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Water Supplies in Public Buildings: A Consultation

REGULATION OF DRINKING WATER IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS

FOREWORD

One of the Scottish Executive's objectives is to ensure that all those who use drinking water in public buildings should do so with safety. Unfortunately the existing regulatory framework governing the quality of drinking water in public buildings such as schools, hospitals and restaurants is patchy to say the least and the Executive considers that it affords inadequate protection to the public's health.

Given the weak regulatory framework the Scottish Executive is preparing new Regulations that will address these problems and also comply with EC Directive 98/83/EC. The resulting improved regulatory framework will help to ensure protection of residents and visitors alike.

The purpose of this consultation is to encourage public engagement in the framing of the Scottish Executive's policy on the regulation of drinking water in public buildings. Your comments and suggestions will be welcomed and they will assist in the finalisation of the Executive's draft Regulations on which there will be a further public consultation later this year.

I am very glad to be launching this consultation and I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions in due course.

Ross Finnie, MSP
Minister for Environment and Rural Development
March 2002

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. European Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of drinking water intended for human consumption sets new standards for drinking water quality in Member States. The standards set have to be met at drinking water taps that are normally used to supply water for human consumption. The Directive prescribes a monitoring regime to check for compliance with the standards set. Member States shall be deemed to have met their obligations where it can be shown that any failure to meet the standards was due to the domestic distribution system. However, this exemption does not apply to premises and establishments where water is supplied to the public such as schools, hospitals and restaurants.

2. The public water authorities are responsible for the quality of water delivered to premises but failures at taps due to the condition of internal distribution systems are the responsibility of the owners of the premises. A regulatory system is therefore required to check the quality of water supplied at taps in premises such as schools, hospitals and restaurants to determine if any non-compliance with the Directive is occurring as a result of internal distribution systems.

3. This consultation considers the major issues surrounding the establishment of a regulatory framework for monitoring drinking water quality in public buildings. The various options for responsibility for monitoring are discussed together with some of the more practical aspects of any monitoring regime. The question of remedial action and enforcement is also considered.

PURPOSE OF CONSULTATION

Introduction

4. This document contains proposals for the implementation of European Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of drinking water intended for human consumption as it applies to public buildings. The responses to the consultation points identified in the document will assist in the finalisation of the Scottish Executive’s policy regarding drinking water supplies in public buildings and the preparation of regulations governing such supplies.

Scope of Consultation

5. This consultation covers water supplied from taps in public buildings in Scotland that are normally used for human consumption.

6. Under the provisions of Directive 98/83/EC, drinking water supplied for human consumption in public buildings (such as schools, hospitals and restaurants) must be of a quality that complies with the standards set in the Directive. Failure to meet the standards set in the Directive as a result of the distribution system in the public building, or the maintenance thereof, is considered to be non-compliance with the Directive. This represents a change to the current regulatory framework that being primarily concerned with the quality of the water in water authority pipes.

7. The Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 will continue to set standards for the quality of the water in water authority pipes. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to prevent any deterioration in the quality of that water as a result of the distribution system in public buildings.

8. A pre-assessment of the impact of the proposed legislation is contained at Annex B. A full regulatory impact assessment will be published as part of the consultation on the final form of the Regulations.

Consultation Points

Consultation Point 1: should the register of public buildings be (a) based on local knowledge and determined by the local authority with guidance from the Scottish Executive, or (b) a definitive list of property types identified in the Regulations ?

Consultation Point 2: should the standard monitoring frequency for public buildings be (a) based on the normal occupancy of the building with a facility to reduce the frequency if it can be shown that the water is compliant with the regulatory standards? For example:

or (b) set at one visit per annum regardless of the size of the property and with no facility to reduce the frequency of the visits?

Consultation Point 3: assuming labels are highly visible and fixed, is it sufficient to label a tap supplying water that does not comply with the standards and to which the public has access as "not for drinking"?

Consultation Point 4: should the taps within a public building from which a member of the public can obtain a drink of water be (a) listed on the public buildings register, or (b) identified and selected by the sampler at the time the water samples are taken?

