Water Retaining Facilities Ordinance (WRFO) (WRFO)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 29 Federal supervisory authority
(Art. 22 WRFA) 1 The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) is the federal supervisory authority. 2 The main duties of the SFOE are as follows: a. direct supervision of large water retaining facilities and water retaining facilities on bodies of water bordering neighbouring countries; b. overall supervision of water retaining facilities subject to supervision by the cantons; c. issuing guidelines and preparing other technical documents in cooperation with the cantons, universities, professional organisations and industry; d. promoting research; e. securing expertise in cooperation with universities, cantons and professional organisations, and in particular ensuring the basic and continuing education and training of specialists and experts; f. ensuring an exchange of information at international level. 3 The SFOE shall provide the cantons concerned with the following documentation in particular: a. rulings by means of which it declares water retaining facilities subject to the WRFA (Art.
Art. 30 Cantonal supervisory authorities
(Art. 23 WRFA) The main duties of the cantonal supervisory authorities are as follows: a. supervising water retaining facilities that are not subject to direct supervision by the federal government; b. reporting the following information in particular to the SFOE concerning the facilities they are responsible for supervising: 1. the operator, 2. the purpose, 3. location coordinates, type and year of construction of the dam, 4. the year in which the facility was commissioned, 5. the geometric data; c. submitting an annual report on their supervisory activity to the SFOE by 30 June of the following year; d. reporting to the SFOE any unusual occurrences that could have an influence on the safety of the water retaining facilities they are responsible for supervising.
Art. 31 Inspections by the supervisory authority
(Art. 8 para. 4 WRFA) 1 The supervisory authority shall take part in the five-yearly inspections (Art. 19) and shall as a rule additionally inspect the facilities concerned once every five years. 2 As a rule, it shall inspect large water retaining facilities that are not subject to the five-year inspections once every three years. 3 As a rule, it shall inspect other water retaining facilities once every five years.
Art. 32 Measures taken by the supervisory authority
(Art. 5 par. 1 and Art. 8 para. 3 and 5 WRFA) 1 If the operator fails to fulfil its obligations under the WRFA and this Ordinance, the supervisory authority shall order the necessary measures, in particular: a. remedial measures or operational restrictions to ensure structural safety; b. maintenance measures, increased monitoring or operating restrictions if the results of the monitoring indicate unsafe operation. 2 If the operator fails to carry out a maintenance or remedial measure, the supervisory authority shall order the required measures and, if they are not carried out despite a warning, order the emptying of the water retaining facility.