Panel Engineer Application

This part of the website contains links and information relating to:

The Reservoir Engineers Panel Structure,
Panel Engineers Registers,
Supervising Engineers,
All Reservoirs Engineers, Non-Impounding Reservoirs Engineers, Service Reservoirs Engineers,
Key Application Dates,
Further Information.

The Reservoir Engineers Panel Structure

Reservoir Panel Engineers are qualified civil engineers appointed by the Secretary of State of Defra in England and Wales, and/or the Scottish Government in Scotland, "after consultation" as to whether they are "qualified and fit” to be placed on the relevant panel to carry out functions under the relevant national reservoir safety legislation, namely the Reservoirs Act 1975 for reservoirs located in England and Wales and the Reservoirs (Scotland) Act 2011 for reservoirs in Scotland.

There are four panels:

Supervising Engineer (SupE): Is commissioned by the reservoir undertaker of a high‐risk reservoir in England and Wales or a medium or high-risk reservoir in Scotland to supervise the reservoir at all times and produces a written report at least once annually.

All Reservoirs Engineer (AR): Is commissioned by the undertaker of a high-risk statutory reservoir of any type to perform a periodic reservoir safety inspection (typically once every ten years) and provide a report to the reservoir undertaker. This report is copied to the relevant regulator. The report might contain recommendations to be completed in the interests of safety and/or maintenance which must be complied with.

Non-Impounding Reservoirs Engineer (NIR): Is commissioned by the undertaker of a high-risk statutory non-impounding reservoir to perform a reservoir safety inspection (typically once every ten years) and provide a report to the reservoir undertaker. This report is copied to the relevant regulator. The report might contain recommendations to be completed in the interests of safety and/or maintenance which must be complied with.

Service Reservoirs Engineer (SR): Is commissioned by the undertaker of a high-risk service reservoir to perform a reservoir safety inspection (typically once every ten years) and provide a report to the reservoir undertaker. This report is copied to the relevant regulator. The report might contain recommendations to be completed in the interests of safety and/or maintenance which must be complied with.

A member of panel AR, NIR or SR can act as a SupE for any type of reservoir.

Medium risk reservoirs in Scotland might require periodic reservoir safety inspections under particular circumstances described in the Reservoirs (Scotland) Act 2011.

Reservoirs in England and Wales designated as ‘not high risk’ and reservoirs in Scotland designated as ‘low risk’ do not require a SupE appointment nor periodic reservoir safety inspections.

Panel Engineer Registers.

The ICE Reservoirs Committee (RC) is a committee (further information on RC available here) that advises the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Scottish Government on the appointment or re-appointment of engineers to the various panels described above under the relevant national legislation.

Applicants for membership of these panels are appointed by the Secretary of State of Defra in England and Wales, and the Scottish Government in Scotland, "after consultation" as to whether they are "qualified and fit to be placed on that panel". Appointments are for five years and before their term expires engineers may apply for re-appointment for a further term. The number of terms is not limited. A fee is payable (please refer to ICE website for current rate) for each application for appointment or re-appointment to a panel. The current registers of panel engineers with contact details can be found on gov.uk.

Supervising Engineers

The Supervising Engineers' Panel application process requires dedicated application forms for new and reappointment applicants, and an attribute based assessment system to appraise candidate suitability.

Please find below links to the documents.

All Reservoirs Panel Engineers, Non-Impounding Reservoirs Engineers and Service Reservoirs Engineers

The All Reservoir Panel Engineers, Non-Impounding Reservoirs Engineers and Service Reservoirs Engineers Panel application process requires dedicated application forms for new and reappointment applicants, and an attribute based assessment system to appraise candidate suitability.

Please find below links to the documents.

Key Dates

Applications for reappointment should be submitted at least 8 months before expiry. Key dates for application submissions are detailed on this web page.

Further information

Link to: ICE website specialist professional registers