Flooding legislation

Unfortunately, there is little or no specific legislation that protects property owners from flooding.

Central Governments, Local Authorities and community groups all have flood related policies, guidance and processes that aim to reduce the frequency, impact and duration of flooding, but there currently is no laws/legislation that can prevent or protect people who live or work in flood prone areas.

For many, flooding and the risk of flooding is a matter of risk management. Knowing the risk of flooding and purchasing flood related insurance that can help towards recovery is all that is considered.

Thorough rules on building new homes in high flood risk areas exist, the pressure to build new homes where people want to live means that homes do get built where floods can happen. At present, planning legislation does not help anyone in an existing building that is at risk of flooding.

Very little flood legislation - but a large library of support

There is a considerable library of published flood related guidance that covers everything from planning, infrastructure, catchment management, drainage, sewerage, riparian responsibilities, new buildings, flood adaptation, river management and flood risk assessment.

As there is no flood legislation, and as it is not possible to legislate against the weather, it is not possible to give guarantees that flooding will not happen. So despite obligations, liability and responsibility for tasks and functions relating to flooding being the subject of primary legislation, what we can do to protect buildings, communities and individuals from flooding is mostly published in the form of guidance.

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Other flood related guidance >>

Flood Protection and Remediation Document Library

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Other Flood Related Guidance

Guidance relating to flood resistance and resilience has been formulated by PCA, national and regional governments, pressure groups, private companies, standards organisations and insurance providers. You can find the indepth list by click on the button below:

Other Flood Related Guidance >>

Our Flood Protection Group

For flood or property remedial professionals interested in helping to drive forward best practice and the possible shaping of future flood legislation, then we encourage you to find out more and consider joining the PCA flood protection group. To find out more, click on the button below:

Flood Protection Group >>

Improve your knowledge

Want to learn more about recovering from a flood?

For those interested in learning more about flooding, restoration & prevention, there is a variety of PCA training options for surveying professionals as well as technical/trade professionals.

Use the search tool below to find available flood related training courses or simply go to our training & qualifications section. Alternatively, if you want to chat to someone, contract our training team on 01480 400 000 or contact them online.

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Flood Restoration

Are you looking to learn more information on flood restoration from our professionals? Click here for more info:

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More about PCA Membership

Interested in taking part in the CPD scheme but you are not a PCA member? Find out more about membership and why it will benefit you!

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Flooding Legislation