What documents must declared dam owners review and when?
As a declared dam owner, the table below provides a quick snapshot to see what documents you are required to review under the Dams Safety Act 2015 and the Dams Safety Regulation 2019.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There may be situations when you need to update or review your documents more frequently than shown in the table below. Please refer to the legislation to familiarise yourself with those situations.
When to review | Document type | Consequence categories applied to | Regulation reference |
|---|---|---|---|
Annually | Annual Dams Safety Standards Report | All dams | Clause 26 |
Annually (or within 14 days) | You must update contact details within 14 days if there is a change in the name or contact details of the individual who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the dam safety management system Clause 13 1A. | All dams | Part 5 or Clause 17 |
| At least annually | Operations and Maintenance Plan |
Extreme High | Clause 9 |
| Annually | Emergency Plan - update contact details | All dams | Clause 10 |
| Every 5 years | Emergency Plan - full review | All dams | Clause 10 |
| At least every 5 years | Operations and Maintenance Plan |
Significant Low Very low | Clause 9 |
| At least every 5 years, and if there is a major change, and if required to do so by DSNSW. | Risk Report (including an assessment of societal and individual risk rating) | All dams | Clause 15 |
| Within 6 months of declaration, at least once every 15 years, as soon as possible after a major modification to the dam or change in number of affected persons, damage or loss due to failure. | Consequence Category Assessment | All dams | Clause 7 |
| At least every 15 years, or when there is a change to technology or methods used on design of dams, or if the consequence category changes. | Safety Review | All dams | Clause 20 |
What documents should I send to Dams Safety NSW?
Under the legislation, there are many documents you are required to have, but are not required to submit to Dams Safety NSW. However, you and your organisation must keep these documents to be audited and must submit them to us if requested. Under the legislation, you must submit the Annual Dams Safety Standards Report, Consequence Category Assessment and Emergency Plan to us each time they are reviewed or updated. You must also submit the Risk Report to us if it indicates that a declared dam is above the safety threshold or if asked to do so.
Email your required documents (or a link to them if they are large documents) to info@damsafety.nsw.gov.au. For more information call (02) 9842 8073.