who may be employed in each room of the office by A.D. 1924. virtue of this section. 3.-(1) After the first day of January, nineteen Underhundred and twenty-eight, an underground room shall ground 5 not be used as an office. (2) No underground room shall be used as an office unless it was so used at the passing of this Act. (3) Subject to the foregoing provision, after the passing of this Act an underground room shall not be 10 used unless certified by the local sanitary authority to be suitable for that purpose. (4) For the purpose of this Act, an underground room shall mean any room which is so situate that the surface of the floor is more than three feet below the 15 surface of the footway of the adjoining street, or of the ground adjoining or nearest to the room. (5) An underground room shall not be certified as suitable unless the local sanitary authority is satisfied that it is suitable as regards construction, light, venti20 lation, and all other respects. (6) If any room is used in contravention of this section, it shall be deemed to be an office not kept in conformity with this Act. (7) In the event of a refusal of a certificate by the 25 local sanitary authority, the occupier of the room may, within twenty-one days from the refusal, by complaint apply to a court of summary jurisdiction, and if it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the room is suitable for use as an office as regards construction, 30 light, ventilation, and all other respects, the court shall thereupon grant a certificate of suitability of the room for use as an office, which shall have effect as if it had been granted by the local sanitary authority. (8) Where any room has been let for use as an 35 office, and the certificate required by this section cannot be obtained unless structural alterations are made, and the occupier alleges that the whole or part of the expenses of the alterations ought to be borne by the owner, he may by complaint apply to a court of sum40 mary jurisdiction, and that court may make such order concerning the expenses, or their apportionment between the owner and the occupier, as appears to the court to be just and equitable under the circumstances of offices. A.D. 1924. the case, regard being had to the terms of any contract between the parties or, in the alternative, the court may, at the request of either party, determine the tenancy. Sanitary 4. (1) Every office must be provided with sufficonveniences cient and suitable accommodation in the way of sanitary 5 conveniences and lavatories. and lava tories. Provision of means of escape in case of fire. (2) The accommodation in the way of sanitary (a) There shall be one sanitary convenience and (d) Sanitary conveniences and lavatories shall be (3) An office in which there is a contravention of this section shall be deemed not to be kept in conformity 30 with this Act. 5.-(1) Every office must be furnished with a certificate from the local sanitary authority of the district in which the office is situate that the office is provided with such means of escape in case of fire for the persons 35 employed therein as can reasonably be required under the circumstances of each case, and if the office is not so furnished it shall be deemed not to be kept in conformity with this Act; and it shall be the duty of the local sanitary authority to examine every such office and, on 40 being satisfied that the office is so provided, to give such a certificate as aforesaid. The certificate must specify in detail the means of escape so provided. (2) It shall be the duty of the local sanitary authority A.D. 1924; of every district from time to time to ascertain whether all offices within their district are provided with such means of escape as aforesaid, and, in the case of any 5 office which is not so provided, to serve on the owner of the premises a notice in writing specifying the measures necessary for providing the means of escape as aforesaid, and requiring him to carry them out before a specified date, and thereupon the owner shall, notwithstanding any 10 agreement with the occupier, have power to take such steps as are necessary for complying with the requirements; and unless the requirements are complied with, the owner shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for every day that the non-compliance continues. 15 (3) In case of a difference of opinion between the owner of the premises and the local sanitary authority under the last foregoing subsection, the difference shall, on the application of either party, to be made within one month after the time when the difference arises, 20 be referred to arbitration (and thereupon the provisions of the First Schedule to the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, shall have effect), and the award on the arbitration shall be binding on the parties thereto, and the notice of the local sanitary authority shall be discharged, 25 amended, or confirmed in accordance with the award. (4) If the owner alleges that the occupier of the office ought to bear or contribute to the expenses of complying with the requirement, he may apply to the county court having jurisdiction where the office is 30 situate, and thereupon the county court, after hearing the occupier, may make such order as appears to the court just and equitable under all the circumstances of the case. (5) The means of escape in case of fire provided in 35 any office shall be maintained in good condition and free from obstruction, and if it is not so maintained the office shall be deemed not to be kept in conformity with this Act. (6) All expenses incurred by a district council in 40 the execution of this section shall be defrayed (a) in the case of an urban district council, as part A.D. 1924: Byelaws for means of escape from fire. Doors of offices to open from inside. Restriction of period of employment. of office. (b) in the case of a rural district council, as special expenses incurred in the execution of the Public Health Act, 1875; and those expenses shall be charged to the contributory place in which the office is situate. 5 6. Every local sanitary authority shall, in addition to any powers which they possess with reference to the prevention of fire, have power to make byelaws providing for means of escape from fire in the case of any office, and sections one hundred and eighty-two to one hundred 10 and eighty-six of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall apply to any byelaws so made. 7.-(1) While any person employed in an office is within the office for the purposes of employment or meals, the doors of the office, and of any room therein 15 in which any such person is, must not be locked or bolted or fastened in such a manner that they cannot be easily and immediately opened from the inside. (2) An office in which there is a contravention of this section shall be deemed not to be kept in conformity 20 with this Act. 8. The following regulations with regard to the period of employment in an office shall be observed :(1) No person who is under sixteen years of age shall be employed: (2) No young person shall be employed continuously for more than four hours without an interval of at least one hour for a meal : (3) No young person shall be employed during the night or on Sunday: (4) Provided always that nothing in this Act shall prevent the employment of any person in case of an accident or serious emergency. 25 30 Notice of 9. (1) Every person who occupies an office shall, occupation within three months after the passing of this Act or 35 within one month after he begins to occupy an office, forward to the local sanitary authority a written notice containing the name of the office, the place where it is situate, the address to which he desires his letters to be addressed, the nature of the work, and the name 40 and address of the employer under which the business A.D. 1924. of the office is to be carried on. (2) In the event of a contravention of this section by the occupier of an office he shall be liable to a fine 5 not exceeding five pounds. 10. (1) There shall be affixed at the entrance of Affixing of every office, and in such other parts thereof as the abstract local sanitary authority directs, and be constantly and notice. kept so affixed in the prescribed form and in such 10 position as to be easily read by persons employed in the office 15 (a) an abstract of this Act; and (b) a notice of the name and address of the local (c) every notice and document required by this Act (2) In the event of a contravention of this section in an office, the employer shall be liable to a fine not exceeding forty shillings. 20 11.—(1) In every office there shall be kept by the General employer a register, called the general register, showing, registers. in a form to be prescribed by the Minister of Health, 25 particulars as to (a) the young persons employed in the office; and (c) such other matters as may be prescribed. (2) Where any entry is required by this Act to be made in the general register, the entry made by the employer or on his behalf shall, as against him, be 30 admissible as primâ facie evidence of the facts therein stated, and the failure to make any entry so required with respect to the observance of any provision of this Act shall be admissible as primâ facie evidence that that provision has not been observed. 35 (3) The employer shall send to the local sanitary authority such extracts from the general register as they from time to time require for the execution of their duties under this Act. (4) If in any office any requirement of this section 40 is not complied with, the employer shall be liable to a |