Will flooding recommendations feed into the regulations?
The 2007 floods were the most expensive weather-related event in UK history. They have prompted several in depth reviews but it is unclear if any of the major requirements and guidance will feed into the building regulations. This, said TRADA Regulations Consultant Rupert Scott, gives rise to concern.
TRADA's latest Construction Briefing, entitled Flooding: The background. Why the building regulations requirements may change in the future, gives the background to flooding in the past 10 years, summarises the key recommendations in one of the major reports undertaken after the 2007 floods, the Pitt Review, and examines the implications for building regulations, codes and planning guidance.
At present the England & Wales building regulations and associated guidance (in the form of Approved Documents) do not address flooding. The historical position has been to address flood risk through the planning process only.
One of the key recommendations of the Pitt Review, commissioned by central government, was to incorporate requirements for flood resilience into the building regulations. Proposals are being drafted and the consultation process is scheduled to begin in May this year, with implementation in October 2010. While it looked as though clear guidance would be incorporated into Approved Documents A (Structure) and C (Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture), it is by no means a foregone conclusion Mr Scott warned. Attendance at a workshop event this month gave the impression that ‘time might well have run out. There were no clear proposals in place and May is not that far away.'
