OpenLegislation

Regulation 17C Keeping of appointmentsF1

(F21)

This regulation applies if a representative of an English duty-holder is to visit a customer’s premises in connection with the provision of water supply services or sewerage services other than in emergency circumstances.

(1A)

A representative of an English duty-holder is to visit a customer’s premises in emergency circumstances if—

(a)

the issue must be resolved urgently or outside the English duty-holder’s normal working hours (or both), and

(b)

to enable the issue to be so resolved, the visit must take place—

(i)

with less than 24 hours’ notice;

(ii)

on a day which is not a working day; or

(iii)

during any period on a working day which is outside the English duty-holder’s normal working hours.

(1B)

For the purposes of paragraph (1A), an English duty-holder’s normal working hours on a working day include the periods that the duty-holder specifies as the morning and the afternoon for a visit on that working day in accordance with paragraph (3)(d).

(2)

If the representative requires access to the premises, or it would otherwise be reasonable to expect the customer or a person acting on the customer’s behalf to be on the premises, the F3English duty-holder must—

(a)

consult the customer orally or in writing to try to agree on a day to attend the premises; and

(b)

give the customer notice, orally or in writing, of when the representative will attend the premises.

(3)

The notice in paragraph (2) must specify—

(a)

the premises;

(b)

the date that the representative will attend them;

(c)

either—

(i)

if the customer so requests, a period of two hours during which the visit will be made; or

(ii)

otherwise, whether the visit will be made during the morning or the afternoon; and

(d)

if the notice specifies that the visit will be made during the morning or afternoon, at what times the F4English duty-holder regards the morning or afternoon, as the case requires, as beginning and ending.

(4)

Subject to paragraph (6)—

(F5a)

the English service provider must pay the customer £40, if the English duty-holder gives a notice that is not in accordance with paragraph (3);

(aa)

the English service provider must pay the customer £50 if—

(i)

a representative does not attend the premises on the date specified in the notice; or

(ii)

a representative attends the premises on the date specified in the notice but not during (as the case may be)—

(aa)

the period of two hours specified in the notice;

(bb)

the period specified in the notice as “the morning”; or

(cc)

the period specified in the notice as “the afternoon”;

(b)

if the English wholesaler is responsible for a breach that gives rise to a payment obligation on the English service provider under sub-paragraph (a) F6or (aa) it must pay the English service provider in accordance with regulation 17K.

F7(5)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(6)

The English service provider need not pay the customer, and the English wholesaler need not pay the English service provider, under paragraph (4) if—

(a)

the customer cancels the appointment;

(b)

the F8English duty-holder cancels the appointment by giving the customer at least 24 hours’ notice, orally or in writing, of the cancellation; or

(c)

it became impracticable, for a reason mentioned in paragraph (7), for the representative to keep the appointment, and the F9English duty-holder could not reasonably have so foreseen in time to enable it—

(i)

to cancel the appointment giving 24 hours’ notice; or

(ii)

to make other suitable arrangements for a representative to attend the premises at the arranged time.

(7)

The reasons are—

(a)

severe weather;

(b)

where the appointment is made by the English service provider—

(i)

industrial action by employees of the F10English duty-holder;

(ii)

the act or default of a person who is not an officer, employee or agent of the English service provider; or

(iii)

the act or default of a person who is not a person acting on behalf of the English service provider or of an agent of the English service provider; and

(c)

where the appointment is made by the English wholesaler who is not the English service provider—

(i)

industrial action by employees of the F11English duty-holder;

(ii)

the act or default of a person who is not an officer, employee or agent of the English wholesaler; or

(iii)

the act or default of a person who is not a person acting on behalf of the English wholesaler or of an agent of the English wholesaler.

(8)

The representative of an F12English duty-holder who attended a customer’s premises may make and sign a written record stating that the representative attended the premises and the time and date of attendance.

(9)

Unless the customer establishes that the record is incorrect, it is to be treated as confirming that the representative attended the premises as stated in the record.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1

Pt. 3 inserted (1.4.2017) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/246), regs. 1(1), 7 (with reg. 9)

F2

Reg. 17C(1)-(1B) substituted for reg. 17C(1) (1.10.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(2)(b), 6(2) (with regs. 17, 18)

F3

Words in reg. 17C(2) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(3) (with regs. 17, 18)

F4

Words in reg. 17C(3)(d) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(4) (with regs. 17, 18)

F5

Reg. 17C(4)(a)(aa) substituted for reg. 17C(4)(a) (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(5)(a) (with regs. 17, 18)

F6

Words in reg. 17C(4)(b) inserted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(5)(b) (with regs. 17, 18)

F7

Reg. 17C(5) omitted (2.7.2025) by virtue of The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(6) (with regs. 17, 18)

F8

Words in reg. 17C(6)(b) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(7)(a) (with regs. 17, 18)

F9

Words in reg. 17C(6)(c) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(7)(b) (with regs. 17, 18)

F10

Words in reg. 17C(7)(b)(i) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(8)(a) (with regs. 17, 18)

F11

Words in reg. 17C(7)(c)(i) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(8)(b) (with regs. 17, 18)

F12

Words in reg. 17C(8) substituted (2.7.2025) by The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/662), regs. 1(3), 6(9) (with regs. 17, 18)