Independent flood risk assessments for property flood resilience are part of the code of practice for flood resilience and resistance. They aim to give clear, impartial and important advice to individuals, tenants and owners on the source and potential solutions to flood risk at any property (residential, commercial or even industrial).

The Code of Practice

Flood risk assessments for property flood resilience should be conducted by independent accredited assessors. These assessments should be conducted in accordance with the Code of Practice BS851188, which provides detailed guidance on how to assess and manage flood risk. The code of practice is divided into four sections: Flood Risk, Flood Warning Systems, Flood Measures, and Property Flood Resilience (PFR). Each section provides detailed guidance on how to assess and manage flood risk, as well as providing information on the types of flood risk measures that can be implemented to reduce the risk of flooding.

The Code of Practice BS851188 is divided into six stages:

1. Data Collection: This stage involves collecting data on the property and its surroundings, including flood risk and existing flood protection measures.
2. Risk Assessment: This stage involves assessing the level of flood risk and potential impact of flooding on the property.
3. Risk Management: This stage involves identifying suitable flood risk measures to reduce the risk of flooding.
4. Risk Reduction: This stage involves implementing the identified flood risk measures to reduce the risk of flooding.
5. Review: This stage involves regularly reviewing and updating flood risk measures to ensure they are still effective.
6. Maintenance: This stage involves maintaining flood risk measures to ensure they remain in good condition.

In order to meet standards 1 and 2 of the Code of Practice BS851188, independent FRAs should be conducted by independent accredited assessors. The assessment should include the assessment of flood risk, existing flood defence measures, potential additional measures to improve resilience, and measurements of property openings and risk areas for flood resilience. The measurements should include the size and location of windows, doors, and other openings, as well as the depth of flooding around the property. The expert should also remain market neutral when making recommendations for additional measures, and should provide advice on the types of flood risk measures that can be implemented to reduce the risk of flooding, and the potential benefits of these measures.

Independent Flood Risk Assessments

An independent FRA is core to the code of practice requirements. It ensures that recommendations for resilience measures are not provided by the installer, giving you the comfort that the designs are suitable, tailored to your property and in line with the national code of practice.

Aegaea is an independent firm of accredited assessors, providing specialist Property Flood Resilience assessments and consultancy services in accordance with the Code of Practice BS851188. Our team of experienced assessors have completed CIWEM approved training for Property Flood Resilience and are well-equipped to provide detailed advice on how to assess and manage flood risk, as well as recommending suitable flood risk measures to reduce the risk of flooding.

What happens in an independent FRA?

An independent FRA consists of two elements.

A site visit: One of our assessors will visit the property to understand local risks, take photos and take measurements of property openings and risk areas for flood resilience. These measurements may include the size and location of windows, doors, and other openings, the number and type of toilets, air bricks and any other route through which flood water may enter. The measurements taken will form part of the expert’s recommendations for additional measures to improve the property’s flood resilience.

A desk study: This includes assessing the depth of flooding and the potential impact of flooding on the property as well as the likely cause, depth and risk from flooding to the property.

Bringing it all together

The outcome of the flood risk assessment and site visit are brought together in a single, easy to understand report.  The assessor will make clearly state the risk sources of flooding, potential issues and make recommendations for any additional measures needed to improve the property’s flood resilience. Such measures may include:

• Flood Resistance Measures: these can be fitted to the outside of a property – theyform a physical barrier between the floodwater and the inside of the building.  Resistance measures aim to reduce the quantity of water that can enter, which in turn reduces the potential for damage.
• Flood Reslience and Adaptation: flood resilience, also called recoverablity, is used to supplement flood resistance measures and includes things like, flood resilient flooring, kitchens and internal fittings. The aim is that, if flooding does occur, the cost and time to recover is greatly reduced.c

When making recommendations for additional measures to improve the property’s flood resilience, assessors should remain market neutral, and not recommend specific company products. Instead, they should provide advice on the types of flood risk measures that can be implemented to reduce the risk of flooding, and the potential benefits of these measures. This advice should be tailored to the specific property, taking into account the depth of flooding, the potential impact of flooding, and the property’s existing flood defence measures. As a general rule, Aegaea recommends that, where possible all PFR should be kitemarked to BS851188.

Accreditation and Training

It is important to ensure that accredited assessors have completed CIWEM approved training for Property Flood Resilience (PFR). This accredited training is designed to provide assessors with the knowledge and skills to be able to carry out independent FRAs in accordance with the Code of Practice BS851188. The training is designed to cover all aspects of the code, including the assessment of flood risk, flood warning systems, flood measures and property flood resilience. Aegaea has several specialist flood risk assessors who have certification from CIRIA for independent flood risk assessments for property flood resillience and would be delighted to help you understand your risk of flooding.

So how can we help?

Aegaea’s experts can undertake independent flood risk assessments for property flood resilience. We have assessors nationally who will visit your property, assess your flood risk and make recommendations about what to do next. We remain market neutral and can even help you with getting quotes from reliable and accredited manufacturers. Our aim is to try and help take some of the stress away from you and give you a clear picture of your risk and what can be done about it. Aegaea hasworked with private individuals, housing associations, commercial tenants an insurers to give clear, concise and accurate flood risk information to help inform your choices.

Why not get in touch with an expert today and ask about how we can support you?