Consultation Point 5: at each visit water samples should be taken (a) from all taps within a public building from which water can be supplied for drinking, or (b) from just one tap chosen at random each visit, or (c) from a variable number of taps depending on the size of the building?

Consultation Point 6: the suggested list of parameters to be tested in public buildings is (a) too onerous, (b) about right, or (c) insufficient?

Consultation Point 7: should the results of regulatory sampling be reported to (a) the owner of the building, or (b) to the owner of the building and the Scottish Executive?

Consultation Point 8: should the results of regulatory sampling be (a) prominently displayed in the public building, or (b) kept on a public record by the local authority, or (c) both?

Consultation Point 9: the requirement to notify breaches of the Regulations to Scottish Ministers is (a) required to give transparency to the enforcement process, or (b) unnecessary because placing a duty on the local authority to enforce the Regulations is sufficient to ensure that effective enforcement will take place?

Consultation Point 10: should the power to issue authorised departures for water quality standards in public buildings rest with (a) local authorities, or (b) Scottish Ministers?

PUBLIC BUILDINGS – THE CURRENT POSITION

Review of Current Legislation – Water Quality

9. The primary legislation is the Water (Scotland) Act 1980. Section 76A(2) of the 1980 Act defines the extent of the public water authority’s obligation regarding the wholesomeness of a supply. Section 76A(2) states: "water supplied by a water authority to any premises shall not be regarded as unwholesome at the time of supply where it has ceased to be wholesome only after leaving the authority’s pipes". Sections 109 and 110 of the Act define where a water authority’s pipes end. This is essentially at the boundary of a property. Beyond that point the pipes are the responsibility of the property owner.

10. Wholesomeness is defined in The Water Supply (Water Quality)(Scotland) Regulations 1990 as amended. The 1990 Regulations also require the water authority to treat the water where there is a risk that the water supplied by the authority might cease to comply with the wholesomeness standards after it has left the authority’s pipes. However, this requirement contained in Regulation 24 only applies to the copper, lead and zinc parameters where there is a risk that these standards might be breached because the parameters are components of the property owners pipes. In particular, if there is non-compliance with the lead standard, Regulation 24 requires the water authority to remove any pipe containing lead that is in the ownership of the water authority. There is no duty (requirement) on the water authority to remove any portion of the pipe not under the ownership of the authority.

11. Article 6 of the new Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) allows for the deterioration of drinking water quality arising from domestic distribution systems but this exemption does not extend to "premises and establishments where water is supplied to the public, such as schools, hospitals and restaurants". In other words, the quality of water available for drinking in such buildings should fully comply with the standards of wholesomeness set out in the Directive. The Water Supply (Water Quality)(Scotland) Regulations 2001 that come into force on 25 December 2003 transpose the requirements of Directive 98/83/EC as far as the public water supply is concerned, they do not however address the issue of public buildings.

12. In some circumstances, health and safety legislation may apply to some drinking water quality failures in some public buildings. However, it is not clear that such legislation would provide sufficient protection to meet the requirements of EC Directive 98/83/EC. For instance, it is unclear whether this legislation would extend in all cases beyond employees to include members of the public.

13. It is clear therefore that current legislation does not ensure compliance with drinking water quality standards in public buildings, as laid down in the new Drinking Water Directive.

Review of Current Legislation – Definition of Public Building

14. Article 6 of the Directive refers to "premises and establishments" and while these are not specifically defined in the Directive, there is an intuitive understanding of what may be meant by the term. However, an intuitive approach does not allow for the construction of fair and effective regulations. A clear definition of what is meant by these terms must therefore be established as a starting point.

15. A starting point for a definition of "premises or establishments such as schools, hospitals and restaurants" may be to look for a legal definition of the term "public building" in current legislation, then evaluate whether such definitions fully encompass the spirit of the Directive.

