DEFRA offer their full support for BSI accredited products
09/11/2009
DEFRA released an announcement on 27/10/09 stating that any flood mitigation products to be procured as part of the forthcoming Local Authority schemes must be BSI accredited, or an internationally recognised equivalent, namely FM Global.
FGSL are also aware that the Environment Agency are presently finalizing their national procurement policy for the use of Temporary & Demountable products (T&D) and it is looking likely that only BSI accredited products (or equivalent) will be considered in terms of procurement for flood mitigation in the future.
This common approach by DEFRA and the EA will demonstrate consistency, and will help establish a set framework for any type of procurement in the flood industry for the foreseeable future.
The recent DEFRA announcement also recognises the importance of the insurance sector in this industry, because securing suitable flood insurance cover for any property that is located on a flood plain is becoming increasingly more difficult. It is already apparent that the insurance sector only support the use of BSI accredited products, culminating in this sector only endorsing products that have been tried and tested via an independent testing regime.
The DEFRA announcement puts an emphasis on the chosen surveyor to recommend BSI or equivalent products only, and this is detailed in the following extract from the release.
“State clearly the minimum work that needs to be done to be effective and specify the performance (acceptable leakage rates) for the products used, taking note that insurance companies are expected to require flood mitigation products to meet the BS PAS 1188:2009 test specification (or international equivalent) for them to issue flood insurance for properties at high flood risk. It is expected that products already meeting PAS 1188:2003 would be considered acceptable also.”
For more information on the above mentioned please refer to the following link:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/flooding/documents/manage/survey-template.pdf