@article {bnh-8130, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings {\textendash} final project report}, number = {691}, year = {2021}, month = {07/2021}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {MELBOURNE}, abstract = {

The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations made during the 2011 and 2013 floods in Australia, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. Considerable costs were sustained by all levels of government and property owners to effect damage repair and enable community recovery.

A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. While the vulnerability and associated flood risk for newer construction is being addressed (moderated) by new standards (ABCB, 2012), building controls and land use planning, the vulnerability associated with existing building stock remains. This vulnerability contributes disproportionally to overall flood risk in many Australian catchments.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) project entitled Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings addresses this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains. The project addresses the need for an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of the flood risk posed by the most vulnerable Australian houses and complements parallel CRC projects for earthquake and severe wind.

The project has developed a building classification schema to categorise Australian residential buildings into a range of typical storey types. Mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally have been reviewed. A floodproofing matrix has been developed to assess appropriate strategies for the selected storey types. All appropriate strategies have been costed for the selected storey types through the engagement of quantity surveying specialists. Vulnerability curves have been developed featuring reduced losses achieved through appropriate mitigation strategies for the five selected storey types.

Furthermore, selected building materials/systems have been tested to ascertain their resilience to floodwater exposure. These tests were aimed at addressing knowledge gaps in the areas of strength and durability of building materials during immersion.

A research utilisation project with NFRAG, AIDR and FMA as key stakeholders commenced in 2018. The project has developed generalised vulnerability functions for use by floodplain managers who may not have detailed exposure information.

In concluding the project, cost benefit analyses of mitigation options were conducted at three levels of resolution. These have added to cost versus benefit work already completed by the project team for Launceston as a utilisation project. The results are an evidence base to inform decision making by government and property owners on the mitigation of flood risk by providing information on the cost effectiveness of different mitigation strategies.

This report describes the research methods, project activities, outcomes and their potential for utilisation.

}, keywords = {buildings, Flood, mitigation, strategy}, issn = {691}, author = {Dale, K and Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner} } @article {bnh-7196, title = {Benefit versus cost analysis and optimal cost effective mitigation strategies}, number = {598}, year = {2020}, month = {08/2020}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {MELBOURNE}, abstract = {

This report forms part of the output to a research project entitled {\textquoteleft}Cost effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquoteright} within the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations during the recent flooding in Australia in 2011, 2013 and 2015, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. The BNHCRC project aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains.

Previous project steps towards achieving this goal have included the development of a building schema to categorise the Australian residential building stock and a literature review of mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally. The review categorised strategies into elevation, relocation, dry floodproofing, wet floodproofing and the use of flood barriers. Five typical storey types which represent the most common residential buildings in Australia have been selected to evaluate the above mentioned mitigation strategies.

\ Each mitigation strategy has been costed through engagement of a professional quantity surveyor and the application of the mitigation strategies and resultant reduction in susceptibility of damage has been quantified in the form of vulnerability models for mitigated storey types.

This report presents an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of flood mitigation strategies to residential buildings in Launceston Tasmania through a benefit versus cost analysis. The benefit versus cost analysis requires assessing loss both pre-and post-mitigation for a range of flood likelihoods with the difference being the benefit. The costs of the applied mitigation are then compared to the benefits with a benefit versus cost ratio of greater than 1.0 indicating an economically viable decision.

In the research presented here the mitigation options were typically assessed as cost-effective when considering damage to the rersidential buildings with the probable maximum flood extent.\  An important modelling assumption was to assume that the existing levee system that does provide a level of flood protection to Launceston was not in place (i.e. the City was unprotected). The results here are also only for one catchment and its behavior and also for the building stock in Launceston. The use of temporary flood barriers around the area with the highest flood hazard was the most cost-effective measure.

Work will continue with cost versus benefit analyses planned for other locations with different building stock configuarations and different catchment type behaviours. The result will be an evidence base to inform decision making by government and property owners on the mitigation of flood risk. The evidence base will feature information on the cost effectiveness of different mitigation strategies and optimal solutions for different cases of building and catchment types.