• The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (Section 4) imposes a duty on "any person undertaking the provision of any building or premises to which the public are to be admitted, whether on payment or otherwise".
• The Building Regulations 1991 do not apply to Scotland and they are no longer current. However, they include a useful definition of a public building - "a building consisting of or containing (a) a theatre, public library, hall or other place of public resort; (b) a school or other educational establishment not exempted from the operation of building regulations by virtue of section 4(1)(a) of the Act; or (c) a place of public worship". A building is not to be treated as a place of public resort because it is, or contains, a shop, storehouse or warehouse, or is a dwelling to which members of the public are occasionally admitted. The 1991 Regulations also define an institution as a building "(whether described as a hospital, home, school or other similar establishment) which is used as living accommodation for, or for the treatment, care or maintenance of persons (a) suffering from disabilities due to illness or old age or other physical or mental incapacity, or (b) under the age of five years, where such persons sleep on the premises.
• In the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 premises are defined as "any permanent or temporary building and any tent or inflatable structure. The definition includes - "a part of a building where the building is a sports complex but does not include a part of any other building". In the same Act a sports complex is defined as "a building (a) which provides accommodation and facilities for both those engaging in sport and spectators; and (b) the parts of which are so arranged that one or more sports can be engaged in simultaneously in different parts of the building.

16. From the above it can be seen that there is no pre-existing definition of premises or establishments that adequately covers the scope outlined in the Directive.

Review of Current Compliance with Drinking Water Quality Standards

17. In April 2000 the Scottish Executive decided that the first step in determining the level of compliance in public buildings with the new Drinking Water Directive was to undertake a mapping exercise. In this respect it commissioned East of Scotland Water to carry out a study and to report on compliance with the Directive in public buildings in Scotland. East of Scotland Water’s report is reproduced at Annex A.

18. The results indicated that there was a high level of compliance with the Directive but that the main problem will be in achieving compliance with the new lead standard. Statistical analysis of the data for the 3 categories of public buildings covered by the study estimated the cost of compliance at ￿3.5M for the Health Service and ￿11.2M for Local Authority Education Services. A further ￿9.5M investment is required in private sector hotels and restaurants.

THE NEW EC DIRECTIVE

Why was a new Directive necessary?

19. The need for a fundamental review of the previous Drinking Water Directive (80/778/EEC) was agreed at the Brussels European Council in December 1993. The European Commission believed that, although this Directive had been a driving force behind the improvement in drinking water quality in Europe for over a decade, it had shortcomings that needed to be addressed. For instance, it did not provide Member States with an adequate legal framework within which to respond to variations in raw water quality and technical difficulties encountered in the production and distribution of drinking water. Moreover, the Directive no longer reflected current understanding of medical, scientific and technological issues.

When will the new Directive come into force?

20. The new standards generally come into force on 25 December 2003 although there are interim standards for bromate, lead and trihalomethanes. The final standards for bromate and trihalomethanes come into force in December 2008 but the final lead standard does not come into force until December 2013.

What is the objective of the new Directive?

21. The Directive’s objective is to protect human health from adverse effects resulting from contamination of water intended for human consumption. It sets standards for water intended for drinking, cooking, food preparation or other domestic purposes, regardless of its origin and whether it is supplied from a distribution network, from a tanker, or in bottles or containers. The standards also apply to commercial premises and to water used in food production unless it cannot affect the wholesomeness of the foodstuff in its finished form.

What are the new standards?

22. The Directive sets parametric values for drinking water standards generally in line with the 1993 World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for drinking water quality. These guideline values represent the concentration of a constituent that does not result in any significant risk to the health of a consumer, usually over a lifetime of consumption. The most important change in the Directive is the reduction from 50  g/l to 10  g/l in the maximum permitted concentration of lead in drinking water. This change is introduced primarily in order to protect infants, young children and pregnant women from the neuro-toxic effects that are known to contribute to IQ deficits, learning and behavioural problems.

23. The value or concentration set for substances and parameters in the Directive incorporates margins that allow for uncertainties in our current estimation of risk. New parameters have been added where new scientific research has shown this to be necessary, but overall the total number of parameters has been reduced to include only those considered essential to ensure a continued high level of health protection. Member States are left to set values for additional national parameters where it is necessary, in light of local conditions, in order to protect human health.

