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inordinate time dealing with variances. Lyle points out that there are exquisite examples of flood-proof construction in existence all around the world. But, she says, because of the cost of building they are typically the preserve of the wealthy.
Imagination vs. the building code Lyle is involved in national standards
development and believes that generally the codes are not quite up to speed with current thinking and construction techniques for flood risk prevention. But forward-thinking entities are pushing the bar higher. Vancouver, for example, because it operates under a charter, has been coming up with new building design standards that will allow people to implement best practices,
rather than limiting them to the current guideline that they put buildings on stilts. “The challenge is that if we are now being told to build out for the end of the design life of a building – that’s the year 2100 in some places and along the coast – buildings are going to have to be three or four metres higher, especially on the east coast, than they are now, and it’s kind of impractical,” she says. This kind of design effectively ‘sterilizes’ the streetscape, inspiring designers to instead come up with building designs that incorporate useable street-level space that is inundation-friendly. Lyle says designers envision spaces that can be used as retail – cafes and the like – and cleared out when the water is coming. She cites European examples where they build civic spaces on the flood plain that are seasonally floodable. “But the challenge we have here is that for the most part we’re still looking at archaic building codes and standards that define what we’re doing and not really allowing people to have imagination.”
Political will Like Kennedy, Lyle also sees a lack of commitment from politicians as a significant barrier. She cites the most recent provincial budget in British Columbia, where she saw a brief, tantalizing window of opportunity. “Because we had two years in a row where we had a flood-fire, flood-fire season there was senior direction towards ‘let’s do something about this’. And, that’s when they made all of these recommendations and these broad sweeping statements about how they were going to start looking on disaster risk reduction. And then six months later there’s nothing in the budget.”
A role for insurers The P&C insurance industry has for years recognized the value of funding and undertaking research into resiliency. The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), which was founded in 1998 as an initiative of the P&C insurance industry to deliver research into disaster prevention, is a prime example of the industry’s commitment. IBC likewise, takes an active role in 46
Claims Canada | April - May 2019
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