Property flood resilience explained

Two approaches: resistance and recovery

• Resistance means reducing the chance of water getting in: door barriers, flood doors, air brick covers, non-return valves and sealing.
• Recovery (sometimes called resilience) means accepting that water may get in, and making the damage smaller: raised sockets, solid floors, tiled finishes and kitchens that can be dried and reused.

Most homes need some of each. Which mix suits yours depends on how deep and how long a flood is likely to be, and on how your walls and floors are built. That's a question for a survey, not a website.

The code of practice

CIRIA publishes the Code of practice for property flood resilience (C790), now in its second edition. It sets out how a PFR project should run: a survey, a design, installation, then handover and maintenance. If a surveyor or installer says they work to it, ask how.

What product certification means

Flood products fitted to a building (boards, skirts, flood doors and air bricks) can be tested and certified against BS 851188-1:2019+A1:2021, the British Standard for flood resistance building products. BSI's Kitemark shows a product has been certified against it. Free-standing barriers placed away from the building fall under a separate part of the standard.

Certification tells you how a product performed in a test. It can't tell you whether it will seal against your door frame or your brickwork, which is another reason a survey comes first.