COMMERCIAL BATHHOUSES (URBAN COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

COMMERCIAL BATHHOUSES (URBAN COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

COMMERCIAL BATHHOUSES (URBAN COUNCIL) BY-LAWS

ARRANGEMENT OF BY-LAWS

By-law Page

1. Citation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12
2. Application ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12
3. Interpretation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12
4. Prohibition of unlicensed bathhouses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12
5. Application for licence ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12
6. Conditions for grant of licence ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 13
7. Restriction on alteration of licensed premises after grant of licence ... ... ... 13
8. Duties of licensees of bathhouses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
9. Restriction on spitting ... ...---... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
10. Bathhouses not to be used for dwelling purposes ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
11. Restriction on cooking in bathhouses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
12. Closing hours ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
13. Privacy in bathrooms, etc . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
14. [Cancelled] ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 15
15. Persons suffering from communicable diseases ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 15
16. Power of Council to close bathhouses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 15
17. Fees ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 16
18. Bathhouses to be public places for the purpose of public decency ... ... ... ... 16
19. Offences and penalties ... ...---... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 16
20. Name in which proceedings for offences may be brought ... ... ... ... ... 16





COMMERCIAL BATHHOUSES (URBAN COUNCIL)
BY-LAWS

(Cap. 132, section 35)

[3 March 1961.]

1. These by-laws may be cited as the Commercial Bathhouses
(Urban Council) By-laws.

2. These by-laws apply to the Urban Council area only.

3. (1) In these by-laws, unless the context otherwise requires

'bath' includes shower bath;

'bathhouse' means any premises maintained or intended to be
maintained for the use, on payment of a fee, of persons requiring a
bath, but does not include any swimming pool or any bathhouse
managed by the Council;

'bathroom' includes a room or compartment containing a shower;

'communicable disease' includes amoebiasis, cerebrospinal meningitis,
cholera, diphtheria, dysentery, enteric fever, gastroenteritis, acute
inflammation of the throat, infectious hepatitis, leprosy, any form
of tinea infection, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, pediculosis, scabies,
scarlet fever, smallpox, any venereal disease or any generalized
skin infection, trachoma, acute conjunctivitis and any other
disease which the Council may, from time to time, declare to be a
communicable disease for the purposes of these by-laws;

'Council' means the Urban Council.

(2) Whenever the Council declares any disease to be a
communicable disease for the purposes of these by-laws, a notification
of such declaration shall be published in the Gazette.

4. Save under and in accordance with a licence granted by the
Council, no person shall open or maintain a bathhouse.

5. (1) Every application for any such licence shall be made in
writing, addressed to the Secretary of the Council, and shall be
accompanied by 3 copies of a plan, as nearly as may be to scale, of the
whole of the premises comprising the bathhouse.

(2) Every plan, or any modification thereof, which is approved by
the Council shall be endorsed to that effect by the Secretary of the
Council, and one copy shall be returned to the applicant and the
remaining 2 copies shall be retained by the Council.





6. No such licence shall be granted unless the Council is satisfied
in relation to the premises in respect of which the application for such
licence was made that

(a)the plan referred to in by-law 5 has been approved by the
Council and the premises conform thereto;

(b)the means of ventilation provided, whether natural or
mechanical or partly natural and partly mechanical. are
sufficient in every part of the premises to safeguard the health
in that respect of all persons resorting to or working in the
premises;

(c)the means of lighting provided in every part of the premises is
adequate;

(d)the internal surface of every wall of each bathroom therein is
smooth and faced with impervious material to a height of not
less than 2 m from the floor;

(e)the floor of each such bathroom is smooth and surfaced with
impervious material, and is laid to such fall as will provide
effective and rapid drainage of all water falling thereon;

(f)the junctions between the walls and between the walls and
the floor of each such bathroom are coved;

(g)where the bathhouse receives persons of both sexes, bathing,
latrine and washbasin facilities are provided in separate
compartments for the use of persons of each sex, and no
direct access is available from a compartment provided for the
use of persons of one sex to a compartment provided for the
use of persons of the opposite sex;

(h)there is available within the bathhouse. for the use of persons
resorting thereto, not less than one watercloset and one
washbasin for every 10 baths therein, and. where the
bathhouse receives persons of both sexes, there is not less
than one watercloset and one washbasin for every 10 baths or
less provided for each sex;

(i)all baths, washbasins and other similar fittings have smooth
washable surfaces and are properly drained; and

(j)save as otherwise permitted in writing by the Council, all
water supplied for bathing or washing purposes is drawn from
Government mains.