How will the new standards be monitored?

24. Monitoring requirements are revised in the Directive, and allow Member States to adapt the amount and nature of monitoring to local conditions. The approach to reference methods of analysis for monitoring has also been revised to permit the use of methods meeting certain performance standards rather than requiring the use of certain defined methods. This allows Member States to adapt their methods to technical and scientific progress without necessitating changes to the Directive.

How will failures to meet the standards be addressed?

25. The Directive provides a flexible framework of derogations within which Member States can redress failures to meet the required standards provided there is no potential danger to human health and that the supply of drinking water cannot be maintained by any other reasonable means.

Where can I find out more about EC Directive 98/83/EC?

26. You will find the full text of EC Directive 98/83/EC at: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/1998/en_398L0083.html

PUBLIC BUILDINGS – ISSUES FOR CONSULTATION

Introduction

27. Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (the Drinking Water Directive) sets quality standards for all drinking water supplies. In the case of water supplied from a distribution network, the Directive requires the quality standards to be monitored within premises at taps that are normally used to supply water for human consumption. However, it will not be deemed to have been a breach of the Directive where it can be shown that a breach is due to the domestic distribution system, except in premises where water is supplied to the public, such as schools, hospitals and restaurants.

28. Any breach of the drinking water quality standards detected at a tap, used to supply water for human consumption in a public building, is therefore a breach of the drinking water Directive.

29. Although the Directive sets frequencies for monitoring drinking water supplies, it does not specifically set frequencies for monitoring premises where water is supplied to the public. However, the Directive does state that monitoring programmes should be appropriate to local needs. The results of a study commissioned by the Scottish Executive Water Services Unit study suggest that the standards set by the new Drinking Water Directive will be breached in about 12% of schools, hospitals and restaurants when the new Directive comes into force on 25 December 2003. Consequently, there is a need to improve the quality of drinking water supplies in these buildings in Scotland. The report on the study on compliance in public buildings is reproduced at Annex A.

30. It is considered that a monitoring and enforcement regime specifically targeted at public buildings is required to bring about compliance with the Drinking Water Directive in such buildings in Scotland.

Public Buildings Register

31. The first step in producing a monitoring and enforcement regime for public buildings in Scotland is the compilation of a register of all those properties that are to be covered by the regime. The Directive refers to schools, hospitals and restaurants but it is considered that within these groups "hospitals" would include all health care premises and "schools" would include all teaching and day-care premises. Similarly, "restaurants" would include all premises where food or accommodation is provided as a main activity or otherwise. Clearly there are many more public buildings than those groups referred to in the Directive. Community premises such as halls, libraries, galleries, museums, heritage premises and sporting centres and venues would also be included. It is not envisaged that office buildings or buildings that are workplaces should be included unless the building concerned has a public counter with facilities for members of the public to obtain a drink of water.

32. One option would be to allow each local authority to draw up its own list of public buildings. This would be supported by guidance but essentially it would be for the local authority to determine the public buildings that should be included on the list. The alternative would be to have a definitive list of the different types of public buildings in the Regulations. However, there would be considerable difficulty in producing a definitive list given the wide variety of public buildings. It is suggested, therefore, that it may be better to rely on the knowledge of local authorities to draw up a register.

Consultation Point 1: should the register of public buildings be (a) based on local knowledge and determined by the local authority with guidance from the Scottish Executive, or (b) a definitive list of property types identified in the Regulation ?.

Frequency of Monitoring of Public Buildings

33. The standards set for the quality of water supplied from taps in public buildings will be the same as those set in the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2001. In some instances the standards in the 2001 Regulations are tighter than those set in the Drinking Water Directive. However, the standards in the Regulations have been set with public health in mind and it would be inconsistent, and impractical, to set lower standards for public buildings. The water quality standards set for public buildings will therefore be the same as those in the 2001 Regulations.

