Case Studies
Real projects, real problems, and how we solved them — from independent investigations for councils to getting a refused application back on track.
The Work Behind the Reports
Every flood risk assessment and drainage strategy we produce is built for a specific site and a specific problem. The projects below are chosen to show the range of what we do and how we think — the council that needed an impartial investigator, the farm dwelling on a surface-water flow route, the applicant whose scheme was refused for a missing FRA.
What they have in common is the approach: get the right data from the Environment Agency, understand what it actually means for the proposal, design a proportionate solution, and write it up so the officer can approve it. Having reviewed applications from inside a Lead Local Flood Authority, we know what that takes.
What These Projects Have in Common
✓ Flood data obtained from the Environment Agency and interpreted properly — never guessed
✓ Solutions proportionate to the site: no over-engineering, nothing missing
✓ Reports written to satisfy the council, the LLFA and the EA first time
✓ A fixed fee agreed up front, with no VAT to add
✓ One consultant from start to finish, dealing with any queries directly
The Kinds of Projects We Take On
From the smallest householder job to independent work for local authorities.
Councils & LLFAs
Independent flood investigations, Section 19 reports and impartial technical reviews for local authorities.
Refused or objected applications
Reviewing the reasons, fixing the evidence and dealing with the officer to get the scheme back on track.
Developments & conversions
Combined FRAs and drainage strategies for new homes, conversions and mixed-use schemes, through to condition discharge.
Householders
Extensions, garden rooms and self-builds in flood zones — proportionate reports at a fixed fee.
Which Works Need a Permit — and Which Don't
The permitting system is tiered. Getting your activity into the right tier first is what saves the time and cost.
Not every activity near water needs a full permit. Under the Environmental Permitting Regulations, a flood risk activity is either excluded (no permission needed), exempt (allowed, but must be registered with the Environment Agency), or requires a full Flood Risk Activity Permit. We work out exactly where your proposal sits before any application is made — so you don't pay for a permit you don't need, or get caught out by one you do.
When a permit is needed
Broadly, for works in, over, under or within 8 metres of a main river (16 m for a tidal main river), within 8 metres of a flood defence, or within the floodplain of a main river — including bridges, culverts, outfalls, walls, buildings, bank and bed works, and temporary works.
Main river vs ordinary watercourse
A permit only applies to a designated main river. Works to an ordinary watercourse are consented by the Lead Local Flood Authority instead, through Ordinary Watercourse Consent — so the first step is always confirming which one you're dealing with on the EA's main river map.
What we prepare
Where a permit is required we prepare and submit the application — location and works plans, a method statement, and any hydraulic modelling or flood risk information the EA asks for — and manage the EA liaison through to determination.
Selected Projects
A few examples that show the range — from a council investigation to a kitchen extension. All are Flood Risk Environmental projects; details are anonymised to respect our clients.
Independent flood investigation for a city council
The challenge. A resident reported repeated flooding at a property beside a small block of flats the council had built on a former garage site. The council's housing team needed an impartial answer to a sensitive question: was its own development responsible, and if so what should be done?
What we did. Bristol City Council commissioned us as an independent investigator. We inspected the site, reviewed the development's drainage and the historic and current surface water records, established the mechanism by which water was reaching the property, and assessed whether and how far the development contributed to it.
Outcome. An independent investigation report setting out the cause, the attribution and a set of practical remedial measures — delivered at a fixed fee, giving the council impartial evidence it could act on and rely on with the resident.
Replacement dwelling on a surface-water flow route — strategy praised by the council
The challenge. A replacement dwelling on a farm, taking the place of an agricultural building, sat on a mapped surface water flow route with a watercourse alongside. The council's drainage consultee would not determine the application without a full foul and surface water drainage strategy and a site-specific flood risk assessment. Weald Clay ground meant infiltration was never going to work, and there were no public sewers to connect to.
What we did. A topographic survey let us model the surface water flow route properly, set a design flood level and raise the finished floor level above the 1-in-100-year event plus 45% climate change with freeboard, while keeping the overland flow path clear. BRE 365 testing confirmed infiltration was not viable, so the surface water strategy used a tanked permeable paving attenuation system, modelled for the 1-in-30 and 1-in-100-year storms plus climate change and discharging at 1 litre per second through a flow control chamber to a headwall on the watercourse — with a surcharged-outfall check to prove it still works when the ditch is full. Foul drainage went to a package treatment plant discharging under the Environment Agency's General Binding Rules, and the package came with a long-term maintenance plan and the Land Drainage Consent route identified.
Outcome. A combined FRA, foul and surface water drainage strategy and maintenance plan, delivered at a fixed fee — and praised by the council's drainage consultee.
Prior approval refused for lack of an FRA — resubmitted with one
The challenge. A Class MA application to convert a commercial unit into a three-bedroom home was refused, with one of the reasons being that no site-specific Flood Risk Assessment had been submitted even though the frontage sits in Flood Zone 2.
What we did. We obtained the Environment Agency's hydraulic model outputs for the local watercourse and its flood relief channel, established the design and residual flood levels at the building, and confirmed the existing threshold sits above the design level. The FRA specified flood-resilient ground-floor construction and a BS 851188-1 rated flood door, set out a safe evacuation route to land outside the flood zone, and included a drainage statement — the whole package QA'd against EA standing advice, the LLFA's guidance and the council's Strategic Flood Risk Assessment.
Outcome. A planning-ready FRA and drainage statement, issued for resubmission within the fixed fee, answering the refusal reason directly.
Six-storey mixed-use scheme in a Critical Drainage Area
The challenge. A redundant town-centre pharmacy was to be replaced by a six-storey building with two commercial units and ten flats on a site of barely 0.05 hectares, in an area the council designates as a Critical Drainage Area. Little space, a fully impermeable site, and a sewer connection that turned out not to work.
What we did. Our FRA and outline drainage strategy took an infiltration-first approach, with a fallback of blue-green roofs, permeable paving and geocellular storage discharging at 1 litre per second through a vortex flow control. The water company's records showed the sewer the design team had intended to use was around three metres higher than the site's drainage, so we re-routed the connection to the large combined sewer in the main road via a new backdrop manhole — and completed the council's drainage proforma so the submission validated first time.
Outcome. FRA, drainage strategy and drainage drawings issued to support the outline application, with infiltration testing and detailed design sensibly deferred to a pre-commencement condition.
Kitchen extension behind a river flood embankment
The challenge. A homeowner wanted a wraparound kitchen extension on a house in Flood Zone 3 on the River Aire — protected by a flood embankment, but still requiring a full FRA the council would accept, on a tight timescale.
What we did. On our five-working-day service we obtained the Environment Agency's detailed flood data for the site, designed the extension's flood resistance around a flood door and resilient construction up to the defended design flood level plus freeboard, confirmed no ground-floor sleeping accommodation, and designed a soakaway for the new roof sized for the 1-in-100-year storm plus climate change, set the required five metres from the house.
Outcome. FRA, a four-sheet drainage drawing set and the soakaway calculations issued within the week, ready for the householder application.
We complete dozens of flood risk and drainage projects a year across England and Wales. If your situation isn't reflected here, it's very likely we've handled something similar — just ask.
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