Dam safety policy

This document sets out the policy on classifiable dams, dangerous dams, earthquake-prone dams and flood-prone dams adopted by the Northland Regional Council (“NRC”) in accordance with Sections 161 and 162 of the Building Act 2004 (“the Act”).

The Policy states the approach and priorities NRC will take in performing its functions in relation to dangerous dams, earthquake-prone dams and flood-prone dams in Northland, and how the Policy will apply to heritage dams (refer to clause 6 for the definition of heritage dams).

This Policy applies to dams defined in Section 7 of the Act.

The dam safety provisions in subpart 7 of Part 2 of the Act, apply to:

1. classifiable dams (defined in regulation 5 of the Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2022 (“the Regulations”) to be a dam 4m or more in height and holding 20,000m3 or more in volume of water or other fluid;
2. referable dams as defined in the Regulations1; and
3. all dams, but only for the purposes of Section 133B2 (height measurement of dams) and Sections 157 - 158 of the Act (measures by a regional authority to avoid immediate danger).

Download the policy:

(Note: this policy was previously known as the Dangerous Dams Policy.)