34. The monitoring requirements in public buildings should be set to bring about compliance with the Drinking water Directive by 25 December 2003. It is clear that this may not be practicable in all situations and that it may be necessary to carry out a risk assessment on public buildings to ensure that those that pose the highest risk are tested first and prioritised for improvements where necessary.

35. The frequency of monitoring of public buildings could be based on the normal occupancy of the building. It is suggested that initially at least two visits per annum should be made to every public building. If the monitoring regime was to be based on occupancy levels then the number of visits required per annum might rise to four for larger buildings. It is expected however, that most properties would fall into the lower category and ultimately would be visited just once a year. The mechanism to reduce the number of visits required per annum from the standard to the reduced frequency would be two consecutive years of compliance with the regulatory standards.

Consultation Point 2: should the standard monitoring frequency for public buildings be (a) based on the normal occupancy of the building with a facility to reduce the frequency if it can be shown that the water is compliant with the regulatory standards? For example:

or (b) set at one visit per annum regardless of the size of the property and with no facility to reduce the frequency of the visits?

Point of Compliance

36. The Drinking Water Directive states that the point of compliance should be the point within premises at which the water emerges from taps normally used for human consumption. No differentiation is made in the Directive between taps that are fed directly from the water main and those that are served from a storage tank. This is an important point because when the water authorities are carrying out sampling of domestic properties under the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2001, samples are taken from taps that are connected directly to the water main. Water authorities take this approach with domestic properties because non-compliance with Directive standards due to the plumbing within a property, or the maintenance thereof, is only considered to be a breach of the Directive in public buildings. Water authority sampling in domestic properties is primarily intended to demonstrate the compliance of the water supplied to the property by the water authority. Any non-compliance identified as a result of domestic plumbing system will however be notified to the property owner.

37. Any tap from which the public can obtain a drink of water in a public building must supply water compliant with the Directive, regardless of whether the tap is fed directly from the public main or a storage tank. Any tap from which the public can obtain a drink should therefore be included in the sampling programme for public buildings. This implies that water samples taken from public buildings, to demonstrate compliance with the Directive, could be taken from any floor of a building where a drinking water tap was available. This is different from water authority sampling of domestic premises where the normal procedure would be to take a sample from the tap closest to the authority’s main. The protocol for taking samples from public buildings also has to be different from that used by a water authority in domestic premises. Since any non-compliance due to a domestic plumbing system would not be a breach of the Directive, water authority sampling officers routinely disinfect domestic taps to avoid any unnecessary failures due to the poor microbiological condition of the tap. It would however, not be appropriate to disinfect a tap in a public building, prior to taking a sample, because the condition of the tap is relevant to the quality of the water supplied from that tap and whether or not it complies with the standards set in the Directive.

38. In some buildings, taps fed from unsatisfactory plumbing may have been labelled "not for drinking". However, even if a notice is displayed, there is no guarantee in a public building that the person seeking the drink of water can actually read or understand the message. It is also not unheard of for taps labelled "not for drinking" to be used to fill kettles in the mistaken belief that boiling the water will make it safe. This may be the case if the contamination is microbiological but if the contamination is chemical, such as lead contamination from lead plumbing, then boiling the water will not make it safe to drink. This raises an issue about whether labelling taps "not for drinking" is sufficient.

Consultation Point 3: Assuming labels are highly visible and fixed, is it sufficient to label a tap supplying water that does not comply with the standards and to which the public has access as "not for drinking"?

39. Guidance would be given to samplers as to what constituted appropriate labelling. Guidance would also be given regarding what is considered to be "reasonable provision" in terms of the number of taps available to the public from which a drink can be obtained.

Consultation Point 4: should the taps within a public building from which a member of the public can obtain a drink of water be (a) listed on the public buildings register, or (b) identified and selected by the sampler at the time the water samples are taken?

Consultation Point 5: at each visit water samples should be taken (a) from all taps within a public building from which water can be supplied for drinking, or (b) from just one tap chosen at random each visit, or (c) from a variable number of taps depending on the size of the building?

