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The Supreme Court has upheld the right of a developer to connect to a public sewer, even if the statutory undertaker is concerned that the additional discharge will overburden the sewage system. The cost of any necessary works will fall on the sewage undertaker (and not on the developer).
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If you act on behalf of clients who have had to pay Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) licence fees for playing background music in public, then advise them that they may be eligible for a refund.
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CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) is a mandatory emissions trading scheme that is likely to come into force next April. It will require organisations to buy allowances to cover the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide that they produce in a year. In practice this will cover businesses with an electricity bill of more than £500,000pa.
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For any developer, the right to be able to connect premises to the public sewer is vitally important. That right is given by s106 Water Industry Act 1991, which says the sewerage undertaker can only refuse permission if the proposed sewer is ‘not to a standard reasonably required by the undertaker’ or if ‘the proposed connection would be prejudicial to the sewage system’.
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 Obtaining planning permission for development in the green belt is a tricky business. The green belt is, with good reason, highly protected by planning policy. In order to get permission to develop you need to be able to show that there are special circumstances to justify it. But what circumstances will be special enough?
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The CORGI scheme is to be abolished on 1 April. From that date, only a fitter on the ‘Gas Safe Register’ can do approved gas work (eg carry out inspections; install boilers). There are no transitional provisions, which means you must ensure that any existing contractor is properly registered under the new scheme as from 1 April.
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Land remediation tax relief gives a corporation tax deduction of 150% on qualifying expenditure incurred in decontaminating land (eg £1m expenditure gives rise to £420,000 worth of tax relief for a company paying 28% tax).
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An EPC is only required when a ‘building’ is constructed, sold or let. An EPC for a non-dwelling is valid for ten years; an EPC for a dwelling (in an HIP) is valid for three years. The EPC must be provided free of charge to prospective buyers or Ts (who cannot waive the right to receive the EPC). Note that the definition of ‘building’ includes parts of the building ‘designed or altered to be used separately’. Accordingly, if the relevant transaction is a letting of a floor of an office building, then it is the gross floor area of that floor that is taken into account when deciding whether an EPC is required (not the gross floor area of the building as a whole).
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An Energy Performance Certificate is needed for ‘a roofed construction having walls, for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate’. The phrase ‘condition the indoor climate’ covers ‘fixed services’ of heating, mechanical ventilation or air-conditioning (‘fixed’ means attached to the fabric of the building). Radiators are included, but the provision of hot water and electric lighting do not necessarily condition the indoor climate and therefore do not trigger the requirement for an EPC.
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Suppose L is granting a lease of a small retail unit which T will fit out (the unit will have capped-off water, gas and electricity supplies that will be separately metered and which will not be shared with L). T will be installing its own heating and cooling, and the question then arises as to whether L needs to provide an Energy Performance Certificate?
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 Hilary Rushby and Sarah Allen analyse the changes to EPCs
and air-conditioning systems introduced by recent regulations,
and consider further clarifications in the 2nd edition of
government guidance to EPCs
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The final deadline for the phased
implementation of energy performance
certificates (EPCs) has
passed. Since 1 October 2008 all buildings
will need an EPC when they are
constructed, sold and when they are let.
Local authorities are responsible for
enforcing the requirement to have an
EPC. The penalty for those who fail to
comply can range from £500 to £5,000
depending on the rateable value of the
building.
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The ECJ takes a broad approach when interpreting the Waste Framework Directive, as is illustrated by the fact that it has recently been held to include fuel oil spilled when an oil tanker sank.
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Display Energy Certificates are required from 1 October for certain public buildings. DECs are certificates that convey information on the actual use of energy within a building over the previous 12 months, whereas EPCs give an estimated energy rating based on the way the building was constructed.
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