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Damage limitation - How to protect your property from floodsBy: Stewart Cooper FRICS, Director of Property, Argyll Environmental Ltd

Stewart Cooper, Director of Property, Argyll Environmental Limited

Hundreds of property owners in Wales and the West of England are now counting the costs of the recent floods. The subsequent waiting for weeks and months while others carry out the reinstatement works, not knowing quite when their homes or business premises will be ready for reoccupation, will be profoundly disorienting for many people. This may be made worse by on-going uncertainty of whether the property may flood again in the future. Therefore, those affected by the recent flooding, as well as those who believe they are at risk of future flooding, should consider installing flood defences at their property.

For an in depth risk analysis, the RICS recommends that property owners consult a chartered surveyor at a specialist consultancy to undertake a flood risk assessment, which will look, in depth, at the potential risk of all types of flooding - river, coastal, surface and ground water. Flood risk assessments can be undertaken for a minimal fee and culminate in a full risk report for the owner.

Upon determining the flood risk to a property, the owners should then consider whether to install measures to improve its flood resistance (measures to protect the property from flooding) and the flood resilience (measures to limit the damage a flood may cause to the property and its contents).

It is worth consulting a chartered surveyor with experience in providing flooding related services, as they may be able to organise all aspects of flood defence.

A chartered surveyor can give advice on flood risk, as well as managing flood insurance claims and providing reports and documentation for insurers or mortgage lenders.

Most importantly, they can also help with recommending appropriate solutions as well as arranging and supervising any flood resistance and resilience works to ensure the most adequate protection.”

Flood resistance measures defend the property by ensuring the walls, service intakes, air bricks, wc’s and drains are upgraded to keep flood water out of the building. To be effective, the whole building perimeter exposed to floodwater needs to be resistant.

When it comes to installing flood resistant works, it is essential that only Kite Marked products are installed. Some of the key features include:

  • Demountable, purpose-made doors, windows, and opening guards in all external wall openings.
  • For larger or vulnerable properties such as historic timber-frame buildings, demountable flood skirts, which can be raised around the perimeter walls of the building.
  • Guards for openings such as airbricks in the exterior walls.
  • Treatments to ensure the external walls are water-resistant.

Flood Resilience works are measures to make the fabric and services of the building more robust and easier to clean, dry out, and reinstate and enable the property to be reoccupied quickly in the event of floodwater entering the building.

Examples of Flood Resilient construction and services are:

  • Replacing timber, tiled or flagged ground floors with solid or suspended concrete floors incorporating robust damp proof membranes (DPM’s) to resist floodwater and rising groundwater.
  • Incorporating a slight fall and a sump pump to ground or basement floors to pump out any floodwater entering.
  • Raising gas and electric intakes and piping/cabling, and electric sockets and cabling, above the likely level of any flood (usually at least 1 m)
  • Installing backflow valves on sanitary drains to prevent sewage surging up through w.c’s, sinks, baths and showers in the event of a flood.

For many of those affected by recent floods, the instigation of flood resistance and flood resilience measures will be a key part of the reinstatement works. It is important that property owners considering this option discuss it with the Insurers’ Loss Adjuster as soon as a claim is lodged. While extra costs of this work may not be covered in the claim settlement, insurers are generally supportive of claimants providing enhanced protection to properties that have flooded and, in some cases, this may even be a requirement to continue being covered for future flood risk.

In any case of flood defence installation, it is important to ensure not only the effectiveness of any flood resistance or flood resilience measures that are put in place, but also to ensure the work is appropriately specified and properly executed, so that it is certifiable and acceptable to insurers and mortgage lenders.

Although simple flood resistance and flood resilience works will not usually require planning permission, there are cases when they will, so property owners should check with their local planning authority. Depending on the scope and extent of any Flood Resistance and Flood Resilience works, approval under Building Regulations may also be required.

About the author

Stewart Cooper is a Chartered Surveyor and was for many years Group Property Director of GEC and Marconi, responsible for their world wide property portfolio. He has considerable experience in property management and due diligence for acquisition and disposal of companies.

He joined Argyll Environmental in 2005 as Director of Property and in 2010 became a member of the RICS's Flooding Working Group. He has recently been working with DEFRA to identify issues and improvements in the way that flood risk information is provided and shared and is Vice Chairman of the Know Your Flood Risk Campaign.

http://www.rics.org/uk/       http://www.argyllenvironmental.co.uk


Features February 2013

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