SuDs – What Schedule 3 Means for You

SuDs (Sustainable Drainage Systems) are about to become mandatory in England with the enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. But what does this mean for your next development? In this blog Forterra explains what you need to consider.

But first, why do we need SuDs?

Quite simply our storm drains are overloaded. Many were designed more than 100 years ago and can no longer cope with our built environment. Add in the extra housing planned for by the new government and there is simply not enough capacity within our existing sewage and storm drain network.

Traditionally our urban spaces are impermeable so in a storm the only place that water can go is into the drainage system, which leads to flooding. And this is exacerbated by drainage grids that get blocked up due to silt, leaves and other debris that has been swept along the road by this flood water.

Soak it up.

The answer is to minimise the amount of run off water that needs to enter our storm drains. Instead of redirecting rainwater, SuDs will soak it up where it lands, clean it and slow down the speed at which it moves. It mimics what happens in the natural habitat.

While SuDs encourages more green space in urban areas, which is great, we still need hard surfaces to drive, cycle and walk along. The answer is to install permeable paving which is a proven and thoroughly tested solution to managing storm water. Forterra's Formpave solution for example, collects, cleans and stores ground water to significantly reduce the impact of large rainfall events.

It works in the same way that your lawn would, but with the added benefit that you can drive your car, van or even lorry across it.

Catch the SuDs train.

A good SuDs system will incorporate all sorts of measures pertinent to the local development. This may include linear wetland adjacent to roads, swale, wetland ponds, and other bioretention solutions such as green roofs.

Often you will need to combine multiple SuDS techniques to manage water and when used together such solutions are known as a SuDS train. More and more engineers, designers, architects and town planners are planning such systems to create more sustainable developments.

Schedule 3 compliance.

After many years of inaction, Schedule 3 is finally about to be implemented in England; it has been in place in Wales since 2019.

It means that for most of your developments you will have to design and submit a SuDs proposal to the local authority’s “SuDs Approval Body,” or SAB, before construction begins; so, you will have to consider SuDs early in your design. It is separate to Local Planning Authority Approval, will require a fee, could be subject to conditions and may require a non-performance bond.

It applies to all developments of over 100m2 and Forterra believes that it will eventually become compulsory for everyone.

If you haven’t already, then you urgently need to understand SuDs and be able to design and install such systems. Fortunately, there is help at hand to help specifiers and installers. A good place to start is the CIRIA publication, “The SuDS manual (C753).”  Forterra's in house design service of experienced engineers can also help with technical advice, drawing and a design service – design.services@formpave.co.uk.

To help prevent local flooding it is high time that we all take responsibility and Schedule 3 has taken far too long to come into force in England. Now that it is looming, it’s time to act and catch the SuDs train.

If you would like to know more about the role that permeable paving plays in SuDS, then sign up to Forterra's RIBA approved CPD accredited training session “Permeable Paving”.

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