Ofwat has launched a new consultation on changes to legislation which require the regulator to issue codes covering the agreements water and sewerage companies enter into in order to adopt infrastructure for new connections provided by other parties.
The consultation is based on an initial discussion paper - Ofwat is now seeking interested parties’ views on what they consider the codes should and should not cover and why this is important.
Where a customer - usually a developer - chooses to provide new water or sewerage connections itself, the Water Industry Act 1991 includes provisions by which the customer either must or may transfer ownership of certain infrastructure to the local water or sewerage company by way of an ‘adoption agreement’.
The Adoption Agreement sets out the terms on which the local appointed water or sewerage company will take on responsibility for the new infrastructure. Following the adoption of the new infrastructure at an agreed date it becomes part of the local appointed water or sewerage company’s network and their responsibility to maintain on an on-going basis.
Amendments in the Water Act 2014 require Ofwat to issue codes with respect to the agreements water and sewerage companies enter into in order to adopt infrastructure for new connections that has been provided by other parties – these cover:
- agreements for the adoption of water mains and service pipes.
- the requirement for Ofwat to issue a code in relation to such agreements.
- agreements for sewers, drains or sewage disposal works
- the requirement for Ofwat to issue a code in respect of such agreements.
The provisions requiring the regulator to issue the codes have not yet come into effect. For water and sewerage companies operating wholly or mainly in England, currently expectation is that the UK Government will commence the provisions by April 2017, bringing them into effect at a date to be determined after that.
The Welsh Government has not yet indicated when it intends bringing the provisions into effect for water and sewerage companies operating wholly or mainly in Wales.
Launching the consultation, Ofwat said that stakeholders’ views would inform thinking on the development of the codes, alongside other factors such as the regulatory approach.
Ofwat is planning to publish a formal consultation on the proposed codes in due course, ahead of them being finalised and taking effect. Commenting on the consultation, the regulator said:
“We hope that this initial discussion paper will also help to further progress conversations between water and sewerage companies and their developer services customers about what is important to each other under the current arrangements for adoption agreements and why. This is a valuable opportunity to further strengthen this customer relationship and to find ways to continue to improve service delivery for all customers.”
Click here to download Agreements for water and sewerage companies to adopt infrastructure – a discussion paper
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