Delta’s Technical Waterproofing Consultant, Michael Vernon gives advice on minimising negative impacts from flood events and measures to rapidly recover from a flood event
Floods are part of nature. It is not technically feasible to prevent flooding, but you can take steps to prepare for a flood event, should your property be located within a flood risk area.
It is important for homeowners to firstly understand the basics about flooding and the associated risks.
Important Considerations for Homeowners when choosing materials for flood resistance, resilience and recoverability
What is a flood
What is flood risk
For homes in a flood risk area, flood depth
Flood duration
Flood onset
- Flood annual probability
- Sources of Flood
- Availability of flood warning
- Speed of flood rise
- Velocity of flood
- Ease of Evacuation
- Assess how flood water enters property
- How flood water affects the structure during a flood event (this task may need to be undertaken by a surveyor)
Before then turning to products
- How do these products protect a home during a flood event?
- Do these products offer Flood Resilience, Resistance or recoverability (or all)?
- How are these products installed?
- Are these products readily available?
- Will these products reduce home insurance costs if installed?
- Will I be able to get home insurance if I install these products?
- Do these products meet BS85500:2015 requirements?
- Will these products protect a structure in an event of flood without having any detrimental long-term effects on the structure?
- Does this product have a BBA Accreditation?
- What is the life cycle of this product?
- Can manufacturers make easily available third-party test data?
- Do materials meet fire regulations?
- Do materials have CE Mark certification?
- Are Product Data Sheets easily available?
- Are Technical Guidance notes easily available?
- Is there Technical Assistance both on and off site?
We believe flood resilient design is not a single solution, concept or perspective. It is an approach to changing the built environment.
Whilst protecting a building from being flooded is not cheap, taking steps to protect a home from flooding may enable the occupants to continue living in their home/having use of their building after a flood event, continuing business and services and obtain insurance at a more affordable rate.
Resistance and resilience measures can avoid the need to claim on insurance in a flood event or reduce the value of any claim made. Insurers will take flood resilience measures into account when providing insurance to large commercial and public sector customers. For homeowners, specialist insurers will take account of resistance and resilience that are installed to reduce the effects of flooding.
Flood risk takes into consideration the harm that a flood can cause. It is a combination of the probability (likelihood or chance) of an event happening and the consequences (impact) if it were to occur.
Products available from Delta
Delta specialise in manufacturing and supplying the United Kingdom with waterproofing products. The Delta range covers a comprehensive scope from cavity drainage membranes to resin injection systems. Whether the subject is restoration to recovery, Delta systems protect and preserve building and structures. For a full product list, please visit our website www.deltamembranes.com/products/.
Delta Membrane Systems have sought to convey that solutions of systems and materials are readily available to homeowners, business owners, construction and insurers alike in flood resilience, resistance and recoverability. Utilising technology that already exists and adapting it to provide a robust solution. Delta being experts in waterproof design we know our products and design ideas work in flood resilience.
Delta can offer assurance to customers that our products fully comply with British Standards and Building Regulations. Our products have BBA accreditation, Tested life cycle, easily available third-party test data, fire regulation test data, CE Mark certification, Technical Drawings, 3D Drawings, all products have easily downloaded Data Sheets and Material Safety Data Sheets. We offer Technical Guidance along with Technical Assistance both on and off site. All can be downloaded from the Technical menu of our website https://www.deltamembranes.com/technical/.
