Once a landowner has secured the necessary building consents and resource consents to construct a dam, and have been issued with the Code Compliance Certificate (CCC), the Building Act 2004 requires dam owners to:
- Confirm classification of their dams against regulatory standards as having low, medium or high potential impact
- Register the dam and its classification with the appropriate Regional Council
- Provide an annual dam compliance certificate if classified medium or high potential impact.
The “Act” includes the definition of a dam and a description of potential impact categories. The owner must classify the dam in terms of potential impact (rating low, medium or high) and submit to a Recognised Engineer for audit, this Engineer shall provide the necessary certificate which shall then be submitted to ECan for approval.
For owners of dams which have a classification of medium or high they are required to prepare and submit a ‘dam safety assurance programme’ and provide an annual ‘dam compliance certificate’. A dam owner will need to employ the services of a recognised engineer to undertake this task on their behalf.
For owners of dams which are classified as a low potential impact, dam safety assurance programmes and annual dam compliance certificates are not required.
Once a dam owner has assigned a potential impact classification they must review the dam’s classification -
- Within five (5) years after the Regional Council approves, or is deemed to approve, the classification; and
- After the first review, at internals of not more than five (5) years.
The owner must also review the dam’s classification if, at any time -
- Any building work, that requires a building consent is carried out on the dam; and
- The building work results, or could result, in a change to the potential impact of a failure of the dam on persons, property, or the environment.
Existing dam owners will need to reassess the information they already supply to the Regional Council to determine whether it will meet the requirements of the Building Act 2004.
For further assistance please contact Customer Service on 03 353 9007 or toll free on 0800 324 636.
You can also visit our website www.ecan.govt.nz
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