Flood Risk and Drainage Impact Assessment

Our Services

Flood Risk and Drainage Impact Assessment

Flooding is a natural process that poses a risk to people and property; the experience of recent years suggests that the incidence and frequency of flooding may be escalating.

Planning Statement 25 (PPS25), Scottish Planning Policy 7 (PPS7) and the guidance for Wales Technical Advice Note 15 (TAN 15), set out respective UK government policies on minimising flood risk to property and the environment and outlines specific issues that should be addressed. In accordance with the guidance local planning authorities must ensure that flood risk is a consideration in the planning process for all new developments in order to reduce the risk of flooding and the damage it causes.

In compliance with PPS25, a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) is a required accompaniment of a planning application if a proposed development is over one hectare in size or if it is situated in a flood zone. It outlines the threat of flooding and the measures by which the risk can be minimised or avoided.

EPG can provide clients with appropriate, expert advice in relation to the scope and detail of the works required for a Flood Risk Assessment, which is determined by the scale and location of the development.

A Flood Risk Assessment undertaken by our hydraulic engineers will identify the potential source(s) of flooding, review flooding history, obtain critical water levels and determine the influences on river hydraulics. In conjunction, the FRA will consider flooding from tidal, fluvial, groundwater and on-site drainage sources both individually and in combination. The assessment also covers a number of other factors such as loss of floodplain storage and surface water drainage issues.

We determine, through a series of alleviation measures and engineering options, the most cost effective and practical solutions to completely avoid or mitigate within acceptable limits the risk of flooding on-site or elsewhere.

Flood Risk Assessments are often complimented by Drainage Impact Assessments (DIA) that provide a preliminary review of the potential options for drainage designs that may be developed in avoidance or mitigation of flood risks and will consider the physical changes the proposed drainage measures may cause to the development and to the area drainage efficiency beyond the proposed development.

The DIA will invariably offer an outline design for an appropriate sustainable drainage system that will consider betterment compared with the existing flood protection measures.

Our engineering team has extensive experience in the provision of Flood Risk and Drainage Assessments on a wide range of developments and is complimented by a wealth of practical and technical expertise in sustainable drainage design, thereby offering our clients a complete design service for this specialist area of engineering.

Our Flood Risk and Drainage Impact Assessment services include: