London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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City of London 1924

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]

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58
BYE-I.AWS—HOUSEBOATS.
The following Bye-laws came into force on the 12th June, 1924:—
Corporation of London.
PORT SANITARY AUTHORITY FOR THE PORT OF LONDON.
PUBLIC HEALTH (LONDON) ACT, 1891.
BYE-LAWS made by the Mayor, Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London,
as the Port Sanitary Authority of the Port of London, under Section 95 of
the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, and the London Port Sanitary Authority
(Additional Powers) Order, 1923, with respect to houseboats used for
human habitation with the limits of the Port of London.
INTERPRETATION OF TERMS.
1. Throughout these Bye-laws the expression "the Port Sanitary Authority" means the
Mayor, Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London; the expression "the district" means the
Port of London as established for the purposes of the laws relating to the Customs of the United Kingdom;
the expression "infectious disease" means smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup,
erysipelas, the disease known as scarlatina or scarlet fever, measles, and the fevers known by any
of the following names: typhus, typhoid, enteric, relapsing, continued, or puerperal; the expression
"the Medical Officer of Health" means the Medical Officer for the District, or any legally qualified
medical practitioner lawfully authorised to act on behalf of such officer ; the expression "houseboat"
includes any vessel or boat which is lying in any river or water or on any foreshore within the district
of the Port Sanitary Authority and is not afloat at all states of the tide and which is used mainly or
wholly for human habitation, whether such use be temporary or intermittent or permanent, and the
expression "the occupier," when used in relation to any houseboat, means the person who for the time
being has the charge, management, or control of such houseboat.
FOR PROMOTING CLEANLINESS IN AND THE HABITABLE CONDITION OF HOUSEBOATS
USED FOR HUMAN HABITATION.
2. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation shall cause the internal surface and
the floor thereof to be thoroughly cleansed from time to time as often as may be requisite for keeping
the same in a cleanly condition.
3. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation shall, for the purposes of securing
the habitable condition thereof, provide for such houseboat adequate means of permanent ventilation.
4. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation shall cause the same to be maintained
so that it may be reasonably weatherproof at all times when so used.
5. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation shall cause the same to be at all times
provided with a suitable dry flooring.
6. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation shall provide therefor a sufficient
receptacle or receptacles for the storage of water, with proper coverings, so placed as to be easily
accessible, and shall cause the same to be maintained at all times in good order, and shall provide a
sufficient supply of wholesome water for the use of the inmates of such houseboat, and shall also
cause every part of the interior of any such receptacle to be kept thoroughly clean.
7. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing Bye-laws, the person by agreement with or by
licence from whom any houseboat used for human habitation shall be brought or used on any foreshore
between tide marks, shall provide within easy access to such foreshore a sufficient supply of wholesome
water for the use of the occupants of such houseboat.
FOR PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE BY THE PERSONS
INHABITING HOUSEBOATS USED FOR HUMAN HABITATION.
8. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation who shall have been informed, or
shall have ascertained, that any inmate thereof is ill of an infectious disease, shall adopt all reasonable
precautions that may be ordered by the Medical Officer of Health for preventing the spread of such
disease.
He shall not, at any time while such inmate is suffering from such infectious disease, cause or
allow any other person, except the person in attendance on such inmate, to occupy such houseboat.
9. The occupier of a houseboat used for human habitation in which any person may within the
preceding six weeks have been suffering from an infectious disease, and which has not since been properly
disinfected, or, in which any person is at the time suffering from an infectious disease, shall comply
with the following regulations:—
(a) He shall, before causing or allowing such houseboat to be removed from the site on
which it may be, give to the Medical Officer of Health twenty-four hours' notice of the intention
to remove the same, and the place to which the same is proposed to be removed.
(b) He shall not cause or allow such houseboat to be brought into any place which may
for the time being be devoted to the purposes of public amusement, recreation, or resort,
or to be removed to any site where, in the opinion of the Medical Officer of Health, there
would be danger of spreading infection.