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Maintenance and adoption

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 and the commencement of the National Standards for Sustainable Drainage (likely to be 2012) should simplify the process for adopting SuDS components. The SuDS Approving Body (likely to be the lead local flood authority) will be adopt and maintain approved (inline with the Standards) SuDS schemes serving two or more properties.

Like all drainage systems, SuDS components should be inspected and maintained. This ensures efficient operation and prevents failure. Usually, SuDS components are on or near the surface and most can be managed using landscape maintenance techniques. For below-ground SuDS such as permeable paving and modular geocellular storage the manufacturer or designer should provide maintenance advice. This should include routine and long-term actions that can be incorporated into a maintenance plan.

The design process should consider the maintenance of the components (access, waste management etc) including any corrective maintenance to repair defects or improve performance. A SuDS management plan for the maintenance of SuDS should be prepared. Table 1 provides a breakdown of typical maintenance requirements. This should include an overview of the design concepts and a maintenance schedule for the scheme to ensure that it continues to function as intended.

In the absence of legislation funding for maintenance may need to be resolved at the start of the process to ensure that either the local authority, a maintenance company, local residents or the water company have sufficient resources to maintain the system in the long-term.

The level of inspection and maintenance will vary depending on the type of SuDS component and scheme, the land use, types of plants as well as biodiversity and amenity requirements. Further information on maintenance can be found in The SUDS Manual (CIRIA publication C697).

The SuDS scheme is unlikely to be handed over for maintenance until all parties are confident that the scheme is constructed and performs as designed. An interim maintenance plan can be incorporated on larger schemes.

Activity	Indicative frequency	Typical tasks
Routine/regular maintenance	Monthly (for normal care of SuDS)	litter picking grass cutting inspection of inlets, outlets and control structures.
Occasional maintenance	Annually (dependent on the design)	silt control around components vegetation management around components suction sweeping of permeable paving silt removal from catchpits, soakways and cellular storage.
Remedial maintenance	As required (tasks to repair problems due to damage or vandalism)	inlet/outlet repair erosion repairs reinstatement of edgings reinstatement following pollution removal of silt build up.

Table 1 Typical inspection and maintenancerequirements

Adoption

There are some important differences between maintenance and adoption. Maintenance includes the activities required to keep the SuDS component performing well, adoption is the allocation of responsibility for the maintenance activities. For the most part the maintenance requirements are well understood for the majority of SuDS components. Adoption processes within the UK for the time being remains uncertain and this should be discussed with the relevant stakeholders as early as possible. However this is likely to be resolved with the commencement at schedule 3 of the FWMA.

Adoption and source control components
Source control SuDS components within private property is the responsibility of the landowner or property manager. There should be information on how these components function and to reduce the risk of unintentional damage (through alterations to the property or DIY).

Adoption of site and regional control SuDS components
The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 formalises the approval and delivery of sustainable drainage and suggests that a SuDS approval body (SAB) should have responsibility for their approval and adoption. The SAB will be responsible for the adoption of SuDS components within the public realm, which is likely to include site and regional control SuDS components.

Some local authorities like Cambridge City and the London Borough of Islington have already begun to provide guidance to developers on the delivery of SuDS to meet their specific local requirements and aspirations.

Cambridge city SuDS guidance
London Borough of Islington SuDS guidance

Adoption should not be seen as a barrier to SuDS delivery and should be discussed early in the process. There are examples where local authorities, water utilities, private companies and other organisations have adopted SuDS. Until such time that Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) is commenced establishing Standards for Sustainable Drainage and the SuDS approval process potential mechanisms for allocating long term responsibility include:

using a model agreement and commuted sum, Section 106 agreements from the Town and Country Planning Act, 1990
using a model agreement and commuted sum, Section 38 from the Highways Act 1980
using private management companies that are funded through a commuted sum or service charge and pay an assurance bond.

CIRIA’s Model Agreements for SUDS (CIRIA publication C625) and the Interim Code of Practice for SUDS provides further details on the use of model agreements to allocate responsibility for adopting SuDS components.

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