Dam safety authorised officers

The Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers has emergency powers to intervene to prevent the failure of a dam or minimise the consequences of dam failure.

Authorised officers are appointed to conduct inspections of dams and ensure dam owners or operators comply with legislation.

Authorised officers may enter land to find out:

• the impact that failure of the dam would have
• if there are factors likely to cause dam failure.

Authorised officers may also enter land to find out if a dam complies with development conditions.

Authorised officer powers

Authorised officers have various powers under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 to help them perform their duties.

An authorised officer's powers include entering or crossing land to access a dam and the power to obtain information. Depending on the circumstances, they may not need prior consent to do this for inspection purposes.

After they have entered the land, authorised officers have the power to:

• inspect, measure, test, photograph or film any part or anything at the property
• take items or samples for analysis or testing
• take onto the property, any person, equipment or materials reasonably required for the exercise of their powers.

It is an offence for a person to fail to comply with an authorised officer's requests unless the person has a reasonable excuse (defined in the Act as when complying might incriminate the person).

Identity cards

Authorised officers are issued with a current identity card showing their name, photograph and signature. Officers must produce their identity card for inspection or have the identity card clearly displayed. If this isn't practicable, the officer must produce the identity card for inspection at the first reasonable opportunity.