Part 1Preliminary
Electronic communications and service of documents
article 3 3.—(1) In this Order, and in relation to the use of electronic communications for any purpose of this Order which is capable of being carried out electronically—
article 3 1 a (a)term address the expression “address” includes any number or address used for the purpose of such communications, and
article 3 1 b (b)references to applications, notices, documents, drawings, certificates or other documents, or to copies of such things, include references to such documents or copies of them in electronic form.
term the recipient (2) Paragraphs (3) to (9) apply where an electronic communication is used by a person for the purpose of fulfilling any requirement in this Order to give or send any application, notice, other document or information to any other person (“the recipient”).
(3) A requirement is taken to be fulfilled where the application, notice or other document transmitted by the electronic communication is—
article 3 3 a (a)capable of being accessed by the recipient,
article 3 3 b (b)legible in all material respects, and
article 3 3 c (c)sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.
term legible in all material respects (4) In paragraph (3), “legible in all material respects” means that the information contained in the application, notice or document is available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if sent or given by means of a document in printed form.
(5) Where the electronic communication is received by the recipient outside the recipient's business hours, it is taken to have been received on the next working day.
(6) A requirement in this Order that any application, notice or other document is in writing is fulfilled where the document transmitted by the electronic communication satisfies the criteria in paragraph (3).
(7) Where a Crown development application or a connected listed building application is made using electronic communications to transmit a form to the Secretary of State, the applicant is taken to have agreed—
article 3 7 a (a)to the use of such communications by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the application,
article 3 7 b (b)that the applicant's address for those purposes is the address incorporated into, or otherwise logically associated with, the application, and
article 3 7 c (c)that the applicant's deemed agreement under this paragraph subsists until the applicant gives notice in writing of the withdrawal of consent to the use of electronic communications under paragraph (8).
(8) Where a person is no longer willing to accept the use of electronic communications for any purpose of this Order which is capable of being effected electronically, the person must give notice in writing—
article 3 8 a (a)withdrawing any address notified to the Secretary of State for that purpose, or
article 3 8 b (b)revoking any agreement entered into (or deemed to have been entered into) with the Secretary of State for that purpose,
and such withdrawal or revocation takes effect on a date specified by the person in the notice but not less than 7 days after the date on which the notice is given.
(9) A requirement in this Order to send more than one copy of an application or other document may be complied with when using electronic communications by sending a single copy of the application or other document.