7. After the grant or renewal of any such licence, no licensee shall,
save with the permission in writing of the Council, cause or permit to be
made in respect of the premises to which the licence relates

(a)any alteration or addition which would result in any deviation
from the plan thereof approved under by-law 5; or





(b)any alteration in respect of any matter specified in bylaw 6.

8. The licensee of every bathhouse shall-

(a)at all times, maintain all parts of the bathhouse and all fittings
and equipment therein in a clean and wholesome state and in
good repair;

(b)cause each bath to be thoroughly cleaned after each occasion
on which it has been used and before it is used again;

(e)where towels are provided for the use of persons resorting
thereto, cause each such person to be supplied with a clean
towel before bathing;

(d)cause any phlegm, spittle or saliva found on the floors, walls
or fittings of the bathhouse. or any part thereof, to be
removed without delay and the place whereon the same was
found to be cleaned with a disinfectant.. and

(e)cause all parts of the walls and ceilings of the bathhouse,
other than those faced with smooth impervious material, to be
limewashed in the months of January and July in each year.

9. (1) No person shall spit in any bathhouse, except into a spittoon
or other receptacle provided for the purpose.

(2) The licensee of every bathhouse shall provide at least one
spittoon in each room or compartment of the bathhouse, and shall cause
the same to contain disinfectant fluid and to be cleansed, and the fluid
renewed, not less than once in every 24 hours.

(3) Save as otherwise permitted in writing by the Council, every
licensee shall cause one or more notices, prohibiting spitting and
written in Chinese, to be continuously displayed in a conspicuous place
in every part of the bathhouse to which persons resorting thereto have
access.

10. No person shall use, or permit to be used, for dwelling
purposes any part of a bathhouse.

11. No person shall prepare or cook any food for human
consumption in any part of a bathhouse to which persons resorting
thereto have access.

12. No bathhouse shall be open to the public except between the
hours of 6 o'clock in the forenoon and midnight.

13. No person shall, in any bathhouse, enter or occupy any
bathroom or watercloset, or any dressing room designed or used for
private use, while the same is occupied by any other person:





Provided that the provisions of this by-law shall not apply to

(a)any attendant working in the bathhouse who enters any such
room at the request of the occupant thereof or in an
emergency; or

(b)any child under the age of 7 years who enters any such room
which is occupied by a relative or his nurse.

14. [Cancelled, L.N. 84/84]

15. (1) No person knowingly suffering from a communicable
disease shall enter or remain in any bathhouse:

Provided that a health officer may issue a certificate in writing to
any such person exempting him from the provisions of this paragraph in
any case in which such officer is satisfied that no danger to the public
health is involved.

(2) Any person employed or working in a bathhouse shall, if so
required in writing by a health officer, submit himself to medical
examination at such time and place as such health officer may direct and
if, after medical examination. a health officer is satisfied that such person
is suffering from any communicable disease or is likely to communicate
to any other person any communicable disease, such last mentioned
health officer may notify such person in writing to that effect, and such
person shall forthwith cease to work in the same or any other
bathhouse.

(3) A notice given under paragraph (2) shall continue in force until
cancelled by a further notice in writing by a health officer declaring such
first mentioned notice to be cancelled.

(4) No person shall cause, or suffer or permit, any person, other
than a person who has been duly exempted from the provisions of
paragraph (1), whom he knows or has reason to believe to be suffering
from any communicable disease to work in any bathhouse.

(5) No person shall cause, or suffer or permit, any person in
respect of whom he knows or has reason to believe that a notice given
under paragraph (2) is in force to work in any bathhouse.

(6) If it appears to the licensee of any bathhouse that any person
therein, other than a person who has been duly exempted from the
provisions of paragraph (1), is suffering from any communicable
disease, the licensee may direct such person to leave the bathhouse.

