Claire Gould, PFR Framework Manager, Environment Agency
Dan Lamb, Commercial Business Relationship Manager, Environment Agency
The Environment Agency’s 2024 Property Flood Resilience (PFR) framework was launched in January 2024. It provides the Environment Agency and others with access to the essential survey, design and installation works required to carry out the national PFR programme.
The framework is managed across the Environment Agency’s six hubs in England to support local implementation and collaborative working. Ten delivery partners work across two lots providing a complete service from outline design and survey through to installation and commissioning.
A significant proportion of the national PFR programme is carried out by local authorities but also internal drainage boards and other government departments. The use of the framework has been extended to these organisations to support the consistent implementation of the national programme. By June 2025, 30 local authorities had signed up to use the framework with a number of further enquiries being supported by the Commercial Business Support Team in the Environment Agency.
Josie Bush, Flood and Climate Resilience Project Manager at Surrey County Council, says “We are successfully using the Environment Agency’s PFR Framework to deliver PFR measures to 30 properties as part of our Alfold Flood Alleviation Scheme. We have a further 3 schemes in development and the use of the PFR Framework will enable us to provide protection to homes and communities across our area”.
The Environment Agency’s Commercial Business Support Team (CBST) offers support and information to others, such as local authorities, who are interested in any of their commercial frameworks for the delivery of FCRM projects. If you would like to know more about the PFR Framework or sign up, the CBST can be contacted on [email protected].
The first year of the framework has seen £2.5 million worth of contracts awarded across the country. This annual spend is anticipated to increase as local authorities and other risk management authorities use the framework more.
PFR schemes on the Flood Risk Investment Programme are funded through a combination of Grant in Aid and other sources, which may include Local Levy, Local Authorities and private contributions. The amount of Grant in Aid funding available is dependent on the property type, level of deprivation and characteristics of flooding.
Unlocking confidence in PFR
The Environment Agency continue to collaborate with delivery partners to develop and improve technical standards across the PFR industry. This includes working alongside the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), the British Standards Institution and KIWA to support the development of awareness raising with BeFloodReady, training programmes, testing and third-party certification of products and services. The Environment Agency has worked with Flood Re and the University of Hull to retrofit an existing test tank facility so that products can be tested to the relevant British Standard. Alongside this, the EA’s civil engineering standards team are reviewing and improving the minimum technical standards which underpin the framework. This will ensure that the most up-to-date engineering performance standards are being incorporated into the implementation of PFR projects.
A long-awaited industry body, the International Property Flood Resilience Association has been formed by our leading PFR framework delivery partners. This aims to promote and enhance the profile and awareness of PFR, and ensure the highest quality of services, products and installations are provided by its members.
Looking to the future, PFR will be an essential component of a multi-layered approach to both natural and engineered flood risk management. The Government’s current consultation on flood and coastal erosion funding reform indicates greater investment and mainstreaming of PFR in the future FCERM flood investment programme.
PFR is no longer considered the measure of last resort. Instead, it has a significant role to play not only as a primary solution but also to complement existing flood assets which now have residual risk because of the changing climate.
