CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND DRAINS  ġ S.L.10.11 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 10.11
CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND DRAINS 
REGULATIONS 
21st March, 1934
GOVERNMENT NOTICE 110 of 1934, as amended by Government
Notices: 318 of 1935, 165 of 1936 and 579 of 1939.
Title . 
and Drains Regulations.
Composition of 
asphalt.
Cap. 10.
2. The layer of asphalt described in article 97 of the Code of
Police Laws is to have the minimum thickness of   point nine five
centimetres and is to consist of hot pitch and coarse sand mixed to
the satisfaction of the Sanitary Authority; the upper surface of the
layer of asphalt, which must be at least ten point one six
centimetres above the level of the street in the case of walls
adjacent to a street, is to be reckoned from the level of the street as
fixed in each case by the Public Works Department.
Composition of 
hydraulic cement - 
concrete.
Cap. 10.
3. The hydraulic cement-concrete mentioned in article 97 ( c )
(iii) of the Code of Police Laws shall be made as follows: eight
parts of hard stone spalls, three of lime and three of Roman
pozzolana; or four parts of hard stone spalls, one of Portland
cement and two of sand. In either case, the layer must have a
minimum thickness of ten point one six centimetres.
Ventilators.
inlets and outlets. Such ventilators are to have an aggregate
opening of not less than six point five square centimetres for every
six point one metres of cubic space, and shall be constructed in
such a manner and shall be placed in such a situation as the
Sanitary Authority may direct.
Verandahs.
Substituted by:
G.N. 318 of 1935.
5. (1) Verandahs in front of windows or doors which serve for
the lighting of a room shall not be deeper than one point two
metres, except in special cases. Their outer side shall be at least one
point eight metres   wide and shall be completely open and kept free
of any fixed glazed casings or other partitions, and if constructed in
the form of an arch, the apex of the arch shall be not more than
point three metres below the ceiling.
(2) Doors and windows giving into a verandah shall be at least
one point zero six   meters wide and their height shall extend to a
level distant not more than point six metres below the ceiling.
(3) Verandahs shall not be allowed in front of windows or
doors which serve for the lighting of a room when they give into an
internal yard, except in special cases approved by the Medical
Board.
Privies.
external wall with a window of not less than sixty centimetres by
thirty centimetres, exclusive of the frame, and shall be ventilated
by means of two ventilators having a sectional area corresponding
2 ġ S.L.10.11 CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND DRAINS
to not less than six point four five square centimetres for every six
point one metres of cubic space.
Water closet. 7. No water closet shall be in direct communication with any
room, but shall always be separated therefrom by a sufficiently
ventilated space.
Trapped basin. 8. The water closet is to have a trapped basin of nonabsorbent
material and wash-down pattern, the trap and basin being in one
piece.
Box seats. 9. Box seats shall in no case be used, but lifting seats or stone
seats thoroughly cemented shall be adopted.
Cesspits. 10. Every cesspit shall be dug in the street at least point six
metres distant from the street wall; it shall be coated with cement
and lime mortar and conveniently covered with a dome.
Construction of 
dome.
11.  In the construction of the said dome and in all cases in
which a cesspit has to be lined with masonry, these stones shall be
laid with mortar made of Roman pozzolana and lime, the whole to
be encased in a layer of good solid concrete at least fifteen
centimetres thick.
Communication to 
open air.
12. Every cesspit shall communicate with the open air by
means of an iron or glazed stoneware pipe at least seven point six
centimetres in internal diameter attached to the street wall and
raised to such a height and in such a manner as to prevent as far as
possible any escape of foul air from such pipe into any building in
the vicinity thereof.
Orifice.
Substituted by:
G.N. 165 of 1936.
13. Every cesspit shall be provided with an orifice twenty-two
point eight centimetres square in area, which shall be placed if
possible on the footpath and closed by means of a cover made of
iron or of other material approved by the Superintendent of Public
Health.
