FRA
Flood Risk Assessment
The core planning document for any site in Flood Zone 2 or 3, over one hectare, or at risk from surface water.
Services
Four documents, and the judgement about which you need
Planning authorities ask for different combinations depending on the flood zone, the scale of the scheme and the use proposed. Below is what each report does. If you would rather just ask, send us the postcode.
Our services
FREP
Flood Risk Emergency Plan
A practical evacuation and flood response plan for occupants, usually required by condition where access floods.
ST / ET
Sequential Test and Exception Test
The policy case for building here rather than somewhere drier — and, where required, the case for an exception.
SuDS
Drainage Strategy and SuDS
Surface water drainage design and a SuDS strategy that satisfies the Lead Local Flood Authority.
A rough guide
What tends to be asked for, and when
This is a starting point rather than a rule. Validation checklists vary between authorities, and the only definitive answer is the one your case officer gives.
- A single house in Flood Zone 3
- Flood risk assessment, and usually a flood risk emergency plan where the access road floods.
- A new dwelling on a garden plot in Flood Zone 2
- Flood risk assessment plus a sequential test, and a surface water drainage statement if the authority asks.
- Ten or more homes, any flood zone
- Drainage strategy and SuDS — the lead local flood authority is a statutory consultee at that scale.
- A householder extension in Flood Zone 3
- Flood risk assessment. The sequential test does not normally apply to householder development.
- A change of use to residential
- Flood risk assessment, and an exception test where a more vulnerable use is proposed in a higher risk zone.
Beyond the planning stage
Conditions, objections and the awkward middle
Not every enquiry arrives at the start. Plenty come from people who already have a permission with a flood risk condition attached, or an objection letter they were not expecting.
We take that work on too: discharging pre-commencement conditions, responding to Environment Agency or lead local flood authority comments, and reviewing a report someone else prepared to say honestly whether it answers the point being made.
Not sure what your application needs?
Send us the site address and a line about what you are proposing. We will tell you which reports the authority is likely to ask for, and what they will cost — usually within one working day.