removal from the owner of the article or thing or from the person who caused the article or thing to be deposited or to remain on the public street, five-footway or private footway.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(6) Where an authorised officer has removed any article or thing under subsection (4)(b), he shall cause a notice in writing to be sent to the owner of the article or thing to inform such owner of —
(a)
the removal of the article or thing;
(b)
the manner by which and the time within which such owner may procure the release of the article or thing; and
(c)
the consequences that may follow under subsections (7) and (8) if the article or thing is not claimed within the time specified in the notice.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(7) If the article or thing is not claimed by its owner within the time specified in the notice referred to in subsection (6), the Authority may dispose of the article or thing in such manner as it thinks fit (including selling the article or thing).
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(8) Where any article or thing has been sold under subsection (7), the proceeds of the sale shall be applied in payment of any expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this section and thereafter shall be applied in payment of all charges and fines payable under this Act and any regulations made thereunder and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the article or thing, or if not claimed by such owner within 12 months of the date of the sale, shall be forfeited to the Authority.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(9) In addition to the methods of service under section 47 —
(a)
a notice referred to in subsection (3) may be served by affixing it to the article or thing in respect of which it applies; and
(b)
a notice referred to in subsection (6) may be served by posting it conspicuously at or near the part of the public street, five-footway or private footway from which the article or thing was removed, if the name and address of the owner of the article or thing are unknown or cannot be ascertained despite reasonable diligence.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(10) Any person who, without the authority of an authorised officer, removes or tampers with any notice that has been affixed to any article or thing under subsection (9)(a) or that has been posted at any part of a public street, five-footway or private footway under subsection (9)(b) shall be guilty of an offence.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(11) Any person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) or (4)(a) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
(12) In this section, “authorised officer” means any employee of the Authority and any other person appointed by the Authority under section 4 to assist in the enforcement of this section.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003; 6/2004 wef 08/03/2004]
33. If any person —
(a)
wilfully removes, destroys or damages any property belonging to the Government by virtue of this Act or acquired by the Government for the purposes thereof; or
(b)
hinders or prevents such property from being used or operated in the manner in which it is intended to be used or operated,
he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and the court may order him to pay compensation to the Government for any damage done by him.
34.
—(1) Any person who carelessly or accidentally removes, destroys or damages any property belonging to the Government by virtue of this Act or acquired by the Government for purposes thereof shall pay by way of compensation to the Government such sum of money not exceeding $10,000 as the court thinks reasonable.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the Government from taking legal proceedings for the recovery of the full amount of the damage caused by such person.
35.
—(1) Where any owner or occupier is required under this Act to erect or remove any building or thing or to perform any other work and after due notice fails to erect or remove the building or thing or to perform the work within the prescribed time, the Authority may make an order (referred to hereinafter as a mandatory order) requiring the owner or occupier to execute the required work within the time specified in the order.
(2) Where a person against whom a mandatory order is made fails to comply with the requirements of the order —
(a)
he shall, unless he satisfies the court that he has used all due diligence to carry out the order, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 a day during his default; and
(b)
the Authority or any person authorised by the Authority may enter the premises and execute the work so required to be executed and the expenses thereby incurred by the Authority shall be paid by the person in default and, if that person is the owner, section 43 shall apply in respect of those expenses, and in any other case section 40 shall apply.
36.
—(1) Where a person against whom a mandatory order is made is aggrieved by the order —
(a)
he may, within 14 days from the date of the order and in the prescribed form and manner, appeal to the Minister; and
(b)
no liability to a fine under section 35(2)(a) shall arise nor, except as provided for in this section, shall any proceedings be taken or work done under the order until after the determination or abandonment of the appeal.
(2) Where an appeal is brought under this section from a mandatory order, the Minister may dismiss or allow the appeal unconditionally or subject to such conditions as he considers fit, and any decision made by the Minister on the appeal shall be final.
(3) Where a mandatory order is being appealed against and the Minister is of the opinion that the non-execution of the order will be injurious or dangerous to the public health and that the immediate execution of the order will not cause any injury to the person against whom the order was made which cannot be compensated by damages, the Minister may authorise the Authority immediately to execute the work.
(4) The Authority shall, if it does the work and the appeal is successful, pay the costs and expenses of the work and the damages, if any, sustained by the appellant by reason of the work, but, if the appeal is dismissed or abandoned, the Authority may recover the costs and expenses of the work from the appellant and, if the appellant is the owner of the premises in respect of which the mandatory order was made, section 43 shall apply to any sum recoverable from him hereunder, and in any other case section 40 shall apply.
37.
—(1) In cases of emergency, the Authority may direct the immediate execution of any work or the doing of any act being any work or act authorised under this Act which is in the opinion of the Authority necessary for the service or safety of the public.
(2) The Authority shall not act under this section in contravention of any decision of the Minister or against any policy of the Government.
