PART 1PRELIMINARY

Electronic Communications

3.—(1) In this Order, subject to article 47 (service of notices)—

(a)references to documents, maps, plans, drawings, certificates or to copies, include reference to them in electronic form; and

(b)references to a form of communication being “in writing” includes references to an electronic communication that satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3); and “written” and cognate expressions are to be constructed accordingly.

(2) If an electronic communication is received outside the recipient’s business hours, it is to be taken to have been received on the next working day.

(3) The conditions are that the communication is—

(a)capable of being accessed by the recipient;

(b)legible in all material respects; and

(c)sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), a communication is legible in all material respects if the information contained in it is available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if transmitted by means of a document in printed form.

(5) In this article “electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) (general interpretation) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(1)).