Flood Response Evacuation Plan (FREP)

We have summarised the useful and key information required to better understand how flood risk impacts your development and the importance of a Flood Response Evacuation Plan.

What is a Flood Response Evacuation Plan (FREP)?

A Flood Response Evacuation Plan, also known as an Emergency Flood Plan, may be required for your planning application to ensure your development is safe for users should a flooding event occur. The likelihood of you needing a FREP depends on the nature of your proposed development and the type and severity of the flood risk associated with it. It’s an important tool to reduce the impact of damage a flood event would have, whether to your overall business, employees, users, or the building itself.

​Some examples of projects that will likely need a FREP are;

• ​Residential – from one dwelling through to 500+
• Commercial – supermarkets/offices / restaurants
• Sports and Leisure – stadiums, leisure centres
• Recreation – Hotels / Holiday Camps

It is also important to be aware that Flood Warning and Evacuation Plans are essential for Holiday Accommodation applications.

This includes hostels, hotels, short-let caravans and camping grounds. This is because the occupants are transient to the area and may not be aware of the flood risk to the site.

​The overall aim of a Flood Response Evacuation Plan is to reduce the risk to life, mitigate damage, and enable a safe and organised evacuation of occupants of the premises during a flood event from any source.

​As such, emergency flood plans should be proportionate to the risk and appropriate to the scale, nature, location, and type of proposed development. The plan should provide an analysis of the flood risk to the proposed development, the wider site, and neighbouring access routes. It should then provide a route that will not expose people to hazardous flooding from any known source.

Do I need a Flood Response Evacuation Plan for Planning?

The National Planning Policy Framework states that there are occasions when it is required to review whether a development can provide safe access and egress during a flood from any source. If your application is located in Flood Zone 2 or 3, it is likely it will require a Flood Response Evacuation Plan.

This includes any source of the flooding, whether from rivers, seas, surface water, groundwater, or sewers and residual risks such as from reservoirs or canals and defence breaches.

​There are times you’ll still be required to provide a FREP even if your risk of flooding is considered low, so it’s important to get some advice early so you don’t get caught out when you go to submit your planning application.

How our team can support your application

Due to our vast flood risk experience, we are well-positioned to advise on whether you’ll need a Flood Response Evacuation Plan at the early stages of a planning application.

We can support the evolution of the development, from initial concept to application, ensuring the development is acceptable by regulators. This reduces design costs and project timeframes and provides the added incentive of being able to advise on costs early. This allows for project budgets to be managed and forecast more accurately.

​If you’re proposing a development or submitting a planning application and are unsure if you require a flood risk evacuation plan (FREP), contact our team using the form below. We’ll let you know whether a FREP is necessary and, if so, provide a quote.