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Calls for flood resilience kitemark welcomed

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Jun 2, 2008

The Concrete Centre has welcomed the call from the Association of British Insurers for new flood resilience kitemark for housing developments planned for flood plains.

Speaking at the recent EXPO CO2 conference in Barcelona, Spain, Stephen Haddrill, ABI's director general called for the new kitemark to give confidence in a property's ability to withstand a flood.

"With the Government wanting to build 3 million new homes by 2020, many of them in areas of recognised flood risk, such a kitemark would be extremely useful", said Guy Thompson, head of housing and architecture at The Concrete Centre.

"It would enable house buyers to make an informed decision over the flood resilience of their new home and allow insurers to be better placed to offer competitively-prices flood insurance".

One of the predicted impacts of climate change is that of more incidents of flooding arising from the increase in frequency of sudden torrential downpours such as that experienced in Somerset.

As a consequence, the level of flood resilience offered by building materials and finishes will become more of an issue as those offering a higher level of resilience can minimise the flood damage and the time taken to refurbish and so allow earlier reoccupation.

Compared to lightweight construction, masonry and concrete homes offer a high degree of flood resilience.

They absorb less water and may not require any finishes, such as plasterboard, to be stripped off and replaced.

Flood resilience can be further improved by placing electrical sockets mid-way on a wall, above the flood line, and sealing the masonry and concrete with a waterproof coating or render.

"Concrete and masonry homes will not warp, rot or rust and so their structural integrity will not be compromised as a result of flooding".

"Furthermore, they can quickly dry out", said Guy Thompson, head of architecture and housing at The Concrete Centre.

"The availability of a flood resilience kitemark would benefit home owners, developers and insurers.".