PART III

Terms and Conditions 2003

1. GENERAL

1.1 Coal Mining Reports ("mining reports") will be provided subject to these terms and conditions and in accordance with the duties of the Coal Authority ("the Authority") under the Coal Industry Act 1994. Mining reports will be based on, and limited to, records in the possession of the Authority. The records available to the Authority are constantly updated and added to the relevant computer database. The Authority will make use of the most up to date records available at the time of giving mining reports. However, no warranty is given or representation made that such records will not become obsolete or incorrect over any period of time. Mining reports will be given in the belief that they are in accordance with the information available to the Authority at the time of giving the mining report but on the distinct understanding that the Authority is not legally responsible for them except for negligence.

It is the responsibility of the person by or for whom a mining report is requested to specify the property for which a mining report is required and to make clear the full extent of the property boundary (i.e. buildings and associated land).

These Terms and Conditions of the Authority incorporate the User Guide 2003 and have been approved by the Law Society and apply to all searches made including those using form CON 29M (2003).

2. RECORDS

The records in the possession of the Authority are derived from a number of sources and are of various ages, scales, condition, etc. As a consequence information sourced from such records is of variable reliability. Additionally, in any particular area there may be information held by others as to historical coal (and other) mining which is not also in the possession of the Authority. In the circumstances the Authority are unable to give any warranty and make no representation that the information comprised in the records in its possession is complete, accurate, exhaustive or reliable.

Some records are derived from licensed operators whose plans for current and future coal mining may change at any time. They are required by s. 58 of the Coal Industry Act 1994 to exercise all due diligence to secure the provision of full and accurate information to the Authority in accordance with the provisions of the licences which they hold.

In certain instances (usually relating to older records in the custody of the Authority) it has been necessary for the Authority to make assumptions as to the most probable ('best plot') positions of mine entries, the depth, date and extent of coal workings, the number and inclination of seams and the nature of the mineral worked, e.g. in certain areas records attribute more than one name to a single seam.

3. TITLE DEEDS, MINING LEASES, SEVERANCE INSTRUMENTS AND AGREEMENTS

3.1 Mining reports will not refer to or deal with rights under title deeds nor the existence (or the relevance to any claim affecting the property) of coal mining leases, instruments of severance or agreements with licensed operators, the Authority, British Coal Corporation, National Coal Board or the Coal Commission which may provide the basis of an alternative entitlement to compensation or repair or otherwise affect the position of enquirers.

4. OTHER MINERALS

4.1 Mining reports relate only to coal and minerals worked in association with coal. The presence of workings of other minerals will not necessarily be disclosed. The enquirer may need to make separate enquiries regarding other minerals to the appropriate sources of information in certain areas where these other minerals are known to exist or have been worked.

5. LIABILITY

5.1 Any liability of the Authority for negligence in giving mining reports shall be for the benefit of not only enquirers but also a person (being a purchaser for the purpose of s. 10(3) of the Local Land Charges Act 1975) who or whose agent had knowledge before the relevant time (as defined in that section) of the contents of the mining report. Such extension of liability to another (who did not purchase the mining report from the Authority) is limited to a purchaser, lessee or mortgagee of the property and not others (e.g. other recipients of reports on title etc).

5.2 There is no time protection afforded to mining reports. Whether a person can rely on a past mining report of a particular property (whether purchased by that same person or another) depends upon all the circumstances of the case, including: how recently it was purchased, its contents, the nature of the property and the person's intentions in relation to it (including development). Licensed operators plans for mining may change as may other relevant information available to the Authority. If there is any doubt as to whether a previous report remains valid a new mining report should be purchased. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any mining report must not be relied upon in any event in excess of 90 days from its date of issue and must thereafter be verified as still being up-to-date, either by ordering a fresh mining report or by using any available update service provided by the Authority.

5.3 The Authority shall be deemed not to know the purpose for which mining reports are required even if such purpose is made known to them. The Authority makes no warranties or representations as to either the suitability of land/property for any particular use or purpose or its value and shall not in any circumstances be liable for any loss or damage at all arising from reliance on mining reports in relation to these matters.

5.4 Property owners may have the benefit of remedies under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 which contains provisions relating to the making good, to the reasonable satisfaction of the claimant, of physical damage from coal mine workings, including disused coal mine entries.& A DTI leaflet setting out the rights and obligations of the person responsible for subsidence damage under the 1991 Act and otherwise can be obtained by telephone on 0845 762 6848. All calls will be charged at the local rate.

6. SHAFTS AND ADITS (MINE ENTRIES)

6.1 Information in mining reports relating to mine entries (within 20 metres of the boundary of the property) will be prepared only from the records in the possession of the Authority. These records may not be complete. The approximate location of any such mine entries will be identified on a plan within the body of mining reports. To aid clarity the mine entry symbols are not necessarily shown to the same scale as the plan. Distances are measured from the estimated centre point of each recorded mine entry.

6.2 With effect from 31 October 1994 British Coal's interests in unworked coal and coal mines became vested in the Authority. In most cases (but not all) any mine entries will be owned by the Authority and not the adjacent land owner.

7. SURFACE FAULTS

7.1 No comment is made in mining reports about the existence of conjectured surface fault positions shown on geological maps (published by the British Geological Survey) which are not known to the Authority to have affected the stability of the property as a result of coal mining activities.