}, keywords = {benefit, buildings, cost analysis, Flood, mitigation, strategies}, issn = {598}, author = {Maqsood, T and Dale, K and Martin Wehner} } @article {bnh-5485, title = {Cost-Effective Mitigation Strategy Development For Flood Prone Buildings: Flood Damage Models For Floodplain Management Workshop}, number = {473}, year = {2019}, month = {03/2019}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

This document reports on the proceedings and outcomes of a flood vulnerability workshop held at RMIT University in Melbourne on 14 June 2018. The workshop was convened as part of a research utilisation project under the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled {\textquoteright}Costeffective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquoteright}. Key workshop aims were to finalise the project scope with key stakeholders, establish a Project Steering and identify case study communities for consideration. The research utilisation project entails working with a variety of stakeholders with the aim of translating detailed flood vulnerability information into practical guidance for flood risk managers. It involves developing and testing a number of resolution options (from asset specific vulnerability assessments to more generalised methods) in a series of case studies. The workshop structure featured presentations and discussion following a logical flow from context setting, scope refinement and consensus through to governance and next steps. The key workshop aims described above were achieved and a series of {\textquoteleft}next steps{\textquoteright} were identified and documented in this report.

}, keywords = {building risk, cost-effective, Flood, flood risk, floodplain}, author = {Dale, K and Maqsood, T and Mark Edwards and Krishna Nadimpalli} } @article {bnh-5743, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood proof buildings - annual report 2018-2019}, number = {496}, year = {2019}, month = {07/2019}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations made during the 2011 and 2013 floods in Australia, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. Considerable costs were sustained by all levels of government and property owners to effect damage repair and enable community recovery.

A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. The vulnerability and associated flood risk is being reduced for newer construction by adopting new standards (ABCB, 2012), building controls and land use planning, however, the vulnerability associated with existing building stock remains. This vulnerability contributes disproportionally to overall flood risk in many Australian catchments.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled {\textquotedblleft}Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquotedblright} aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains. The project addresses the need for an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of the flood risk posed by the most vulnerable Australian houses and complements parallel BNHCRC projects for earthquake and severe wind.

}, keywords = {building risk, cost-effective, Flood, flood prone}, issn = {496}, author = {Dale, K and Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner} } @conference {bnh-6506, title = {Flood vulnerability functions: detailed vs generalised approach }, booktitle = {AFAC19 powered by INTERSCHUTZ - Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forum}, year = {2019}, month = {12/2019}, publisher = {Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience}, organization = {Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

Flood vulnerability functions for buildings (often called stage-damage functions) relate flood damage to the depth of inundation in the building. These functions are generally used in assessing flood risk and in evaluating cost-effective mitigation strategies for flood risk management. Flood vulnerability models are usually developed for a certain location by following empirical, analytical or heuristic procedures. They can be developed for a representative building type (detailed approach) or representing a mix of building types (generalised approach).

Geoscience Australia (GA) has developed a suite of flood vulnerability functions for a range of building types (detailed approach) that covers residential, commercial, industrial and community building land use types. These functions are best used in detailed micro level studies and are applicable to the highest resolution of building exposure information with flood vulnerability directly attributed to individual buildings.

This paper describes research with the National Flood Risk Advisory Group (NFRAG), the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR), state and local governments and industry to translate detailed vulnerability information into practical guidance for flood risk managers undertaking studies under the floodplainspecific management process as outlined in the AIDR Handbook, Managing the Floodplain: A Guide to Best Practice in Flood Risk Management.

This research derives generalised vulnerability functions for a mix of building and land use types. The generalised curves can be utilised at meso or macro level study and are intended to be applied at a resolution of built environment information readily available to floodplain managers.

Download the full peer reviewed research proceedings\ from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forumhere.

}, keywords = {emergency management., Floods, land use, risk management, Vulnerability}, url = {https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/australian-journal-of-emergency-management-monograph-series/}, author = {Maqsood, T and Dale, K and Mark Edwards and Krishna Nadimpalli} } @article {bnh-4211, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy for flood prone buildings: annual project report 2016-17}, number = {333}, year = {2017}, month = {09/2017}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations made during the 2011 and 2013 floods in Australia, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. The flood events also resulted in significant logistics for emergency management and disruption to communities. Considerable costs were sustained by all levels of government and property owners to effect damage repair and enable community recovery.

A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. The vulnerability and associated flood risk is being reduced for newer construction by adopting new standards (ABCB, 2012), building controls and land use planning, however, the vulnerability associated with existing building stock remains. The vulnerability of existing building stock contributes disproportionally to overall flood risk in many Australian catchments.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled {\textquotedblleft}Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquotedblright} aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains. The project addresses the need for an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of the flood risk posed by the most vulnerable Australian houses and complements parallel BNHCRC projects for earthquake and severe wind.

To date, the project within the BNHCRC has developed a building classification schema to categorise Australian residential buildings into a range of typical storey types. Mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally have been reviewed. Five typical storey types have been selected which represent the most common residential buildings in Australia. A floodproofing matrix has been developed to assess appropriate strategies for the selected storey types. All appropriate strategies have been costed for the selected storey types through the engagement of quantity surveying specialists.

