The Clyde Dam, on the Clutha River. Photo:
Eight engineers have so far been trained to sign off on safety plans at the country's dams.
From next May, the owners of an estimated 1500 dams must have a safety plan in place that has been vetted by a recognised dam engineer.
Globally, concerns are rising whether dams will cope with increasingly severe storms.
Previously in New Zealand there has been no scheme to monitor and maintain dams, even though at least four dams or canals have breached since 1980.
The regulations brought in last year require all but the smallest dams to be assessed for their high-to-low risk of causing damage to people or nature if they breach.
"The assessment requires estimates of the extent and effects of downstream flood inundation due to uncontrolled release," the MBIE guidelines said.
Peak flow is key, and climate change is boosting those.
A dam's safety plan must include inundation maps that show the arrival time of the first flood waters, when the peak would arrive, and how high the peak would be.
Engineering New Zealand runs the training. It had no set target for how many engineers would be needed.
Those who had done the training were on its online register.