Guidelines

The present new guideline on protection from heavy rainfall events complements existing guideline on flood protection at water bodies (CFPA-E Guideline No. 01 2012N) and on mobile flood protection systems (Guideline No. 07 2022N). It contains recommendations on

• Hazards and risk assessment, including the illustration of typical characteristics of exposure and risks, amongst others with the help of new tools for computational modeling of rainwater runoff,
• Development and implementation of protection concepts and measures, e.g., preservation and expansion of retention areas, and emergency preparedness, not least due to recent experiences in some European countries with high damages and fatalities,
• Determination of suitable protective measures, in particular structural protective measures.

In the present guideline, recommendations on construction hail protection are systematically edited. They based on loss experiences in the past and recent years and on current hazard assessments, illustrated with loss patterns and loss figures. In this connection, exterior building components such as facades and roofs, as well as their extensions, e. g. photovoltaic systems, are particularly directly exposed. They must therefore be protected accordingly. In the meantime, standardized hail tests and building material or components with approved hail-resistant are available (see also www.hagelregister.com). It should also be considered that extreme weather events will increase according to scientific climate projections and experiences in last years in Europe, which is why the topic hail protection will become increasingly important.

This guide has been newly developed and focuses on the availability of the required firefighting water in extreme weather conditions with very high or low temperatures. In this context, it addresses the management issue of safe firefighting water supply as an essential prerequisite for effective firefighting, as well as the possible sources of usable water and its quality. With climate change, weather extremes are increasingly observed and expected. In this context, this guide also complements the existing CFPA E-Guideline No. 6 2016 N “Forest Fires”, which NHG is currently updating on a hazard-related basis with the experiences and technological developments of recent years in member countries.

The present guideline covers the planning, selection, providing, and use of mobile flood protection systems. Mobile flood protection systems are currently widely available on the market. However, the aptitude test of these systems is still according to different criteria and by various methods. For this reason, notes and typical criteria for the selection of suitable mobile flood protection systems are systematically prepared as recommendations to support the decision-makers, planners, and managers of flood protection to take appropriate measures in practice.

The purpose of this document is to establish good practices to prevent the occurrence of a forest fire, to describe the main mechanisms to combat it, and to give practical guidance to those living in the countryside or those who like to enjoy the woodlands as recreation places to limit the possibility that these activities can be a source of a forest fire.

This guideline gives recommendations on preparing before the winter season, removing the snow, and protection work for the snow season. Roof construction design is not the topic of this guideline since these requirements are already considered in the Construction Codes of each member country.

Based on the analysis of why buildings must be protected against lightning, the need and different types of lightning protection are described, e. g., against a direct strike, against overvoltage on incoming conductors, and conductor systems and against the electromagnetic pulse. In addition, recommendations on inspection of lightning protection measures are given.

In this publication, references to prevent and limit storm damage are systematically described, particularly with regard to building and its construction components, to allow building owners and operators, manufacturers, planners, professional staff for construction work, and facility management services to be supported in their actions.

The revised guideline provides a framework for business continuity management (BCM) as an important element of risk management for businesses and other organizations. It is developed to support a holistic understanding of business continuity, amongst others with a checklist in the appendix, and provides recommendations for strategic planning and implementation of BCM based on identification of typical associated hazards and risks, including natural hazards. It also names lessons learned from recent years, e.g., staff shortages linked with the pandemics.

This publication is intended to inform all the above target audiences in terms of flooding hazards and associated risks. With instructions and recommendations for practice, all the target audiences should, in addition, be supported:

• to identify the existing hazards,
• to identify, analyze, and evaluate the associated risks, particularly to determine and protect people who may be affected,
• to prioritize relevant safety objectives and
• to introduce and implement adequate and effective protection measures.