Water regulations

The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 are statutory requirements for the design, installation, composition and maintenance of water fixtures and fittings.

“Water fittings” means any item that is connected to your water supply, such as taps, valves, cisterns and solder, and applied from the point where water enters the property’s underground service pipe.

The Water Regulations were created under the Water Industry Act 1991 to ensure the safety of the water supply.

The five main purposes of the Water Regulations are to protect against:

• contamination
• waste
• misuse
• undue consumption
• erroneous measurement.

Everyone must comply with the Water Regulations and water companies have an obligation to enforce them.

By law, owners and occupiers, and anyone who instals or maintains plumbing systems and water fittings, must ensure that their plumbing fittings have been designed, installed and maintained correctly to prevent drinking water being contaminated or wasted. For new buildings the same is true for architects, building developers and plumbers, who have to follow the Water Regulations on behalf of future owners or occupiers.

We need to be told in advance of certain plumbing work that you plan to undertake. We will review the information you provide and give consent for the work to begin or advise you of any special requirements that you need to be aware of.

We cannot ‘unreasonably’ withhold consent for your work. If you have not received a reply from us within 10 working days of writing to us, consent is ‘deemed’ to have been given and you can proceed with the work. For further information, please click on the links under “Useful documents” below.