Draft Standard for Flood Damage-Resistant Materials

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requires that all new, below-base flood elevation (BFE) construction in the regulatory floodplain be constructed with "materials resistant to flood damage." To provide a quantitative approach to evaluating resistance to flood damage, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building Science Branch has developed a pre-standard on evaluating flood damage-resistant materials. The pre-standard outlines procedures for identifying the flood damage resistance rating of building construction materials based on mechanical and aesthetic characteristics. The primary users of the standard will be manufacturers who will subject their materials and assemblies to the testing requirements and local building officials who will use the ratings to determine what is allowed in below-BFE construction. In an effort to evaluate the structural and health impacts of contaminated floodwaters on building materials and assemblies, FEMA Building Science is also undertaking a laboratory research task. The task sets out to develop a standard contaminated floodwater for use in evaluation and to evaluate the physical and environmental impacts of that floodwater on building materials and assemblies.