Parameters to be Monitored

40. While the standards set for all the parameters in the Directive should be met at the tap, it is not necessary to check compliance in a public building with every parameter. The reason for this is that the water authority will be carrying out testing for all of the Directive’s parameters in the supply zone within which the public building is situated. A number of these parameters will not be affected by the condition of the plumbing in the public building so it is not necessary to carry out further testing for these parameters.

41. It is proposed therefore to restrict testing to those parameters that might be affected by the condition of the internal plumbing. It is suggested that the following parameters be tested in public buildings:

Consultation Point 6: The suggested list of parameters to be tested in public buildings is (a) too onerous, (b) about right, or (c) insufficient?

(if option (a) or option (c) above is selected, please identify parameters to be removed or added)

Responsibility for Monitoring

42. It would be possible to place the responsibility for monitoring the quality of water in public buildings with either local authorities or water authorities since both have the necessary capabilities. However, since water authorities are primarily interested in the quality of the water in the public main and not the quality of the distribution system in public buildings it would seem appropriate to make local authorities responsible for monitoring the quality of drinking water in public buildings.

43. It is also important that samples are taken throughout public buildings and that all taps from which the public might obtain drinking water are sampled. This includes taps served by storage tanks as well as mains fed taps. Local authorities already have the necessary powers of access under Health and Safety legislation to take water samples from anywhere in a public building. While similar powers of access could be provided for water authority sampling officers, it is not considered appropriate to give such a wide power to a water authority.

44. The only practical option therefore is to place the duty of sampling of public buildings with the local authority. However, placing this duty with Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) does raise the question of self-regulation since local authorities own a significant number of public buildings. It is suggested therefore that local authorities report the results of their regulatory sampling to the Water Services Unit at the Scottish Executive and that all analysis be carried out at accredited laboratories. Such an approach would ensure that all results would be fully auditable and open to checking in the same manner as water authority results. Reporting the results to the Executive would also demonstrate that ultimately the responsibility for compliance with the Directive lay with Scottish Ministers and not the local authorities. Thus avoiding any concern there may be regarding self-enforcement.

45. If a duty were placed on local authorities to take water samples from public buildings, this would largely be a new burden on the local authorities. EHOs may take water samples under existing legislation but this is not routinely carried out. The cost associated with the taking, sampling and analysis of water supplies in public buildings should therefore be recoverable from the owner of the building. In some situations, the owner of the public building will also be the local authority and in these circumstances it may be necessary for one part of the authority to levy a charge against another. A study is currently underway to assess the cost and the impact of the Regulations on both the enforcing authorities and the owners of public buildings.

Consultation Point 7: should the results of regulatory sampling be reported to (a) to the owner of the building, or (b) to the owner of the building and the Scottish Executive?

Non-Compliance with Standards

46. The local authority shall investigate any non-compliance detected by the regulatory sampling programme. It will be important to confirm that the cause of the non-compliance was as a result of a deficiency in the internal plumbing and not the incoming water supplied by the water authority. This could involve checking the results of water authority sampling carried out in the relevant supply zone at the time the non-compliant sample was taken from the public building. In exceptional cases it may be necessary to arrange a sample to be taken from the public network at the same time as a re-sample is being taken from the public building.

47. It is proposed that public buildings should prominently display the latest water quality data so those visitors to the building can make themselves aware of the quality of the drinking water in the building.

Consultation Point 8: Should the results of regulatory sampling be (a) prominently displayed in the public building, (b) kept on a public record by the local authority, or (c) both?

Enforcement

48. If a water sample taken from a public building did not comply with the regulatory standards, it is proposed that the duty of enforcing the Regulations and securing improvements be placed with the local authority. An alternative option would be to make Scottish Ministers (in practice the Water Services Unit) responsible for enforcement. It is considered however that the duty of enforcing should be placed at a local level to make best use of local knowledge and expertise. It is important to note that it would be a duty that was placed on local authorities to enforce the Regulations rather than simply the provision of powers allowing them to enforce.

