Clean Foundation is piloting a flood resiliency retrofit program for homeowners in Halifax and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. This program is designed to build homeowner knowledge of flooding and insurance and to address capacity and financial barriers to enable homeowners to reduce their flood risks. 

Critical to the program are home assessments and the need to work with contractors to build awareness and understanding of how to install retrofits that reduce household flood risks. Contractors need to know how to comply with regulations and how to follow best practices, with regard to stormwater management and ensuring that the building envelope is effectively sealed. However, there is a general lack of consensus on what to do and how best to do it. In addition, guidelines and standards are often written using highly technical language that is not user-friendly for homeowners or contractors that install flood risk reduction measures. Furthermore, there are not necessarily clear standards available for all relevant retrofit measures, such as basement work and eavestrough installations.

To address these concerns, Clean Foundation has engaged Partners for Action to produce a plain language, semi-technical manual of household flood resilient retrofits for contractors and homeowners to enable consistency in installation and at the same time, confidence in the work done in terms of whether it meets relevant standards and reflects recommended best practices. 

This handbook is designed to support homeowners or contractors in understanding and implementing measures to enhance the flood resilience of single-family residential properties. Drawing from expertise in flood resilience and practical knowledge from experienced contractors, this handbook provides a step-by-step guide to improve the resiliency of single-family residential properties against flooding.