(3) Where the Authority acts under this section, it shall report such action to the Minister at the first opportunity to do so.
38. The Authority in executing any works directed or authorised by this Act to be executed shall provide and make a sufficient number of convenient ways, watercourses, drains and channels in the place of such as are interrupted, damaged or rendered useless by reason of the execution of the works.
39. Any person who at any time removes any mark set up for the purpose of indicating any level or direction necessary to the execution of works authorised by this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months.
40.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, in all cases where compensation, damages, fees, costs and expenses are by virtue of this Act payable by any person to the Authority or to the Government, the amount and, if necessary, the apportionment of the same and any question of liability shall, in case of dispute or failure to pay, be summarily ascertained and determined by a District Court.
(2) If the amount of compensation, damages, fees, costs or expenses is not paid by the person liable to pay the same within 14 days after demand, that amount may be reported to the District Court and recovered in the same manner as if it were a fine imposed by the District Court.
(3) An appeal shall lie to the High Court from any decision of the District Court under this section, and the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to all such appeals.
41. Whenever default is made by an owner of any premises in the execution of any work required under this Act to be executed by him, an occupier of the premises may, with the approval of the Authority, cause the work to be executed and the costs and expenses thereof shall be paid to the occupier by the owner or the amount may be deducted out of the rent from time to time becoming due from the occupier to the owner and the occupier may, in the absence of any special agreement to the contrary, retain possession until those costs and expenses have been fully reimbursed to him.
42.
—(1) Every person who sells or transfers any property in respect of which costs and expenses have been incurred by the Authority in connection with the execution of any work which are, under this Act, recoverable from the owner thereof shall continue to be liable for —
(a)
the payment of all the costs and expenses payable in respect of the property which become payable; and
(b)
the performance of all other obligations imposed by this Act upon the owner of the property which are to be performed,
at any time before such notice of transfer as is required by section 19 of the Property Tax Act (Cap. 254) has been given.
(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the liability of the purchaser or transferee to pay the costs and expenses in respect of the property or the right of the Authority to recover the costs and expenses or to perform any obligation under this Act.
43.
—(1) 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 shall, subject and without prejudice to any other rights of the Authority, be a first charge on the premises in respect of which the costs and expenses were incurred.
(2) 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 shall be the owner for the time being of any premises in respect of which any sum is due.
(3) 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 mis-states the name shall, unless he shows cause to the satisfaction of the court for his refusal or mis-statement, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.
(4) If any such sum remains unpaid at the expiration of the prescribed time, a notice shall be served upon the person or any one of the persons, if more than one, liable to pay it, calling on him 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 such notice.
(5) If no person liable to pay the sum can be found, such notice shall be 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.
(6) At the expiration of the said period of 15 days or such further period as may be allowed by the Authority, if any such sum or part thereof remains due and unpaid, it shall be deemed to be arrears and may be recovered as hereinafter provided.
(7) The charge referred to in subsection (1) shall attach, and the powers and remedies hereinbefore conferred shall 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, notwithstanding any change in the ownership or occupation of the premises subsequent to that date.
(8) 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.
44.
—(1) Where the Authority has incurred costs and expenses in connection with the execution of any work, which are, under this Act, payable by or recoverable from the owner of any premises, the Authority may either recover those costs and expenses in the manner hereinbefore provided or, if it thinks fit, take any engagement from the owner for the payment of such instalments as will be sufficient to defray the whole amount of the costs and expenses with interest thereon at a rate to be prescribed by the Authority, within a period not exceeding 10 years.
(2) Upon default in payment of any instalment or interest upon the date appointed for payment thereof by any such engagement, the whole of the balance then outstanding of that amount, together with any interest in arrear, shall immediately become due and payable and, notwithstanding any change in the ownership or occupation of the premises since the date of the engagement, may be recovered by the same means and in like manner as provided in section 43.
45.
—(1) If the occupier of any premises prevents the owner thereof from carrying into effect in respect of the premises any of the provisions of this Act after notice of his intention to do so has been given by the owner to that occupier, the Authority may, upon proof thereof and upon application of the owner, make an order requiring the occupier to permit the owner to execute all such works with respect to the premises as are necessary for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.
(2) If after the expiration of 8 days from the date of the order the occupier continues to refuse to permit the owner to execute the works, the occupier shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $200 for every day during which the offence was committed, and every such owner during the continuance of the offence shall be discharged from any penalties to which he might otherwise have become liable by reason of his default in executing the works.
46.
—(1) The grant or renewal of any approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence in pursuance of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall be in the discretion of the Authority or the person authorised by the Authority to grant or renew it and the approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence may be granted, renewed or refused without any reason for the grant, renewal or refusal being assigned therefor and may be granted or renewed subject to such restrictions and conditions as the Authority or the person granting it may think fit and shall be subject to suspension or revocation at any time without compensation and without notice by the Authority upon breach of any restriction or condition subject to which it was issued.
