Surveying for flood resilience at the level of an individual property
The research examines how building a group of competent surveyors can encourage the wider adoption of property level protection as a way of managing flood risk.
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Details
Background
Property Level Protection (PLP) has developed rapidly in the last few years as one way of reducing the impact of flooding. The most important benefit of property level protection is its role in limiting the damage (physical and psychological) caused by flooding. It may also have a role in enabling people to access insurance more easily, possibly even reducing premiums and excess payments.
Evidence from existing PLP schemes suggests that important barriers to growth in uptake are due to the lack of: * specialist capacity amongst surveyors * independent verification of this capacity to build consumer confidence
Approach
This study develops an evidence base to support the Defra objective of building flood resilience. This is by developing a group of surveyors who can advise on property level protection measures competently. The project identifies best practice and evaluates current and future options for achieving this objective.
The approach included case study investigations, a literature review and community engagement.
Results
The study found that the Independent Flood Risk Assessor (iFRA) role, as identified in this project, requires a unique blend of skills and knowledge. These include a thorough understanding of the: * flood risks and sources * building construction * full range of PLP products that are available * needs and abilities of the person and family living in that property
Whilst a PLP scheme is typically an order of magnitude lower in cost than a traditional community defence, there remains a need to adequately assess the: * flood risks * property * needs of the people who are vulnerable to flood risk
Independent Flood Risk Assessors must be able to identify the most appropriate resistance and / or resilient measures given the flood, the people at flood risk, and the building’s performance under flood conditions.