Statute Details
- Title: Sewerage and Drainage (Sanitary Appliances and Water Charges) (Revocation) Regulations 2013
- Act Code: SDA1999-S69-2013
- Type: Subsidiary Legislation (SL)
- Authorising Act: Sewerage and Drainage Act (Cap. 294)
- Enacting Authority: Public Utilities Board (PUB), with Ministerial approval
- Key Provisions: Regulation 1 (Citation); Regulation 2 (Revocation and savings)
- Commencement / Effective Date: 1 February 2013 (revocation effective from and including this date)
- Publication / SL Number: SL 69/2013
- Made Date: 31 January 2013
- Status (per extract): Current version as at 27 Mar 2026
What Is This Legislation About?
The Sewerage and Drainage (Sanitary Appliances and Water Charges) (Revocation) Regulations 2013 is a short but legally significant set of regulations. Its core function is to revoke an earlier regulatory framework: the Sewerage and Drainage (Sanitary Appliances and Water Charges) Regulations (referred to in the revocation regulations as “Rg 1”). In practical terms, it marks the end of a specific method for calculating and charging sewerage and drainage-related charges that were previously linked to the presence of certain sanitary appliances and water consumption.
However, the revocation is not absolute. The regulations include a “savings” or transitional provision to ensure that charges relating to a period ending on 31 January 2013 can still be collected even though the underlying regulations are revoked. This is a common legislative technique: it prevents revenue leakage and avoids disputes about whether charges for a pre-revocation period remain payable.
In addition, the revocation regulations preserve the continued operation of a separate set of rules dealing with late payment charges. This means that even though the sanitary-appliance and water-charge regulations are revoked, the consequences of late payment under the late payment regime remain enforceable for relevant charges.
What Are the Key Provisions?
Regulation 1 (Citation) provides the short title. This is standard drafting: it tells practitioners and enforcement agencies what to call the instrument when referencing it in correspondence, submissions, or court/tribunal documents.
Regulation 2 (Revocation and savings) is the substantive provision. It is structured into four paragraphs that (1) revoke the earlier regulations, (2) preserve payment obligations for a transitional period, (3) specify how the transitional charges are to be calculated, and (4) clarify the continued application of late payment charges.
Regulation 2(1): Revocation states that the earlier Sewerage and Drainage (Sanitary Appliances and Water Charges) Regulations are revoked with effect from and including 1 February 2013. From that date, the revoked regulations no longer form the legal basis for new billing calculations under that specific regime. For lawyers, this matters because it affects which charging methodology applies to periods after 1 February 2013 and which legal instrument can be relied upon by PUB when issuing bills.
Regulation 2(2): Savings for unpaid bills relating to 31 January 2013 addresses a practical billing issue. It provides that, notwithstanding the revocation, the charges referred to in regulations 3 and 4 of the revoked regulations (in relation to any premises) shall continue to be payable for any period ending on 31 January 2013 for which a bill has not been issued as at that date. In other words, if PUB had not yet issued a bill by 31 January 2013, it can still issue a bill later, but only for the relevant pre-revocation period.
Regulation 2(3): Determination of who is liable and how the sums are computed is the most technically important part of the transitional regime. It makes two linked determinations:
- Liability (occupier vs owner): For the purposes of Regulation 2(2), PUB determines that every occupier of premises is liable to pay the transitional charges. Where the premises are vacant, the owner is liable. This allocation is crucial for disputes involving tenancy changes, property vacancies, or billing to the wrong party.
- Calculation components: PUB also sets out the sums payable, using variables that mirror the earlier charging logic. The transitional charges consist of two main components:
- A sanitary-appliance component based on the number of water-closets, bidets, slop-sinks, and urinals (or urinal bowl/stall counts or slab length), connected to sewerage systems vested in or owned by the Government or controlled/supervised/maintained/repaired by PUB.
- A water-supply component based on the volume of water supplied to the premises during the period ending 31 January 2013.
