57 & 58 Vict. c. ccxiii. s. 36. Numbering houses. 28 days (see sect. 174, post, p. 268), but it is to be noticed that the wording of that section is ambiguous, and may be confined to objections by the Council. 36.--(1) The Council may order that any houses or buildings in any street or way or any part thereof shall for the purpose of distinguishing the same be marked with such numbers as they shall deem convenient for that purpose and which they shall specify in their order in that behalf. (2) Whenever the Council have made any such order they shall transmit a copy thereof to the local authority and it shall be the duty of the local authority to perform all necessary acts and to take all requisite proceedings for carrying the order of the Council into execution. (3) The local authority shall give notice to the owners or occupiers of the houses and buildings in such street or way to mark their several houses and buildings with such numbers as the Council shall bave ordered and to renew the numbers of such houses or buildings as often as they are obliterated or defaced. (4) If any occupier of any such house or building neglect for one week after notice from the local authority to mark such house or building with such number as shall be mentioned and required in such notice the local authority may and shall cause such number to be so marked or renewed and recover the expenses thereof from the owner or occupier of such house or building in a summary manner. ' Order.'-Orders issued by the Council are to be under its seal, see sect. 187, post, p. 273. 'Street or way.'-These expressions are defined by sect. 5 (1) and (2) respectively, ante, pp. 6, 9. 'Local authority.'-Who is the local authority is defined by sect. 5 (42), ante, p. 39. Should the owner or occupier not comply with an order of the Council issued under this section, and the local authority fail to carry out the order or cause it to be carried out, the Council is empowered by sect. 37, post, to do whatever may be necessary in order to carry out the order. Under sect. 200 (4), post, p. 285, every person who hinders or obstructs any person empowered by the Act to enter any premises for the purpose of executing any work authorised or directed to be done under the Act, is rendered liable to a penalty. Alteration of numbers.-The Act does not provide, as in the case of the naming of streets, for the alteration of the numbers of the houses, but as sect. 38, post, requires the Council to keep a register of all alterations it may order to be made in the numbers of the houses in any street, it is to be presumed that it has power to make such an order should it think fit. Penalty.-Any person failing, neglecting, or omitting to do anything which he is required to do under or in pursuance of the Act, is rendered liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings by sect. 200 (11j), post, p. 291. 'Owner or occupier.'-The expression 'owner' is defined by sect. 5 (29), ante, p. 25, and by sect. 5 (30), ante, p. 32, the expression occupier' is not to include a lodger. An owner is empowered by sect. 192, post, for the purpose of complying with any notice or order served or made on him in pursuance of the Act, in respect of any building, to enter such building after notice to the occupier, in order to comply with the notice or order; and by sect 200 (11 g), post, p. 291, any person refusing to admit the owner or workmen, &c., or to afford him all reasonable assistance in complying with the notice or order, is liable to a penalty. Expenses.—These are recoverable in the manner directed by sect. 166, post, p. 254, and are apparently, unless there is a special covenant to the contrary between the owner and the occupier, to be borne ultimately by the owner, inasmuch as though recoverable by the local authority under this section from the owner, under sect. 37, infra, similar expenses incurred by the Council are only recoverable from the owner; and by section 173 (5), post, p. 267, the occupier is enabled to deduct from his rent the amount of any expenses which he has paid, which expenses may under the Act be recovered from the With regard to payment of expenses by owners, see owner. sect. 173, post. 57 & 58 Vict. c. ccxiii. s. 37. Power to Council to number streets in default of local authority complying with 37. Whenever the Council have transmitted a copy of any order made by them in pursuance of the provisions of this Part of this Act to any local authority and such name and local authority have for the space of three months after the receipt of such order failed to perform all or any of the necessary acts or to take all or any of the requisite proceedings for carrying such order into execution then and in every such case the Council may perform all or any of such necessary acts or take all or any of such necessary proceedings which the local authority have failed to perform or take and the Council may exercise all the rights powers authorities and jurisdiction of a local authority with respect thereto including the recovery of expenses from owners of houses and buildings. 'Local authority.'-This expression is defined by sect. 5 (42), ante, p. 39. Months.-That is calendar months. See sect. 3 of the Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63). 'Expenses.'-Where the Council incurs expenses under this order. 57 & 58 Vict. Register to be kept of alterations in names of streets. section, it can only recover them from the owner of the premises, and not from the occupier. The expenses are recoverable in the manner provided for by sect. 166, post, p. 254, and the payment of such expenses by the owner is subject to the rules prescribed by sect. 173, post, p. 266. 'Owner-For definition see sect. 5 (29), ante, p. 25. 38. The Council shall keep a register of all alterations made by them in the names of streets and in the numbers of the houses therein and such register shall be kept in such form as to show the date of every such alteration and the name of the street previous to such alteration as well as the new name thereof. It shall be lawful for any person to inspect such register and to take a copy of any portion thereof upon payment of such reasonable fee as the Council may from time to time determine. 