Where do they come from?
The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, known as "The Regulations", were commissioned in 1999 by the Secretary of State for The Environment and are enforced by your local water supplier, such as Essex & Suffolk Water, in our area of supply. They fully replaced our previous water company byelaws on 1 July 1999.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, also referred to as defra, empower a water supplier, such as Essex & Suffolk Water, to enforce the regulations on their behalf. They expect us to deal with those that do not comply with the regulations, in what ever means appropriate, including prosecution. They insist that work is carried out professionally and that we are provided with details of the proposed installation in advance of certain notifiable works. For a full version of these Regulations go to the Defra website.