(2) The Authority or the person empowered to grant or renew any approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence may require any applicant therefor to furnish such information as the Authority or that person may reasonably require for a full and proper consideration of the application and in the event of a refusal to furnish such information shall refuse to grant or renew the approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence.
(3) Except as otherwise provided, any approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence granted or renewed in pursuance of this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be for such period not exceeding 12 months as the Authority thinks fit.
(4) There shall be charged for the grant or renewal of any approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence such fee, if any, as may be prescribed by the Authority.
(5) No approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence shall be transferable without the consent of the Authority or the person granting it.
(6) Except as otherwise provided, any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Authority or authorised person to grant or renew any approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence or by the suspension or revocation by the Authority or authorised person of any approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence may, within one month of the refusal, suspension or revocation, appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final.
47.
—(1) Every summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served on any person may be served by —
(a)
delivering it to that person;
(b)
delivering it at his last known place of residence to some adult member or employee of his family;
(c)
leaving it at his usual or last known place of residence or business in a cover addressed to him; or
(d)
forwarding it by post in a pre-paid letter addressed to him at his usual or last known place of residence or business.
(2) Where any summons, notice, order or document is to be served on any incorporated company or body, it may be served by —
(a)
delivering it to the secretary of the company or body at its registered or principal office; or
(b)
sending it by registered post addressed to the company or body at its registered or principal office.
(3) Any summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises may be served by delivering the same or a true copy thereof to some adult person on the premises or, if there is no such person on the premises to whom the same can with reasonable diligence be delivered, by affixing the summons, notice, order or document to some conspicuous part of the premises.
48.
—(1) All notices, orders, receipts, warrants and other documents of whatsoever nature which the Authority is empowered to give by this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be given by any officer or employee authorised by the Authority.
(2) Any such notice, order, warrant, receipt or document given by the Authority under this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be given electronically, in writing or otherwise, as the Authority may determine, and it shall not be a requirement that such notice, order, warrant, receipt or document must contain the signature of the Authority or any authorised officer.
49. Any person guilty of an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder for which no penalty is expressly provided shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
49A. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68), a District Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and shall have power to impose the full penalty in respect of the offence.
50. No misnomer or inaccurate description of any person, premises, building, holding, street or place named or described in any document prepared, issued or served under, by virtue of or for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall in any way affect the operation of this Act or any such regulations as respects that person or place if that person or place is so designated in the document as to be identifiable, and no proceedings taken under or by virtue of this Act or any such regulations shall be invalid for want of form.
51.
—(1) The contents of any document prepared, issued or served under, by virtue of or for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to be correct and the production of any book purporting to contain any apportionment made under or by virtue of this Act shall, without any other evidence whatever, be received as prima facie proof of the making and validity of the apportionment mentioned therein.
(2) All records, registers and other documents required by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be kept by the Authority or any officer thereof shall be deemed to be public documents and copies thereof or extracts therefrom certified by the officer responsible for the custody thereof to be true copies or extracts, as the case may be, subscribed by that officer with his name and his official title shall be admissible in evidence as proof of the contents of the document or extract therefrom.
52.
—(1) The Authority may, in its discretion, compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $500.
(2) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.
(3) All sums collected under this section shall be paid to the Authority.
53.
—(1) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for or in respect of every purpose which it considers necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Act, and in particular, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, for or in respect of all or any of the matters specified in the First Schedule.
(2) The Minister may, from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, add to, alter or amend the First Schedule.
(3) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, in making any regulations, prescribe the circumstances in which it shall be presumed that an offence under the provisions of any such regulations was committed.
(4) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, in making any regulations, provide that any contravention of, or failure or neglect to comply with, any regulations shall be an offence and may prescribe the fine with which the offence shall be punishable, but so that no such fine shall exceed for any one offence the sum of $2,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, the sum of $100 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
(5) All regulations made under this Act shall be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.
54.
—(1) Any —
(a)
scheme, contract, document or resolution prepared, made or approved; or
(b)
approval, consent, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence granted,
under the repealed Act shall, except where otherwise expressly provided in this Act or in any other written law, continue and be deemed to have been prepared, made, approved or granted, as the case may be, under this Act.
(2) [Deleted by Act 11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
(3) Where in any written law, reference is made to —
(a)
“the Director-General”;
(b)
“the Director-General of Public Works”; or
(c)
“the Director-General of Public Works appointed under section 13(1) of the Local Government Integration Act”,
such reference shall be read as a reference to the Commissioner of Building Control appointed under section 3 of the Building Control Act (Cap. 29).
[4/99 wef 01/04/1999]