Firms in cities 'should increase flood defences'

Back to articles

Water escape can cause significant amounts of financial and physical damage.

Firms based in inner city areas may wish to upgrade their flood defences in the event that the current cold snap leads to water escaping from overwhelmed drainage systems.

According to Frank Kelly, chief executive of UK Flood Barriers, businesses are becoming more proactive about flooding risks in terms of protecting their assets, perhaps because they realise that the cost of repairing an office after water damage would be substantial.

"Flooding is a big issue now - they're even looking at changing legislation in building rent to address it. When it comes to buying a property, all the information is there on the website - if a property floods, legally the solicitor have an obligation to tell people," he pointed out.

Companies that are at an increased risk of flooding during the cold snap could invest in security safes to protect their important documents and other items from water damage.

"River and coastal flooding is very easy to turn around, but most of the problems now are to do with flash flooding, because heavy rain falls into overwhelmed drainage systems. Properties in inner cities now are being flooded," Mr Kelly warned.

"Making a property secure is a fairly simple task and not a very expensive one. An average property costs around £3,500 to protect. If you protect your property and there's one flood event it's paid for itself - the average cost for a reinstatement is around £70,000 and that will take anything between six months and a year."

Mr Kelly's remarks came after a report published last month by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found flooding is the greatest threat to the UK posed by climate change.

The study calculated that the financial damage caused by water escape will reach between £2 billion and £10 billion a year by 2080.


http://www.theofficesuppliessupermarket.com/category_safes_151032.aspx

Posted: 9 February 2012

Post a comment

Your name:
Comment:
Your basket is empty
Payment types