Building confidence in flood resilience: How CIWEM is professionalising property flood resilience

15 April 2025

CIWEM’s new BeFloodReady Community of Practice, industry training and specialist register will help meet the growing need for property flood resilience in the face of climate impacts

There are now 6.3 million properties at risk of flooding in England, according to the latest update to the government’s National Flood Risk Assessment. Property Flood Resilience (PFR) – reducing the amount of flood water entering properties and using construction approaches to reduce the subsequent damage and recovery time – has therefore never been more important.

The devastating impacts of flooding on people and property are well known, yet the implementation of resilience measures remains fragmented, inconsistent and can lack public confidence. To address this, CIWEM is playing a pivotal role in embedding standards and professional competence by developing an inclusive ‘Community of Practice’ – a platform for knowledge sharing – around PFR, formal industry training and a specialist register for PFR professionals.

These measures will help to provide assurance that those delivering PFR measures are competent, accountable and able to provide confidence to property owners, risk management authorities, insurers, policymakers and the public.

The need for confidence in PFR

PFR in the UK has evolved over time. The 2007 floods, which saw 55,000 properties inundated, highlighted a critical gap in resilience which prompted action through the Pitt Review. Initiatives like the government’s PFR recovery grant in 2014 were introduced to support PFR. While welcome, this raised concerns about the impact of rogue traders overpromising their ability to deliver high-quality PFR installation. Poor practice, inconsistent delivery and a lack of coherent guidance previously left many homeowners wary of investing in flood resilience measures.

A code of practice for PFR was developed in 2021 that sets a benchmark for those installing or constructing PFR. This is now underpinning industry processes and frameworks to support the delivery of PFR. But to truly provide the confidence to attain good practice, the PFR sector needed an approach that instilled trust and improved certainty.

BeFloodReady: creating a community of practice

In 2024 CIWEM launched the BeFloodReady Community of Practice for PFR, a dedicated platform for sharing knowledge and good practice, and driving improvement in the sector. Recognising the fragmented nature of the industry, this initiative consolidates and signposts information, delivers online events and provides a vital collaborative hub for peer-to-peer learning between flood risk assessors, surveyors, building contractors, insurers, local authorities and property owners.

It builds on the success of the original BeFloodReady initiative, a 2020 campaign from the South West Property Flood Resilience Pathfinder that was managed by Cornwall Council and funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).

The website for BeFloodReady, CIWEM's Community of Practice on Property Flood Resilience

The new community of practice is more than just an information-sharing platform – it is a vehicle for industry change. Funded by 14 organisations that include Flood Re, the EA, the devolved governments of Wales and Northern Ireland, insurers, consultants and contractors, it helps to create a peer-to-peer professional community. By bringing professionals, insurers, and other clients together, we’re fostering a culture of collaboration, embedding good practice, driving change, and ensuring PFR is delivered with confidence and consistency. This is about turning knowledge into action and supporting resilience.

Competency and training: raising standards

Confidence in PFR hinges on the competence of those delivering it. In 2023, CIWEM developed a comprehensive training programme that aligns with the technical standards of the code of practice for PFR. It provides a foundation in the principles of PFR, as well as its design, construction and operation.

Designed with a wide range of professionals in mind, the training ensures that those involved in PFR have a clear and consistent understanding of what ‘good’ PFR delivery looks like. The courses blend e-learning with interactive advice surgeries led by industry specialists, offering a flexible but robust learning journey.

This structured approach ensures that insurers, local authorities and other risk management authorities can become ‘intelligent clients’ who better understand flood risk management and the role of PFR, enabling them to make more informed decisions.

The specialist register of PFR professionals: certifying competence

Perhaps the most significant step towards embedding confidence in PFR is our development of a specialist professional register. Launched in spring 2025, this initiative provides an independent, recognised benchmark of competency for those delivering PFR measures. PFR is critical to protecting homes and businesses, but a lack of confidence and consistency in its delivery has led to low levels of uptake and quality.

CIWEM’s PFR training and specialist register unifies all the stakeholders around a common goal, and gives a greater understanding of the skills required at each stage – ensuring those delivering PFR are confident, competent and trustworthy. This is about raising standards, building resilience, and giving people (both practitioners and public) peace of mind.

The register will robustly assess individuals’ knowledge, experience and competencies against the code of practice’s six standards, and will require professionals to provide evidence of their experience and knowledge of PFR.

By providing this structured framework for professional recognition, CIWEM is addressing a longstanding gap in the sector. No longer will PFR be delivered by unverified contractors. Instead, home and business owners at risk of flooding will be able to have confidence in a sector well equipped to meet their needs.

Find out more by visiting the BeFloodReady website, joining the Community of Practice or visit the CIWEM stand (E31) or the BeFloodReady stand (PF2) at this year's Flood & Coast conference.

Flood & Coast 2025 offers a chance to learn and connect with peers, industry leaders and key stakeholders from the world of flood and costal erosion risk management. Learn more here.

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About the author: Paul Shaffer is director of projects at CIWEM