The General Council of Technical Architecture of Spain (CGATE) has demanded the implementation of a technical report that includes when a home for sale or rent is in a flood zone, following the effects of DANA as it passes through localized flood zones. in Valencia.
This phenomenon, they explain, has put on the table the need to activate “more demanding” protection measures in existing buildings although they assume that it is an atmospheric event “totally extraordinary, both in intensity and quantity.”
And although the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has published a series of guides to know what measures can be taken to protect against floods, such as installing barriers such as slopes, dikes, watertight walls or temporary protection elements to contain the flood, CGATE believes that it would not have served “in the majority of cases.”
«However, these protective measures would not have worked in most cases due to the height and force of the water. Furthermore, the car drag and its impact against the garage doors worsened the situation caused by the flood,” commented the president of CGATE, Alfredo Sanz, in a statement.
For this reason, the General Council believes that the regulations for garages and basements in flood-prone areas should be reviewed and one of the entity’s proposals is the preparation of a technical report on the transfer of a home that includes, among other points, that the buyer is buying or renting a house in a flood zone, so that the buyer can make a conscious decision.
«We advocate the supervision of buildings through instruments such as the ITE or the IEE, but city councils and autonomous communities could also implement emergency plans for floods in sensitive areas, which are located in the risk maps published by MITECO. “, just as fire and building evacuation drills are carried out,” added Sanz.
In the case of already occupied homes and with a view to an upcoming restoration, the CGATE points to other measures, such as not storing items in the garages that are susceptible to damage, moving them to the upper floors and, in community facilities, locating the electrical installations and, even boilers in the elevated areas of the building.
«As MITECO advises, it is essential that closure elements with sufficient resistance are provided to withstand any pressure produced by the height of the water. Waterproofing measures can also be adopted to prevent the absorption of moisture in structural elements,” concluded the president of the entity.
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