Dangerous Structure

Dangerous structure. By s. 75 of the (English) Towns Improvements Clauses Act, 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. 34), which is incorporated (see s. 160) (English) in the Public Health Act,1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55), any building deemed by the surveyor to be in a ruinous or dangerous state must be pulled down, repaired, or otherwise made secure. This provision is not confined to buildings, etc., adjacent to a highway; see L.C.C. v. Herring, (1894) 2 QB 522, a case decided under the (English) Metropolitan Building Act, 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 122). See also the London Building Act, 1930 (c. clviii.), ss. 128 et seq, and (English) Public Health Act, 1936, s. 58, enabling a local authority to apply to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction for an order to the owner to repair or demolish the structure, and upon failure by the owner the local authority may do the work and shore it up or fence it off; see also Housing Act, 1936.