Document

Flood Risk Assessment

Establishes which flood zone a site sits in, from every source of flooding, and shows how the scheme responds to that risk over its lifetime.

Open the specimen How it is drafted

The tier this usually sits in: MinorThe tier this usually sits in
Wren, for a case at that tier: £1,995Wren, for a case at that tier
Specimen you can read in full: PublishedSpecimen you can read in full
Sections inside it: 7Sections inside it

A page from the Flood Risk Assessment specimen. — **Flood Risk Assessment.** A page from the real specimen. Watermarked throughout, because a specimen must never be mistakable for a signed submission.

What is inside

Section by section.

01Every source of flooding considered: rivers, tidal, surface water, groundwater, sewers and reservoirs
02The flood zone classification for the site
03The Sequential Test, and the Exception Test where it applies
04Climate change allowances applied over the development's lifetime
05Finished floor levels, and safe access and egress
06Surface water drainage and betterment
07Residual risk and a flood response

When it is required

Why a council asks for this.

National Planning Policy Framework paragraphs 167 to 169. Flood zone and climate allowance figures are taken live from the Environment Agency. Rainfall allowances and river-flow allowances use different band names over different epochs, and a figure quoted under the wrong one is rejected rather than corrected.

Who signs it

Required when
Any site in Flood Zone 2 or Flood Zone 3
Any site of one hectare or more, in any flood zone
Sites with a recorded history of surface water or groundwater flooding

The constraint layer that makes a Flood Risk Assessment necessary, rendered over a street basemap. — **The constraint this answers.** A real capture of the live map on the street basemap, not an illustration of one.

Why it exists

Documents answer constraints.

A council does not ask for this because it likes paperwork. It asks because something on or near your site triggers it, and the appraisal will tell you whether yours is triggered before you pay for anything.

Check your own site

Asked and answered

About the Flood Risk Assessment.

How do I know which flood zone I am in?

Draw your site on the map. Flood Zone 2 and Flood Zone 3 are two of the free layers, straight from the Environment Agency, and the appraisal names the zone for you.

Is this the same as a drainage strategy?

No. A Flood Risk Assessment addresses flood risk to and from the development. A detailed drainage design is separate engineering work, and where your council asks for one the checklist will say so.

Often alongside

Documents that usually travel with it.

Design and Access Statement

Explains the design thinking behind a scheme and how people will get to and around it. Required by statute for certain applications, and the first thing a design officer reads.

Affordable Housing Statement

Sets out whether a scheme triggers your council's affordable housing policy, and what it must provide or pay if it does.

Sustainable Design Statement

Shows how a scheme answers your council's sustainability and climate policies. Several councils require one for anything that creates new floorspace, with no lower threshold.

All fourteen documents

Find out whether your site needs one.

The appraisal names the route, lists the documents that route requires, and prices the set before you commit to anything.

Draw your site What a set costs