Furthermore, selected building materials/systems have been tested to ascertain their resilience to floodwater exposure. These tests were aimed at addressing knowledge gaps in the areas of strength and durability of building materials during immersion. The results of the tests showed that flooding did not have any significant effect on the pull-out strength of the bond of the ceramic floor and wall tiles to their substrate, nor on the racking strength of the OSB and HDF wall sheet bracing. However, there was a significant reduction (~45\%) in load carrying capacity of the timber joists when tested in the wet condition.

In the following years of the project vulnerability of predominant storey types will be assessed. The information on vulnerability is fundamental to evaluate mitigation strategies and to examine the opportunities for reducing the vulnerability. The research will include cost benefit analysis to find optimal mitigation strategies for selected storey types located within a range of catchment types.

This project is investigating methods for upgrading existing housing stock in floodplains to increase their resilience in future flood events. The project will provide an evidence base to inform decision making by governments and property owners to reduce flood risk. The risk mitigation achieved will decrease human suffering, improve safety and ensure amenity for communities.

}, issn = {333}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K} } @article {bnh-3421, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategies for residential buildings in Australian flood plains}, journal = {International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering}, volume = {6}, year = {2016}, pages = {550-559}, chapter = {550}, abstract = {

In recent years, floods have impacted many Australian communities. The floods have resulted in significant logistics for emergency management and considerable costs to all levels of government and property owners to undertake damage repair and enable community recovery.

These impacts are fundamentally the result of inappropriate development on floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood-prone areas. The Australian Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre project entitled {\textquotedblleft}Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood-prone buildings{\textquotedblright} aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplain area.

This paper presents the outcomes of this ongoing project. Key tasks of the project include: (1) a classification of residential building stock, (2) a review of flood mitigation strategies, (3) vulnerability assessment of typical building types with and without mitigation, and (4) benefit cost analyses of all retrofit options for a range of severity/likelihood of flood hazard covering a selection of catchment types. The work will provide information on the optimal retrofit strategies in the context of Australian construction costs and catchment characteristics.

The research will also entail experimental testing of preferred materials to ascertain their resilience to flood water exposure. The outcome of this research will be an evidence base to inform decisions about mitigating the risk posed by buildings on floodplains. The information will be targeted to all levels of government, insurance industry and private property owners.

}, doi = {10.2495/SAFE-V6-N3-550-559}, url = {https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/sse-volumes/6/3/1349}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K and Mark Edwards} } @article {bnh-3095, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings: Annual project report 2015-2016}, number = {229}, year = {2016}, month = {09/2016}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations made during the recent flooding in Australia in 2011 and 2013, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. The flood events also resulted in significant logistics for emergency management and disruption to communities. Considerable costs were sustained by all levels of government and property owners to effect damage repair and enable community recovery.

A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. The vulnerability and associated flood risk is being reduced for newer construction by adopting new standards (ABCB, 2012), building controls and land use planning, however, the vulnerability associated with existing building stock remains. The vulnerability of existing building stock contributes disproportionally to overall flood risk in many Australian catchments.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled {\textquotedblleft}Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquotedblright} aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains. The project addresses the need for an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of the flood risk posed by the most vulnerable Australian houses and complements parallel BNHCRC projects for earthquake and severe wind.

To date, the project within the BNHCRC has developed a building classification schema to categorise Australian residential buildings into a range of typical storey types. Mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally have been reviewed. Five typical storey types have been selected which represent the most common residential buildings in Australia. A floodproofing matrix has been developed to assess appropriate strategies for the selected storey types. All appropriate strategies are being costed for the selected storey types through the engagement of quantity surveying specialists. Furthermore, testing of material susceptibility is being scoped to address knowledge gaps I the areas of strength and amenity.

In the following years of the project vulnerability of predominant storey types will be assessed along with the factors affecting vulnerability. The information on vulnerability is fundamental to evaluate mitigation strategies and to examine the opportunities for reducing the vulnerability. The research will include experimental testing of preferred material types to ascertain their resilience to floodwater exposure. Cost benefit analysis will be conducted to find optimal mitigation strategies for selected building types located within a range of catchment types.

This project is investigating methods for upgrading existing housing stock in floodplains to increase their resilience in future flood events. It is important that the latest research and economically optimum upgrading solutions are applied to existing houses to optimise the use of finite mitigation resources. The project will provide an evidence base to inform decision making by governments and property owners to reduce flood risk. The risk mitigation achieved will decrease human suffering, improve safety and ensure amenity for communities.