Sound pipes.
Amended by:
L.N. 579 of 1939.
14. (1) In the construction of every drain, sound pipes formed
of glazed stoneware, or iron, shall be used.
(2) Glazed stoneware pipes used for the conveyance of sewage,
slop or other foul liquids shall conform to British standard
specification and shall bear the name or trade mark of the
manufacturer impressed upon them before firing.
Drains. 15. All drains constructed or adapted for conveying sewage,
slop or other foul water shall have an internal diameter of not less
than ten point one centimetres, and shall be laid with a proper fall
and with water-tight socketed joints. Horizontal drains shall be laid
on a solid bed of good concrete.
Underground 
drains
16. All underground drains shall be laid in straight lines, at an
even gradient from point to point of not less than one to forty and,
if constructed otherwise than of iron pipes, shall be completely
embedded in and covered with good and solid concrete, at least
fifteen point two centimetres thick, all round. Adequate means of
access shall be provided in connection with such drains at suitable
points in the open air.
Soil pipe. 17. The soil pipe shall be of the same diameter as the
horizontal drain and it shall be fixed outside the building whenever
CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND DRAINS  ġ S.L.10.11 3
possible, and it shall be continued vertically upwards without bends
or angles except where unavoidable, and without diminution of its
diameter, to such a height and in such a manner as directed by the
Sanitary Authority.
Drains 
communicating 
with a sewer.
18. All drains communicating with any sewer or cesspit shall
be provided with a suitable disconnection trap at a point as distant
as may be practicable from the building and as near as may be
practicable to the point at which such drains join the sewer or
cesspit. Proper means of access for the purpose of cleansing shall
be provided in connection with such trap.
Changes of 
direction.
19.   Changes of direction in drains shall not be at an angle but
at a curve, and junctions shall be made obliquely in the direction of
the flow.
Openings.
openings. One opening shall communicate with the drain by means
of a suitable pipe through an inspection chamber and shall be
situated as near as may be practicable to the trap fixed between the
drain and the sewer or cesspit, but always on the side of the trap
which is nearer to the building. The second opening shall be
obtained by carrying up a pipe from the other end of the drain
vertically to such a height and in such a manner as may be ordered
by the Sanitary Authority.
(2) The opening, which is situated near the intercepting trap,
shall be furnished with a grating or other suitable cover so
constructed and fitted as to secure the free passage of air through
such grating or cover by means of a sufficient number of apertures
of which the aggregate extent shall not be less than the sectional
area of the pipe or drain to which such grating or cover may be
fitted.
Inspection 
chambers.
21.   The cover of the inspection chambers shall be formed of
hard stone slabs or of other suitable material which the Sanitary
Authority may approve.
Pipes for the 
ventilation of 
drains.
22.   Every pipe which is used for the ventilation of drains shall
be of a sectional area not less than that of the drain with which such
pipe communicates. No bend or angle shall, except where
unavoidable, be formed in any pipe used for the ventilation of
drains.
Ventilating pipe.
intercepting drains is not sufficiently long to allow of the provision
of the two ventilators mentioned in regulation 20, a ventilating pipe
shall be raised from a point between the said water closet and the
intercepting trap, to such a height as the Sanitary Authority may
direct.
Waste pipe.
pipe for carrying off waste water shall discharge on a gully trap in
the open air; and, when in the opinion of the Sanitary Authority the
length of the pipe renders it necessary, a syphon trap shall be
provided at the internal end of the pipe and such pipe shall be
ventilated.
Overflow of water.
4 ġ S.L.10.11 CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND DRAINS
tanks shall, whenever possible, discharge on to the gutter of the
roadway by means of a ten point one centimetres glazed pipe, to
which the provisions of regulations 16 and 19 shall apply, or into
the road culverts when so ordered by the Sanitary Authority.