The regulation defines the variables as follows (as reflected in the extract):
- A is the proportion which the transitional period (ending 31 January 2013) bears to the billing period for the charges under the revoked regulations in which 31 January 2013 falls. This ensures that if the billing period spans multiple months, the charge is prorated for the portion ending on 31 January 2013.
- B is the total number of water-closets, bidets and slop-sinks in the premises connected to relevant sewerage systems.
- C is, for urinals, the total number of bowls or stalls, or every 610 millimetres length of slab, connected to relevant sewerage systems.
- D is the volume of water supplied to the premises during the transitional period, measured in cubic metres.
- E is the applicable rate per cubic metre: $0.2803 for domestic premises and $0.5607 for non-domestic premises.
Although the extract truncates the exact monetary formula for the sanitary-appliance component (the “sum of … where A, B, C …” appears incomplete in the provided text), the legal effect is clear: PUB is empowered to compute the transitional charges by applying the earlier regulatory framework’s appliance-based and water-based components, prorated for the relevant period, and using the specified per-cubic-metre rates.
Regulation 2(4): Late payment charges continue to apply ensures continuity of enforcement. It provides that nothing in Regulation 2(1) (the revocation) prevents the Sewerage and Drainage (Late Payment Charge) Regulations 2013 (G.N. No. S 68/2013) from continuing to apply in relation to charges under regulation 3 of the revoked regulations or under Regulation 2(3)(a) of the revocation regulations. Practically, this means that if the transitional charges are billed after revocation, late payment penalties can still be imposed if the statutory conditions for late payment are met.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
This instrument is extremely concise. It contains:
- Regulation 1 (Citation): short title.
- Regulation 2 (Revocation and savings): the operative provisions, including revocation, transitional liability, computation method, and preservation of late payment charges.
There are no additional parts or schedules in the extract. The drafting is typical of revocation regulations: rather than re-enacting a full charging regime, it focuses on ending an existing one while protecting the ability to collect charges for a defined transitional period.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The regulations apply to premises connected to relevant sewerage and sewerage systems vested in or owned by the Government or controlled/supervised/maintained/repaired by PUB. The transitional charging provisions are directed at the parties who are liable for payment of sewerage and drainage charges for the period ending 31 January 2013.
Liability is allocated by reference to occupation status: occupiers are liable for the transitional charges, and where premises are vacant, the owner is liable. This is particularly relevant for practitioners advising on billing disputes, tenancy transitions, and property management arrangements.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
Even though the regulations are short, they are important because they address a common legal and administrative problem: what happens to charges for a period before a regulatory change takes effect. Without a savings provision, there could be arguments that revocation extinguishes the legal basis for collecting charges that relate to the pre-revocation period, especially where bills are issued after the revocation date.
From a practitioner’s perspective, the transitional provisions in Regulation 2(2) and the calculation and liability rules in Regulation 2(3) are the key. They determine (i) whether PUB can still bill for the period ending 31 January 2013, (ii) who must pay (occupier vs owner), and (iii) how the amount is computed (including prorating and the domestic/non-domestic water rate).
Finally, Regulation 2(4) preserves the late payment regime. This matters for enforcement and dispute resolution: a party challenging a bill issued after revocation may still face late payment charges if the underlying charges fall within the categories preserved by Regulation 2(4) and if the late payment regulations’ conditions are satisfied.
Related Legislation
- Sewerage and Drainage Act (Cap. 294) (authorising provisions, including sections 72 and 74 referenced in the enacting formula)
- Sewerage and Drainage (Sanitary Appliances and Water Charges) Regulations (revoked by these Regulations; referenced for regulations 3 and 4)
- Sewerage and Drainage (Late Payment Charge) Regulations 2013 (G.N. No. S 68/2013) (preserved for late payment consequences)
- Legislation Timeline (to confirm the correct version as at the relevant date)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Sewerage and Drainage (Sanitary Appliances and Water Charges) (Revocation) Regulations 2013 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.