}, issn = {229}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K} } @article {bnh-4147, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings: Development of costing modules for flood mitigation strategies}, number = {333}, year = {2016}, month = {06/2016}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

This report forms part of the output to a research project titled {\textquoteleft}Cost effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquoteright} within the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations during the recent flooding in Australia in 2011, 2013 and 2015, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. The BNHCRC project aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains.

As a first step to achieving this goal this project has developed a building schema to categorise the Australian residential building stock. The next step was to conduct a literature review of mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally. The review categorises the strategies into elevation, relocation, dry floodproofing, wet floodproofing and the use of flood barriers. The review helps to evaluate the strategies that suit Australian building types and typical catchment behaviours and, hence, may be adopted in Australia.

Five typical storey types have been selected to evaluate the above mentioned mitigation strategies which represent the most common residential buildings in Australia. The selected storey types are:

A floodproofing matrix has been developed to assess appropriate strategies for the selected storey types. This report discusses the application of these strategies to the five selected storey types during two construction regimes i.e. existing state before any event and a substantial renovation or reconstruction after an event. Each mitigation strategy has been evaluated and has been costed through engagement of professional quantity surveyor.

In future years (2016-2020) of this project, strength degradation of common building components (materials, structural systems) due to wetting and subsequent drying will be assessed through experimental testing. Vulnerability of selected storey types will also be assessed along with the factors affecting vulnerability. Cost benefit analyses will be conducted to determine optimum retrofit strategies for selected residential building types within a range of catchment behaviours. The result will be an evidence base to inform decision making by government and property owners on the mitigation of flood risk by providing information on the cost effectiveness of different mitigation strategies and an optimal solution for different cases of building and catchment types.t

}, issn = {333}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K} } @conference {bnh-2953, title = {Development of flood mitigation strategies for Australian residential buildings}, booktitle = {AFAC16}, year = {2016}, month = {08/2016}, publisher = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, organization = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Brisbane}, abstract = {

Globally floods cause widespread damage and loss of life and property. An analysis of global statistics conducted by Jonkman (2005) showed that floods (including coastal flooding) caused 175,000 fatalities and affected more than 2.2 billion people between 1975 and 2002. In Australia, floods cause more damage on an average annual basis than any other national disaster (HNFMSC, 2006). The fundamental causes of this severity of damage and the key factors contributing to flood risk, in general, are the vulnerable buildings constructed within floodplains and land-use planning.\ Recent events in Australia (2011, 2013 and 2015) highlighted the vulnerability of housing to flooding which originates from inappropriate development in floodplains. While there is a construction standard issued by the Australian Building Code Board (ABCB, 2012) for new construction in some types of flood-prone areas, a large proportion of the existing building stock has been built in flood-prone areas across Australia (HNFMSC, 2006). Flood losses from the recent events highlight the requirement of implementing effective and efficient mitigation measures to reduce losses in future.

}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K and Mark Edwards} } @article {bnh-2347, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings: Annual project report 2014-2015}, number = {139}, year = {2015}, month = {02/11/2015}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations made during the recent flooding in Australia in 2011 and 2013, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. The flood events also resulted in significant logistics for emergency management and disruption to communities. Considerable costs were sustained by all levels of government and property owners to effect damage repair and enable community recovery.

A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. The vulnerability and associated flood risk is being reduced for newer construction by adopting new standards (ABCB, 2012), building controls and land use planning, however, the vulnerability associated with existing building stock remains. The vulnerability of existing building stock contributes disproportionally to overall flood risk in many Australian catchments.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled {\textquotedblleft}Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquotedblright} aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains. The project addresses the need for an evidence base to inform decision making on the mitigation of the flood risk posed by the most vulnerable Australian houses and complements parallel BNHCRC projects for earthquake and severe wind.

To date, the project within the BNHCRC has developed a building classification schema to categorise Australian residential buildings into a range of typical building types. Mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally have been reviewed. In the following years of the project appropriate strategies will be costed for key building types through the engagement of quantity surveying specialists. Vulnerability of predominant building types will be assessed along with the factors affecting vulnerability. The information on vulnerability is fundamental to evaluate mitigation strategies and to examine the opportunities for reducing the vulnerability. The research will also entail experimental testing of preferred material types to ascertain their resilience to flood water exposure. Cost benefit analysis will be conducted to find optimal mitigation strategies for selected building types located within a range of catchment types.

