s.24Appointment and powers of enforcement officers
24
Section 24Part 5 — OFFENCES AND PROCEEDINGS

Appointment and powers of enforcement officers

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The Chief Officer responsible for physical planning shall, under the general powers conferred on that Chief Officer by the Public Service Management Law (2018 Revision), appoint in writing enforcement officers for the purposes of this Law and shall issue to such officers a duly authenticated identification document.
Subject to subsection (3), an enforcement officer shall, on producing, if so required, the duly authenticated identification document issued under subsection (1), have a right, at all reasonable hours, to enter any business premises for the purposes of ascertaining whether there is on the premises any evidence of any contravention of the provisions of this Law or of regulations made under it; but this section shall not be construed as allowing entry onto residential premises without a warrant unless such premises are used as business premises.
If a magistrate, on sworn information in writing, is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for entry into any business premises for the purpose mentioned in subsection (1) and either —
that an enforcement officer has been refused admission to the business premises or the enforcement officer reasonably believes that entry is unlikely to be granted, and that the enforcement officer has given notice in writing to the owner or occupier of the intention to apply for such a warrant; or
that an application or the giving of such a notice in writing, would defeat the object of the entry,
the magistrate may by warrant signed by that magistrate authorise the enforcement officer to enter the business premises, if need be, by use of reasonable force but shall not allow entry into unoccupied premises.
A warrant granted under this section shall continue in force for a period of one month.
An enforcement officer entering any business premises by virtue of this section, or of a warrant issued under it, may take with the enforcement officer such other persons as the enforcement officer considers necessary or expedient, and on leaving any business premises which the enforcement officer has entered by virtue of such a warrant shall, to the extent that it is reasonably practicable, leave them in the same condition as the enforcement officer found them.
An enforcement officer entering any business premises by virtue of this section, or of a warrant issued under it, may inspect any records (in whatever form they are held) relating to a business of a contractor and, where any such records are kept by means of the computer —
may have access to, and inspect and check the operation of, any computer and associated apparatus or material which is or has been in use in connection with the records; and
may require any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer, apparatus or material to afford the enforcement officer such assistance as that person may reasonably require.
Any officer exercising any power conferred by subsection (5) may —
seize and detain any records, or take copies of them, which that person has reason to believe may be required as evidence in proceedings under any of the provisions of this Law; and
where the records are kept by means of a computer, may require the records to be produced in a form in which they may be taken away.
A business entity shall keep at the business premises all records relating to its business for at least twelve months, but where the records relate to a project that runs for two years or more, the records shall be kept for at least twenty-four months after the end of the project.

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