Flood Risk Assessment

Flood Risk Assessments will predominantly be required by developers of new homes. In England and Wales, the Environment Agency requires a professional Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) to be submitted alongside planning applications in areas that are known to be at risk of flooding (within flood zones 2 or 3) and/ or are greater than 1ha in area, planning permission is not usually granted until the FRA has been accepted by the Environment Agency. However, a homeowner trying to buy, or insure, a property in a flood risk area may be asked to produce the FRA that was completed when the property was built.

About Flood Risk Assessments

Flood Risk Assessments are typically undertaken by a surveyor who is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and are bound by their rules of professional conduct. A key requirement is to ensure such professional flood risk assessments are independent to all parties by carrying out their professional duties with complete objectivity and impartiality.

When Do I Need An FRA

When buying a new home it is recommended that you get a guarantee that it has not been built in a flood risk area. Any recent development will have been required to include this report in their planning materials and it should be have been passed on to homeowners at purchase.

Northern Ireland

In 2006, the Planning Service, part of The Department of the Environment, published Planning Policy Statement 15 (PPS15): Planning and flood risk.[5] The guidelines are precautionary and advise against development in flood plains and areas subject to historical flooding. In exceptional cases a FRA can be completed to justify development in flood risk areas. Advice on flood risk assessment is provided to the Planning Service by the Rivers Agency, which is the statutory drainage and flood defence authority for Northern Ireland.

Republic of Ireland

In 2009, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Office of Public Works published planning guidelines requiring local authorities to apply a sequential approach to flood risk management.[6] The guidelines require that proposed development in flood risk areas must undergo a justification test, consisting of a flood risk assessment.

See Also In Chimni

Chimni Wiki Home Information Packs - HIPs

Other Useful Web Sites

Wikipedia - Flood Risk Assessment www.wikipedia.org]

Direct Gov - Flood Risk Maps [www.flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk]

Direct Gov - Assessing The Need For FRAs [www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk]

References

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