This project is investigating methods for upgrading existing housing stock in floodplains to increase their resilience in future flood events. It is important that the latest research and economically optimum upgrading solutions are applied to existing houses to optimise the use of finite mitigation resources. The project will provide an evidence base to inform decision making by governments and property owners to reduce flood risk. The risk mitigation achieved will decrease human suffering, improve safety and ensure amenity for communities.

}, issn = {139}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K} } @article {bnh-2407, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings}, year = {2015}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K} } @article {bnh-4146, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings: literature review of mitigation strategies}, number = {332}, year = {2015}, month = {06/2015}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

This report forms part of the output to a research project titled {\textquoteleft}Cost effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings{\textquoteright} within the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC, 2015). The motivation for this project arises from the experience and observations during the recent flooding in Australia in 2011, 2013 and 2015, which caused widespread devastation in Queensland. A fundamental reason for this damage was inappropriate development in floodplains and a legacy of high risk building stock in flood prone areas. Although the vulnerability and associated flood risk is being reduced for newer construction by adopting new standards (ABCB, 2012), building controls and land use planning, the vulnerability associated with existing building stock remains. Therefore, the existing vulnerable buildings contribute disproportionally to overall flood risk in many Australian catchments. The BNHCRC project aims to address this issue and is targeted at assessing mitigation strategies to reduce the vulnerability of existing residential building stock in Australian floodplains.

As a first step to achieving this goal within this project a building schema has been developed to categorise the Australian residential building stock (Maqsood et al. 2015). The next step is to conduct a literature review of mitigation strategies developed nationally and internationally and this report presents the findings of this research component. The review will help to evaluate the strategies that suit Australian building types and typical catchment behaviours and hence may be adopted in Australia. Strategies have been developed for different types of floods and the adoption of a particular strategy depends upon the characteristics of flood hazard and building stock along with any mitigation incentives and associated cost benefit analysis. This report discusses the commonly used strategies and summarises the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. The review categorises mitigation strategies into the following categories:

Elevation is traditionally considered to be an easier and effective strategy and is the one which generally result in incentives such as a reduction in insurance premiums (Bartzis, 2013). However it becomes difficult to execute for slab-on-grade structures. Relocation is the surest way to eliminate flood risk if relocated outside the floodplain but, as in the case of elevation, it becomes more difficult to implement for heavier and larger structures. Dry floodproofing and flood barriers are efficient only in shallow low velocity hazard areas and are generally not recommended in deep fast flowing waters. Wet floodproofing is suitable in low to moderate depths of water with a inundation duration of not more than a day.

In future years (2015-2019) of this project, each mitigation strategy will be evaluated and costed through engagement of professional quantity surveyors. Strength degradation of common building components (materials, structural systems) due to wetting and subsequent drying will be assessed through experimental testing. Cost benefit analyses will be conducted to determine optimum retrofit strategies for selected residential building types within a range of catchment behaviours. The result will be an evidence base to inform decision making by government and property owners on the mitigation of flood risk by providing information on the cost effectiveness of different mitigation strategies and an optimal solution for different cases of building and catchment types.

}, issn = {332}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Dale, K} } @article {bnh-1537, title = {Cost-Effective Mitigation Strategy Development for Flood Prone Buildings Annual Report 2014}, year = {2015}, abstract = {

This annual report has been completed as a component of the Cost-Effective Mitigation Strategy Development for Flood Prone Buildings project.\ 

}, author = {Maqsood, T and Martin Wehner and Mark Edwards and Dale, K} } @article {bnh-1429, title = {Cost-effective mitigation strategy development for flood prone buildings - Preliminary Building Schema}, number = {003}, year = {2014}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, abstract = {

Within Australian communities there is a wide range of building types. These vary in many attributes that include floor area, number of storeys, age, architectural style, fit out quality, construction material types and the level of maintenance. For mitigation research it is necessary to take this range of building types and geometrics and discretise it into building classes or categories of similar, if not identical, vulnerability. This {\textquotedblleft}pigeon holing{\textquotedblright} strategy makes research on impact, risk and mitigation more tractable in that vulnerabilities can be assigned to each class with the reduced variability within the class captured in the uncertainty of the model. Available exposure information can also be mapped to the schema along with building types that can particularly benefit from retrofit interventions.

This report presents the preliminary building schema proposed for the Cost Effective Mitigation Strategy Development for Flood Prone Buildings BNHCRC project. The report discusses the utility of a building schema and which building attributes are important for distinguishing between houses of different vulnerabilities in the Australian building stock.

}, author = {Maqsood, T and Dale, K and Martin Wehner} }