Sept. 25.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2203

Board of Trade (Gas) Regulations, 1924.

JELLICOE, Governor-General.

ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government House at Wellington, this 22nd day of September, 1924.

Present:

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL IN COUNCIL.

IN pursuance and exercise of the power and authority conferred upon him by section twenty-six of the Board of Trade Act, 1919, and of every other power and authority enabling him in this behalf, His Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said Dominion, doth hereby, on the recommendation of the Minister of Industries and Commerce, make the following Board of Trade Regulations relating to the regulation and control of the supply and sale of gas.

REGULATIONS.

1. THESE regulations may be cited as the Board of Trade (Gas) Regulations, 1924, and shall come into force on the 1st day of January, 1925.

2. In these regulations, unless the context requires another meaning,—

“ A British thermal unit ” means the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water from 60° Fahrenheit to 61° Fahrenheit.

“ Calorific value ” means the number of British thermal units (gross) produced by the combustion of 1 cubic foot of gas, measured at 60° Fahrenheit under a pressure of 30 in. of mercury and saturated with water-vapour.

“ A cubic foot ” means the space occupied by 62·321 lb. avoirdupois of distilled water, weighed in air at a temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, the barometer being at 30 in.

“ Gas company ” or “ company ” means any company, corporation, firm, or person supplying coal-gas for lighting, heating, motive power, or other purposes, and disposing of the same for profit, and includes a local authority as herein defined :

“ Local authority ” means a City or Borough Council or a Town Board :

“ Therm ” means one hundred thousand British thermal units :

“ Minister ” means the Minister of Industries and Commerce.

3. The Minister may, by order, require any gas company—

(a.) To declare the calorific value of the gas which it intends to supply :

(b.) To fix, with the approval of the Minister, a maximum price or maximum prices for each therm or for each thousand cubic feet of gas of declared calorific value ;

(c.) To supply gas of the declared calorific value at a specified minimum pressure and free from sulphuretted hydrogen :

Provided that any company may, subject to the provisions of clause 5 hereof, at any time after the declared calorific value of its gas by giving three months’ notice to the Minister of its intention to make such alteration.

4. The maximum price or maximum prices for each therm or for each thousand cubic feet of gas of declared calorific value shall be subject to alteration at any time, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that the costs and charges of and incidental to the production and supply of gas have substantially altered from circumstances beyond the control of, and which could not necessarily be avoided, by any company.

5. The declared calorific value of gas shall be not less than 400 British thermal units gross per cubic foot, unless it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that gas of a lower calorific value can be sold at such price as to warrant the fixation of a declared calorific value lower than 400 British thermal units gross per cubic foot.

6. In the event of a company supplying gas of a lower calorific value than 450 British thermal units gross per cubic foot, or in the case of alteration in the declared calorific value, the company shall take at its own expense such steps as may be necessary to alter, adjust, or replace the burners in consumers’ appliances, in such manner as to secure that the gas can be burned with safety and efficiency, except in the case of any consumer who objects to such alteration, adjustment, or replacement by the company.

7. The minimum permissible pressure shall be such pressure in any main or in any pipe, laid between the main and the meter, having an internal diameter of 2 in. and upwards, as to balance a column of water not less than 2 in. in height, except as may be otherwise provided by the order relating to any company, and different minima may be specified for different parts of the district supplied by any company, or for gas of different calorific values.

8. It shall not be lawful for any company (whether or not such company is a company specified in the Schedule hereto) to charge for the supply of gas according to the number of British thermal units supplied, unless authorized to do so by the Minister.

9. (1.) The Minister shall appoint two persons to act as Gas Referees, one of whom shall be a person having practical knowledge and experience in the manufacturing and supply of gas, and shall likewise appoint a third person who shall act as a Gas Referee and also as Chief Gas-examiner.

(2.) There may be appointed in a like manner such properly qualified Gas-examiners and Inspectors of Meters as may from time to time be found necessary for the purpose of carrying out these regulations.

10. Two of the Gas Referees shall be a quorum and at least two of the Gas Referees shall concur in every act or determination of the Gas Referees.

11. The Gas Referees shall prescribe—

(a.) The places and times at which and the apparatus and methods by which tests, whether continuous or intermittent, shall be made to ascertain whether any company with respect to which an order has been made under these regulations is supplying gas in accordance with its obligations ; and

(b.) The method by which any such apparatus shall be verified ; and

(c.) The time and form of the reports to be made by a Gas-examiner to the Gas Referees and to the companies, and the means by which the results of the tests shall be made available to the public.

12. If a company thinks itself aggrieved by any report of the Gas-examiner, it may within thirty (30) days appeal to the Gas Referees, who may confirm with or without amendment, or annul the report and the decision of the Gas Referees, after hearing the parties, shall be final and conclusive.

13. Any company with respect to which an order has been made under these regulations, shall provide and maintain, to the satisfaction of the Gas Referees, the prescribed testing places and apparatus, and shall give any Gas-examiner access to any testing-place for the proper execution of his duty.

14. The prescribed apparatus shall, in the case of any companies which have sold in the preceding year more than fifty million cubic feet of gas, and in any other case in which it appears necessary to the Gas Referees, include a calorimeter of a design approved by the Gas Referees, for the production of a continuous record of the calorific value of the gas which is being supplied.

15. A representative of the company may be present on any occasion in which the Gas-examiner inspects, or alters, adjusts, or replaces the testing-apparatus, or tests the gas, but shall not interfere with the inspection, alteration, adjustment, or replacement, or test, unless requested to do so by the Examiner. For the purposes of this regulation, the Gas-examiner shall, in cases where the testing-place is situated elsewhere than on the works of the company, give to the company reasonable notice of the time at which he will attend at the testing-place.

16. The Gas Referees may at any reasonable time where it appears to them necessary for the proper execution of their duties, enter upon and inspect any of the works of a company, and the company shall afford them and their assistants full facilities for this purpose, and shall furnish the Gas Referees with such information with regard to the position of the mains and pipes of the company, and with regard to any other matter, as the Gas Referees may reasonably require :

Provided that the Gas Referees, or any other person or persons acting under authority of these regulations, shall immediately prior to any inspection of any works of a company notify any responsible official of the company of his or their intention to carry out such inspection.

17. The remuneration of the Gas Referees and Gas-examiners shall be such as the Minister may fix.

18. (1.) It shall be an offence by a company against the regulations—

(a.) If that company fails to comply with any lawful prescription of the Gas Referees or to provide or maintain any testing place, apparatus, or materials, or any other matter or thing prescribed therein, or to afford to Gas-examiners or Gas Referees access to any testing place or works in accordance with the requirements of these regulations, or to afford or furnish any facilities or information in accordance with the requirements of these regulations :