'Register-This will presumably be kept at the offices of the Council in Spring Gardens. The alteration by the Council of the names of streets is provided for by sect. 34, ante, p. 90, but no express power is given to the Council to alter the numbers of buildings in any street. Such power is, however, it is presumed, to be implied from the direction in the present section to the Council to keep a register of all alterations it may make in the numbers of the houses in any street. 'Fee.'-Under the Regulations issued by the Council which are set out in App. III., Pt. II., post, a fee of 1s. is to be charged to persons seeking information involving a reference to its records with regard to orders under this Part of the Act. Meaning of 'domestic PART V. OPEN SPACES ABOUT BUILDINGS AND HEight of 39. For the purposes of this Part of this Act the expression domestic building' shall not include any this Part of buildings used or constructed or adapted to be used wholly or principally as offices or counting-houses. building' in Act. 'Domestic building.'-This expression is defined by sect. 5 (26), ante, p. 24, as including a dwelling-house and any other building not being a public building or of the warehouse class. A dwelling-house is by the previous subsection a building used or constructed or adapted to be used wholly or principally for human habitation. The expressions public building' and 'building of the warehouse class' are defined by subsects. 27 and 28 of the section. See the notes to the respective sub- 57 & 58 Vict sections. The previous enactments did not use the expression c. ccxiii. domestic building. By sect. 52, post, p. 115, a domestic building s. 40. fronting upon a street and a stable in its rear abutting on a mews are in certain cases to be deemed to form one domestic building. 40. In the case of domestic buildings erected after the commencement of this Act which shall have a habitable basement there shall for the purpose of giving light and air to such basement be provided in the rear of the building and exclusively belonging thereto an open space of an aggregate extent of not less than one hundred square feet free from any erection thereon above the level of the adjoining pavement which open space notwithstanding anything hereinafter contained need not necessarily adjoin the rear boundary of the premises. 'Domestic building.'-See as to this expression the preceding section. Commencement of the Act'-i.e. January 1, 1895. See sect. 3, ante, p. 4. 'Habitable basement.'-The expression 'habitable' is defined by sect. 5 (38), ante, p. 37, and applied to a room means a room constructed or adapted to be inhabited, and the expression 'inhabited' is defined by the preceding subsection to mean, when applied to a room, a room in which some person passes the night or which is used as a living room, including a room with respect to which there is a probable presumption (until the contrary is shown) that some person passes the night therein, or that it is used as a living room. What is a' basement storey' is defined by subsect. 12 of the same section to be a storey of a building which is under the ground storey, as to which see sect. 5 (11), ante, p. 16. Open space. The section is intended to secure the adequate lighting and ventilation of habitable basements, and must be read in connection with sect. 41. By the latter section it is permitted, under certain circumstances, to build over the whole of a site to the height of one storey, but by the operation of sect. 40 this would not be permissible if the building had a habitable basement; for it is necessary in every case that an open space should be left to the extent of not less than 100 square feet, for the purpose of giving light and air to such basement. It would not therefore be permissible to construct a habitable basement to a building which either had no means of light or ventilation, other than those which it derived from openings into the interior of the storey above it, or from openings into an area in the front of the building, as this section requires that an open space shall be provided in the rear of the building. As, however, such open space need not necessarily adjoin the rear boundary of the premises, it may be Light and ventilation of habitable basements. 57 & 58 Vict. c. ccxiii. S. 41. Space at rear of domestic buildings. provided in such a position as to abut on the rear of the main building, but to be at the side of that part of the building which is built out at the rear to the height of one storey. If the result is to form a 'court,' regard should be had to the provisions of sect. 45, post. A diagram illustrating this section will be found in App. V., Pl. I., post. 41.—(1) With respect to domestic buildings erected after the commencement of this Act and abutting upon a street formed or laid out after the commencement of this Act the following provisions shall have effect : (i) There shall be provided in the rear of every such building an open space exclusively belonging to such building and of an aggregate extent of not less than one hundred and fifty square feet; Where there is a basement storey directly and sufficiently lighted and ventilated by the open space provided under the preceding section irrespective of any use to which the ground storey is appropriated or where there is no such basement storey but where the ground storey is not constructed or adapted to be inhabited the open space required by this section may be provided above the level of the ceiling of the ground storey or a level of sixteen feet exclusive of lantern-lights measured from the level of the adjoining pavement; In all other cases the open space shall be free from any erection thereon above the level of the adjoining pavement except a watercloset earthcloset or privy and a receptacle for ashes and enclosing walls none of which erections shall exceed nine feet in height : (ii) Such open space shall extend throughout the entire width of such building and to a depth in every part of at least ten feet from such building : (iii) The height of any such building in relation to the space required in the rear thereof shall be fixed and ascertained as follows: (a) An imaginary line (hereafter referred to as 'the horizontal line ') shall be drawn at right angles to the roadway formed or to be formed in front of the building and through or directly over a point in front of the centre of the face of the building; (b) The horizontal line shall be produced to intersect the boundary of the open space furthest from the said roadway; (c) The horizontal line shall be drawn throughout at the level of the pavement formed or to be |