16. (1) For the purpose of protecting the public health, the Council
may, at any time, order that all bathhouses, or any specified bathhouse,
shall be closed to the public for such period as may, in the opinion of
the Council, be necessary.

(2) No person shall.. for the purpose of bathing therein, enter any
bathhouse in respect of which an order has been made under paragraph
(1).





(3) Every order made under paragraph (1) shall be published in the
Gazette.

17. (1) Every licence issued under these by-laws shall be renewable
annually on 1 April.

(2) The grant or renewal of any such licence shall be subject to the
payment in advance to the Council of a fee of $1,575


Provided that, where any such licence is issued after 30
September in any year.. the fee payable in respect of the grant of that
licence shall be one-half of the fee prescribed.

(3) Where the Council is satisfied that any such licence has been
lost or destroyed, the Council may upon payment of a fee of $60 issue a
duplicate thereof.

18. For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that every
part of a bathhouse shall, for the purpose of offences relating to public
decency, be deemed to be a public place.

19. (1) Any person who

(a) contravenes an of the provisions of by-law 4, 9(1), 10, 11,
any 13, 15(1), (4) or (5), or 16(2);

(b) being a person employed or working in a bathhouse-

(i) fails to submit himself to medical examination when
required to do so under the provisions of paragraph (2) of by-
law 15,. or

(ii) fails to cease to work in- any bathhouse when required
to do so by the provisions of that paragraph; or

(c)fails to comply with any direction given to him under the
provisions of by-law 15(6),

shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) In the event of any contravention of any of the provisions

of by-law 7, 8, 9(2) or (3) or 12, the licensee of the bathhouse shall be
guilty of an offence.

(3) Any person who is guilty of an offence under theby -laws
shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of $500 and to
imprisonment for 1 month and, where the offence is a continuing
offence, shall be liable in addition to a fine of $10 for each day during
which it is proved to the satisfaction of the cort that the offence has
continued.

20. Without prejudice to the provisions of any other enactment
relating to the prosecution of criminal offences and without prejudice to
the powers of the Attorney General in relation to the prosecution of
such offences, prosecutions for an offence under any of the provisions
of these by-laws may be brought in the name of the Council.
G.N.A. 27/61. 21 of 1973. L.N. 275/75. L.N. 89/79. L.N. 70/80. L.N. 88/81. L.N. 104/83. L.N. 84/84. 10 of 1986. Citation. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Application. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Interpretation. Prohibition of unlicensed bathhouses. Application for licence. Conditions for grant of licence. L.N. 89/79. Restriction on alteration of licensed premises after grant of licence. Duties of licensees of bathhouses. Restriction on spitting. Bathhouses not to be used for dwelling purposes. Restriction on cooking in bathhouses. Closing hours. Privacy in bathhouses, etc. Persons suffering from communicable diseases. Power of Council to close bathhouses. Fees. 21 of 1973, s. 20. L.N. 275/75. L.N. 70/80. L.N. 88/81. L.N. 104/83. L.N. 104/83. Bathhouses to be public places for the purpose of public decency. Offences and penalties. L.N. 84/84. Name in which proceedings for offences may be brought.

G.N.A. 27/61. 21 of 1973. L.N. 275/75. L.N. 89/79. L.N. 70/80. L.N. 88/81. L.N. 104/83. L.N. 84/84. 10 of 1986. Citation. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Application. 10 of 1986, s. 32(2). Interpretation. Prohibition of unlicensed bathhouses. Application for licence. Conditions for grant of licence. L.N. 89/79. Restriction on alteration of licensed premises after grant of licence. Duties of licensees of bathhouses. Restriction on spitting. Bathhouses not to be used for dwelling purposes. Restriction on cooking in bathhouses. Closing hours. Privacy in bathhouses, etc. Persons suffering from communicable diseases. Power of Council to close bathhouses. Fees. 21 of 1973, s. 20. L.N. 275/75. L.N. 70/80. L.N. 88/81. L.N. 104/83. L.N. 104/83. Bathhouses to be public places for the purpose of public decency. Offences and penalties. L.N. 84/84. Name in which proceedings for offences may be brought.

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