Do You Need A Flood Risk Assessment?

By Author: Abbey smith
Total Articles: 353
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Floods have become an increasing concern not only for developers and property owners but also for local councils and planning authorities. Unfortunately, more and more developments have been built on what are known as flood plains; areas of land where water collects and has nowhere to escape to or run off to. When this happens and flooding occurs, it means that properties can become completely destroyed and families left devastated. A flood risk assessment assesses the risk of flooding and can identify measures that need to be taken in order to counteract this potential danger to development.

Planning authorities consider the flood risk assessment to be essential and one must be included in a development application pack. A failure to include such an assessment means that the application will be considered incomplete and this, in turn, means that the application will not be successful leaving development hanging while an assessment by a qualified assessor is acquired.

It is also a legal requirement that a flood risk assessment be carried out by a qualified professional. Somebody who is skilled enough that they ...
... can ascertain the risk of flooding in a particular area and to a specific development project. Rules for such assessments are laid out in the Planning Policy Statement 25 and anybody undertaking the survey must adhere to these rules otherwise a flood risk assessment will not be considered legal.

Getting a flood risk assessment early in the planning process should be considered critical. The assessment will enable developers to continue their plans accordingly. In some cases, this may mean additional flood protection for the proposed development while in other cases it may require the moving of the development. Local authorities will not grant planning permission if they are not completely satisfied with the findings of a flood risk assessment or the action taken to prevent the likelihood of flooding.

A flood risk assessment is a legal requirement and developers looking to start new development projects must have an assessment completed by a qualified professional. Without this information, the planning authority will not grant permission to complete the project.

FloodRiskAssessment.net provides extensive flood risk assessment at highly competitive rates, ensuring that property owners, developers, and authorities are fully satisfied with the risk of flooding or the measures taken to protect against these risks.