The changing role of the Supervising Engineer

The Reservoirs Act 1975 (the Act) introduced the role of the Supervising Engineer to reservoir safety legislation. Documentation from the time of bringing the Act into force in 1985/1986 indicates that the role was envisaged as a technical support to the undertaker to fulfil their duties under the Act. Amendments to the Act in 2003 and 2010 have given Supervising Engineers additional powers and placed additional duties upon them, some of which came into effect in England following the Ministerial Direction of Emergency Plans. The Independent Reservoir Safety Review Report written by Professor David Balmforth, published in March 2021, and a Defra consultation in August 2023 both suggested significant additional duties and obligations. The cumulative effect of these actual and proposed changes is to alter the nature of the role of the Supervising Engineer, with implications covering a range of areas from qualification and experience requirements for appointment to the commercial attractiveness of the work.