What is a Flood Emergency Response Plan (FERP) & who needs one?
Simply stated, a FERP is a document that lays out the processes and procedures you need to adopt in response to a flood hazard at your property – home or place of work.
A FERP is like a BCM (business continuity management) plan or a WILL.
We should all have one, but few people really bother until it’s too late.
A simple flood kit will likely suffice for a residential property, but if you have manual flood defences at home or work, a FERP is essential for understanding how to maintain, check, and correctly install these measures that you have purchased.
What Is Included in a FERP?
The first and most important feature is understanding your trigger point. What causes you to jump into action?
- Are you signed up to a flood warning service?
- Do you have access to river gauge data?
- Are you listening to advice from the SES or BOM?
- Do you know your river levels from previous floods?
For businesses, there will be a defined chain of command, and this decision will be made at the executive level.
If you are not at work, calls will be made to bring in the trained operatives who know how to assemble the flood mitigation measures, where and how they are stored and in which order they need to be deployed.
Ahead of time you will have already checked the operation of installed non-return valves (NRVs) and sump pumps. Mobile puddle sucker pumps (if used) will be positioned behind the flood defence line to manage seepage and overtopping.
You will have detailed installation instructions for each barrier location in an aide memoire package associated with each barrier.
You will already be familiar with these deployments because you will have participated in annual or biannual “dry runs” to ensure that all operatives (regardless of staff turnover rates) were fully briefed on these deployments and their roles.
Larger sites will likely have team leaders and specific areas of the site to manage.
Once all is in place, and checked, you will enact your site evacuation plan and ensure that all personnel leave the site well ahead of the flood onset.
When it is all over, you will follow the FERP’s guidance on cleaning and maintaining the barriers, pumps, and NRVs, and once they are dry, return them all to their dedicated storage areas.
The FERP sign-off sheets for annual training and maintenance checks will provide your insurer with the comfort they need to continue to offer you flood insurance cover at affordable levels.
How Much Does a FERP Cost?
The cost of a FERP depends on the complexity of the site and the deployed manually installed flood barriers.
Pricing starts from around A$6,000+GST for a simple site, so get in touch today to see how this minimal outlay can affect you insurance premiums by lowering your flood risk