8. MISCELLANEOUS

8.1 During the production of mining reports by the Authority, the address (but not the boundary) of the subject property as provided by the enquirer may be corrected to match the Royal Mail's Address File (PAF).

8.2 In reporting whether or not a property lies within a former opencast site from which coal had been extracted by opencast methods, depending on the age and source of information available to the Authority, the opencast site boundary may be limited to the specific area where coal was believed to have been extracted and not to the overall site boundary or excavation area.

8.3 Where the Authority is aware that property the subject of the mining report has been affected by mine gas, information will be included in the mining report, together with details, where available, of any remedial works carried out by the Authority.

9. PLANS

9.1 The Authority provides with each mining report a plan of the boundaries of the property in respect of which the mining report has been prepared. It is necessary for enquirers to ensure that such boundaries correspond with those of the property. If the boundary of the property shown on the Authority plan does not so correspond, any discrepancy should be resolved with the Authority by enquirers. If the discrepancy is not referred to the Authority by enquirers within 28 days of the date of the mining report in question, enquirers will have to make a fresh search with payment of the appropriate fee. The property will be located with reference to Ordnance Survey (OS) digital publications in accordance with the plan updates agreement between OS and the Authority. The Authority cannot and does not warrant that the OS information is complete or accurate and accepts no liability for the plotted position of property as shown on published OS maps.

9.2 Information supplied in plan form within the body of mining reports should not be enlarged to any greater scale than that at which it is originally supplied or accuracy will be affected.

10. MINING SURVEYS AND SITE INVESTIGATIONS

10.1 A mining report is not a substitute for site investigation or a mining survey. Enquirers will have to assess whether a site investigation or mining survey is required having regard (amongst other relevant factors) to the content of the mining report and whether the property is to be developed and, if so, the nature and extent of the development. There are experienced mining surveyors and structural engineers in all coal mining areas able to advise as to what further enquiries, mining surveys or site investigations should be made.

11. COAL MINING REPORT INFORMATION

11.1 In respect of each residential property search, mining reports will provide summary information according to the records in the possession of the Authority relating to those matters referred to below on the basis of and subject to the terms and conditions referred to in paragraphs 1 to 10 inclusive above. For each search the mining report will include the following information:

Past Underground Coal Mining

• Whether the property is within the zone of likely physical influence on the surface of past underground working based on the principle of 0.7 times the depth of the working, allowing for seam inclination (the Authority will indicate the number of seams involved, minimum and maximum depth and the approximate last date of working).
• An indication of whether ground movement should now have ceased when the circumstances are considered appropriate.

Future Underground Coal Mining

• Whether the property lies within the geographical area for which a licence to extract coal by underground methods is awaiting determination by the Authority or is extant (the date an extant licence was granted is also given) together with advice as to whether the licence is conditional.
• Whether the property is within the zone of likely physical influence on the surface based on the principle of 0.7 times the depth of the currently planned future underground working, allowing for seam inclination (an indication will be given of the seams involved and approximate date of working).
• Information as to whether further workable coal is known or thought to exist.
• Whether any notice of proposals relating to underground coal mining operations have been given under s. 46 of the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 (as amended by the Coal Industry Act 1994), and if so details are given of the date of the last notice.

Shafts and Adits

• Details of any shafts or adits within the property and/or within 20 metres of the boundary of the property.
• Brief treatment details are given, where known.
• A plan showing the approximate location of any shafts and/or adits is provided.

Surface Geology

• Whether the Authority have record of a fault or other line of weakness that is known to the Authority to affect the stability of the property.

Future Opencast Coal Mining

• Whether the property is within 800 metres of an area for which an application for a licence to extract coal by opencast methods is awaiting determination by the Authority.
• Whether the property is within 800 metres of an area for which a conditional licence to extract coal by opencast methods has been granted by the Authority.

Subsidence

• The date of any damage notice or claim made or pursued for alleged coal mining subsidence damage since 1 January 1984.
• Whether the claim was accepted, rejected or whether liability is still being determined.
• Where a claim has been discharged, whether this was by making good or by payment of compensation or a combination of both. No details of the works to make good or of the amount paid will be given (additional information may be available, subsequent to receipt of a mining report, on written request and payment of an additional archive research fee).
• Whether there is any current "stop notice" concerning the deferment of remedial works or repairs affecting the property, and if so the date of the notice.
• Whether there has been any request made for preventive works under s.33 of the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991; if yes, has any person withheld consent or failed to comply with any request to execute preventive works.

11.2 Reports for non-residential or development sites will also include the following additional information:-

Withdrawal of Support

• Whether the site lies within an area in respect of which a notice of entitlement to withdraw support has been published (the date of any notice is provided).
• Whether the site lies within an area in respect of which a revocation notice has been given under s.41 of the Coal Industry Act 1994 (the date of any notice is provided).

Working Facilities Orders

• Whether the site lies within an area affected by an order in respect of the working of coal under the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Acts 1923 and 1966 or any statutory modification or amendment thereof (the date of any such notice is provided).

Payments to Owners of Former Copyhold Land

• Whether any relevant notice which may affect the property has been given and, if so, details of any notice of retained interests in coal and coal mines, acceptance or rejection notices and whether any compensation has been paid to a claimant.