More than just sandbags: a review of temporary and demountable flood barrier choices and complications

Building higher permanent flood defences in more and more new locations is not a viable long-term solution for future flood risk management. Temporary or demountable flood barriers are a preferred contemporary approach to protecting communities and buildings. Decades of innovation means the flood protection industry is now able to offer a wide range of certified (Kitemark standard) barriers. Many of the options are described and discussed, together with insights into the wide-ranging and obfuscating issues around their uptake and installation. These range from the challenges of the limited knowledge and understanding of homeowners and tradespersons, to the reinstatement restrictions created by the 'no betterment' policies of the insurance industry. The authors suggests that 'Building Back Better' should be promoted and that 'Building Better Before' should be a mandatory expectation for all new-build developers to adopt so everyone has a home or business fit for all seasons.