DEFRA introduces new SuDS standards

The government has introduced new standards for sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) on housing schemes, updating guidance “for the first time in a decade”.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued the standards for housebuilders to create rainwater management systems in their developments that mimic the natural environment.

The new standards, aligning with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), will encourage design features including green roofs and soakaways, to provide places for nature and improve a building’s energy efficiency.

DEFRA has suggested features including spaces designed to collect and filter rainwater. It recommends that housebuilders introduce materials to absorb water so that “new developments will be better protected against flooding” to counteract the effects of impermeable surfaces like roads and pavements.

The SuDS guidance, issued today (June 19), features two types of SuDS standard: The hierarchy standard (standard 1) which gives criteria for prioritising the choice of final runoff destination; and fixed standards (standards 2 to 7) which state the minimum design criteria that all surface water drainage systems should satisfy and how they should be built, maintained and operated.

Both standards have corresponding requirements which give detail “on how to …