Understanding and assessing flood risk

The FRA should be:

• appropriate to the scale, nature and location of the development
• proportionate to the degree of flood risk

The Environment Agency has prepared an FRA template¹ and associated guidance² to help increase the chances that your FRA includes the right information first time. The template and guidance are likely to be appropriate for use with non-major³ and major development⁴ proposals and can be downloaded below.

View and download the FRA Template⁵ and related guidance⁶.

For minor development⁷ such as householder development and non-residential extensions creating floor space of less than 250 square metres, the template and guidance may provide helpful advice. However, there are some aspects which may not be relevant to, or necessary for, very small-scale development.

The FRA template ⁸and guidance⁹ should be read alongside the site-specific flood risk assessment check-list¹⁰. Also refer to Flood risk assessments if you’re applying for planning permission¹¹ for guidance on:

• how to request flood risk information from the Environment Agency
• how to prepare your FRA
• whether the Environment Agency has provided standing advice.

If you have any feedback on the Environment Agency’s FRA template and guidance, it should be sent to: fratemplatefeedback@environment-agency.gov.uk¹².

1. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/ea/Environment-Agency_Flood-Risk-Assessment-Template.docx
2. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/ea/Environment-Agency_Flood-Risk-Assessment-Template_Guidance.pdf
3. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-assessment-local-planning-authorities#check-the-development-class
4. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-assessment-local-planning-authorities#check-the-development-class
5. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/ea/Environment-Agency_Flood-Risk-Assessment-Template.docx
6. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/ea/Environment-Agency_Flood-Risk-Assessment-Template_Guidance.pdf
7. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-assessment-local-planning-authorities#check-the-development-class
8. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/ea/Environment-Agency_Flood-Risk-Assessment-Template.docx
9. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/ea/Environment-Agency_Flood-Risk-Assessment-Template_Guidance.pdf
10. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-and-coastal-change#Site-Specific-Flood-Risk-Assessment-checklist-section
11. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-assessment-for-planning-applications
12. mailto:fratemplatefeedback@environment-agency.gov.uk