Dam Safety Scheme - Guidance for regional authorities and owners of large dams: About the Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2008
2.1 What legal requirements were previously in place for dam safety?
The Building Act 1991 introduced the need for regulating the construction of dams and building work carried out on large dams. The 1991 Act required a building consent, project information memorandum (PIM) and a Certificate of Code Compliance for building work on large dams.
These requirements continue and are expanded under the Building Act 2004 (the Act). All building work on dams is covered by the Act. The Act also includes some safety requirements for existing dams.
However, until the Act, the risk management of dams was unregulated. The Act aims to provide a clear and comprehensive regulatory scheme for ongoing dam safety management once dams are commissioned, particularly for larger dams.
2.2 Why has the Dam Safety Scheme been introduced?
The Act introduced new requirements for dam construction and dam safety management.
Dam safety has been a concern for a number of years. This was brought to a head by the Opuha Dam in South Canterbury failing during construction in 1997 and various flood events around the country during the late 1990s.
A dam failure could result in damage to life, property, infrastructure and the environment. The potential impact of a dam on these things can change over time due to downstream developments and there are currently no regulatory systems in place to manage these changes.
Unlike many other countries historically, New Zealand has not had a regulatory risk-management system in place. However, once constructed and commissioned, dams need ongoing monitoring, maintenance and repair in order to maintain their integrity.
A more structured and formal system of compliance monitoring will help ensure the safety of dams, taking into account the changing nature of public ownership and commercial arrangements for owning, operating and managing dams.
2.3 What is the purpose of the Dam Safety Scheme?
The Scheme will help ensure the safety of large dams and give the community confidence that dams in New Zealand are well built, managed and maintained.
The Scheme will apply to dams that meet the definition of a large dam under the Act. It will ensure that large dams with a medium or high potential impact classification have a formal system of dam monitoring, inspection and maintenance.
The Scheme may reduce a dam owner's risk in terms of meeting the requirements under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 for maintaining a safe working environment. It also gives dam owners peace of mind, knowing the Scheme could help to save their family and neighbours, private property and the wider environment if the dam fails for any reason. This could include an unexpected flood or earthquake. It may also help dam owners to satisfy Resource Management Act 1991 conditions for building a large dam.
2.4 When will the Dam Safety Scheme come into effect?
The Regulations became law in July 2008 but will not take effect till 1 July 2010, after which owners of large dams have three months to submit a classification of their dam to the regional authority.
The Regulations give practical effect to the Scheme, which is set out in the Act.