The purpose of this guideline is to assist dam owners to determine the most appropriate consequence of failure classification for dams in their jurisdiction in a manner that is consistent across the province.
This guideline is intended to be a companion document to “Estimating Dam Break Downstream Inundation”. These two documents have been designed to update the document “Consequence of Failure Classification: A Guide for Initial Assessment” prepared by the BC Dam Safety Section in 2001. This guideline is based on the Canadian Dam Association (CDA) Guidelines, the Dam Safety Regulation (the regulation) and the collected wisdom of Dam Safety Officers and hydrologists who have many years of experience determining the consequence classification of dams. The CDA Guidelines state that where there are inconsistencies between their guidelines and provincial regulations, “legal regulations take precedence over guidelines produced by non-governmental organizations” (CDA Guidelines, Preface). Therefore where there is a difference in interpretation, the regulation takes precedence over the CDA Guidelines. This guideline contains multiple references and direct quotes from the CDA guidelines and regulation where ever possible to assist the reader. The concept of this guideline is that the dam owners will be able to compare the two documents without flipping back and forth between them. American agencies at both the federal and state levels have also been referenced for their insight into the determination of consequence classification for dams.