Floodproofing Your Property

Floodproofing refers to design or construction measures at the property level that make buildings and their contents more resistant or resilient to flood damage.

Effective floodproofing can reduce:

• losses from damage to a building and its contents
• clean-up and recovery time, and
• the likelihood of injury or death from drowning, electrocution, unsanitary conditions and debris.

Floodproofing measures do not reduce the likelihood of floodwaters arriving at your property — rather, they help limit harm to life and damage to property. These measures tend to be most effective when the flood duration is short, speed of floodwaters is slow, and flood depth is low.

Raising a building or dry floodproofing techniques can help keep water out of a building, whereas wet floodproofing lets water in while minimizing damage.

Floodproofing is sometimes required or advised by a municipality during the development or permit application process. Check with your local municipal planning department.

Here are brief descriptions of techniques, followed by links to some resources. More information about the potential benefits and challenges of floodproofing can be found in the Reduce the Risk section of this website.