(2) The yard or yards of a house shall be paved with smooth
slabs of stone properly jointed or with other suitable material, and
given the slope necessary to carry any water that may fall on the
surface on to the outlet drain mentioned in sub-regulation (1) of
this regulation.
(3) Should the yard be allowed to be drained into the sewer or
into a cesspool, its surface shall be drained on to a gully trap
suitably situated and regularly connected with the drains.
(4) The Superintendent of Public Health may allow the yard or
yards of a house to be drained in any other manner which he may
consider suitable in any particular case.
Construction of 
houses.
Cap. 10.
26. (1) The construction or re-construction of houses, privies,
sinks and other sanitary fittings, of conduits, junctions, ventilators,
and other things contemplated in articles 97 and 98 of the Code of
Police Laws and in these Regulations, shall be carried out under the
direction and supervision of the Sanitary Authority who may apply
also such tests as may be necessary to ascertain that the provisions
of the said Code and of these Regulations have been satisfactorily
complied with.
(2) No part of a house, privy, sink or other sanitary fitting, or of
a conduit, junction, ventilator, or any other thing contemplated in
the said Code and in these Regulations shall be covered over before
the   Sanitary Authority has inspected it and declared it to be
regularly constructed and laid.
(3) The Sanitary Authority shall also have power to apply any
necessary tests to any existing drain, conduit or sanitary fitting, if
there exists any reasonable doubt that the said drain, conduit or
sanitary fitting is defective.
Internal yard.
Substituted by:
G.N. 318 of 1935.
27. (1) Any internal yard of a house shall be not less than five
point five square metres in area when the building consists of a
ground and a first floor, and no side of such yard may be less than
one point eight metres in length, and the open space in front of any
opening which serves for the lighting of a room over   five point five
square metres in area shall be not less than three metres in width.
(2) For each additional floor above the first floor, the area of
such internal yard shall be increased in such a manner that
sufficient light and air shall reach all parts of the house giving into
the yard and so that the width of the open space in front of any
opening which serves for the lighting of a room over five point five
square metres   in area shall be not less than three metres plus one
third of the height of any such additional floor or floors.
(3) The Superintendent of Public Health may in special cases
allow exceptions to the above rule.
Yard. 28. Any yard of a house shall be not less than one point five
CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND DRAINS  ġ S.L.10.11 5
metres long at any side which is adjacent to a room.
Glazed fanlight.
Substituted by:
G.N. 318 of 1935.
Amended by:
G.N. 165 of 1936.
29. If a room receives light through a doorway, there shall be
formed above such doorway a glazed fanlight constructed of such
size and in such a manner as the Sanitary Authority may direct.
Whenever possible in the opinion of the Superintendent of Public
Health, however, every room shall have a window in addition to the
door.
Wall below level of 
street.
Cap. 10.
30. (1) The wall or any portion of a wall, of any part of a house
which is below the level of the street or of any adjoining open
space (excepting the wall of a cellar which is not to be used for
habitation or otherwise occupied by man) shall be constructed with
two faces, the outer face to be at least twenty-two point eight
centimetres wide and the intervening space to be at least ten point
one centimetres thick and formed of impervious material composed
of one part Portland cement, two parts clean sand and four parts
hard stone spells not larger than three point eight centimetres in
diameter and there shall be damp proof layers as described in
article 97 (1) ( a ) of the Code of Police Laws at the level of the
pavement of the room and above the level of the surface of the
street or of the adjoining open space.
(2)  This regulation shall apply to walls in inclined streets
mentioned in article 97 ( c ) (ii) of the said Code.
Notice.
Cap. 10.
31. The notice required by article 97 ( o ) (i) of the Code of
Police Laws shall be given on the form prescribed by the
Superintendent of Public Health and the drawing referred to in the
said article 97 ( o ) (i) shall be drawn to scale and submitted in the
original together with a true copy. If necessary, in the opinion of
the Superintendent of Public Health, the plan of any or each floor
of the proposed building as well as elevations and articles thereof
shall also be submitted.