49. Self-regulation, or in this case self-enforcement, is once again an issue but it is considered that this can be resolved by setting up an open and transparent reporting regime. An approach mirroring that taken with public water supplies, where the water authorities notify breaches of the Water Supply (Water Quality) (Scotland) Regulations to the Scottish Executive should provide sufficient reassurances. As with the water supply Regulations, if the nature of the breach posed a risk to public health, the Consultant in Public Health Medicine at the local Health Board would also be notified.

50. In addition to providing transparency, the benefit of local authorities informing the Water Services Unit is to ensure that Scottish Ministers are kept informed of any breaches of the Regulations. Ministers need to be aware of any failures by owners of public buildings to carry out improvements aimed at bringing about compliance with the Drinking Water Directive. The reason for this is that Ministers cannot allow any non-compliance to result in a referral to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Referral to the ECJ for a breach of the Directive could result in significant fines being levied on the UK Government and ultimately the Scottish Parliament.

51. Non-compliance with an enforcement notice would therefore be made an offence. In practice, non-compliance would result in a report being made to the Procurator Fiscal and it would be for him/her to decide how to proceed.

Consultation Point 9: the requirement to notify breaches of the Regulations to Scottish Ministers is (a) required to give transparency to the enforcement process, or (b) unnecessary because placing a duty on the local authority to enforce the Regulations is sufficient to ensure that effective enforcement will take place?

Remedial Action

52. All water intended for human consumption should meet the requirements of the Drinking Water Directive by 25 December 2003. In order to minimise the risk to public health and the risk of non-compliance with the Directive, a risk assessment should be carried out on the various categories of public buildings and a prioritised programme for sampling and analysis drawn up to determine where remedial works are required.

53. In the event of non-compliance the necessary remedial action shall be taken as soon as possible. If the non-compliance constitutes a potential danger to human health, then the use of water in the public building in question must be prohibited or its use restricted or such other action taken as necessary to protect human health. Where remedial action is required the public must be notified unless the non-compliance is considered to be trivial and has occurred on less than 30 days during the previous 12 months.

54. Where remedial action is required and where non-compliance does not constitute a potential danger to human health, local authorities may authorise a departure from the standard set in the Regulations. Authorised departures shall be for as short a time as possible and shall not exceed 3 years.

55. The estimated cost of the remedial work across Scotland in schools, hospitals and restaurants is around ￿25 million (see Chapter 3).

Consultation Point 10: should the power to issue authorised departures for water quality standards in public buildings rest with (a) local authorities, or (b) Scottish Ministers ?

Quality Assurance

56. Local authorities shall ensure that all analysis work carried out to determine compliance with the standards set in the Regulations complies with the specification for analyses set out in the Regulations. Other methods may be used providing it can be demonstrated that the results obtained are at least as reliable as those produced by the methods specified. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) must accredit all laboratories used for analysis work.

Information and Reporting

57. Local authorities shall provide the Water Services Unit with an annual report on the quality of water supplied in public buildings in their area in the previous year. The format of the report shall be specified the Regulations.

58. Local authorities shall make available for inspection by members of the public; all records maintained by it in respect of the public buildings water supplies Regulations.

59. The owners of public buildings shall display in a prominent position, the results of sampling carried out under the Regulations.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION

Closing date for comments

60. Comments on the issues and proposals raised in this paper should reach the Scottish Executive by 21^st June 2002.

Confidentiality of response to consultation exercise

61. The Scottish Executive may wish to publish responses to this consultation document, or deposit them in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Unless the respondent states otherwise the Scottish Executive will assume that there are no objections to their comments being made public in this way. If you would prefer your comments not to be made public, you should make this clear in your response, in which case your wishes will be respected.

Address to which comments should be sent

62. Comments may be made by post, e-mail or fax to:

Janet Brunton
Scottish Executive Water Services Unit
Area 1-H
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

How to obtain further copies of this paper

63. Further copies of this paper may be obtained from the above address. It is also available on the Scottish Executive website under "consultations" - http://www.scotland.gov.uk

64. Copies of this paper can be made available in Braille and languages other than English on request.

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