Property flood resilience: Insights into the CIRIA code of practice

Abstract

Flooding is one of the UK’s biggest risks, and changes to our climate with predictions of warmer, wetter and stormier winters will increase the risk further. The Environment Agency’s National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England (2020) sets out ambitions to create climate resilience places and infrastructure for today’s and tomorrow’s climate. It works to the vision of ‘a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change — today, tomorrow and to the year 2100’. Among many objectives set out, the strategy commits risk management authorities to mainstream the use and take-up of property flood resilience (PFR) — that is, those measures that aim to reduce the amount of water entering a property, and those adaptations that can be made to reduce damage if it does enter. The PFR sector has evolved over the last decade with varying success, limited uptake and perceptions of ‘failure’ through poor workmanship and an absence of guidance. In 2021 a new Code of Practice (CoP) was published, providing guidance on six standards: hazard assessment, property survey, options development, construction, commissioning and handover, and operation and maintenance. This paper explores the objective of the Code, its benefits and limitation, highlighting that while the Code remains voluntary, growing awareness and application by risk management authorities such as the Environment Agency (EA) and lead local flood authorities will help drive up standards. Consistent delivery to acceptable standards will meet homeowner and insurer needs, thereby building a body of evidence of successful delivery and outcomes.