The development of a framework to support the resilience of commercial properties to flooding

Overview:
Government policy on flood risk and previous research on flood resilience have up to now mainly focused on residential properties. But greater attention is shifting to commercial properties and other critical infrastructure. According to the EA, 185,000 commercial properties are located in flood prone areas in England alone. These properties are valued at £801bn or 15.8% of the value of total buildings and 2.2 per cent of total assets in the UK (Bhattacharya, et al., 2013). Commercial properties have specific characteristics (size, scale, construction methods, business functions, customers, supply chain, etc.), and the financial loss from flooding to commercial properties can be significantly higher than that from the residential properties. This merits a targeted research on the resilience of commercial properties to flooding. This work would support the recently launched National Infrastructure Commission consultation to gather views as part of its new study into the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure network

Proposed Research
Review of Book and literature around flood risk; impact on buildings; flood resilience; property level approaches; including UK and international knowledge and approaches
Development of new framework to help understand, improve and measure the resilience of commercial property to flooding
This will enable UK’s commercial properties to cope with future changes, disruptions, shocks and accidents – from increased risks of flooding due to climate change.

Person specification
Masters degree holders with a first degree in a relevant built environment subject such as building surveying / civil engineering / construction management / property management / real estate.
For international applicants, a valid English language qualification, such as International English Language Test System (Academic IELTS) or equivalent with an overall score of 6.5 with no band below 6.0, must be submitted with your application.

References
Adediji, T., Proverbs, D. Xiao, H. Oladokun, V. (2018) Towards a conceptual framework for property level flood resilience, International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering, Vol 8, No 4
Bhattacharya-Mis, N, Lamond, J. ,Chan, F., Kreibich, H, Montz, B. Proverbs, D. and Wilkinson, S. (2018) ’Flood risk to commercial property: Training and Education Needs of Built Environment Professionals, International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, DOI 10.1108/IJDRBE-03-2017-0024
Lamond, J. , Bhattacharya-Mis, N, Chan, F., Kreibich, H, Montz, B. Proverbs, D. and Wilkinson, S. (2019) Flood risk insurance, mitigation and commercial property valuation, Property Management (in press)
Lamond, J., Rose, C., Joseph, R. and Proverbs, D.G. (2016) Supporting the uptake of low cost resilience: summary of technical findings (FD2682), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Proverbs, D.G. and Lamond, J. (2017) Flood Resilient Construction and Adaptation of Buildings, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science, Oxford University Press, DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.013.111
Rose, C., Lamond, J. Dhonau, M., Joseph, R. Proverbs, D. (2016) Improving The Uptake Of Flood Resilience At The Individual Property Level, Special Issue of the International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering, Vol 6, No. 3, pp 607-615. DOI 10.2495/SAFE-V6-N3-607-615

How to apply
The closing date for applications is 23.59 on Friday 28th June 2019.
To apply, please complete the project proposal form and then complete the online application where you will be required to upload your proposal in place of a personal statement.
You can find further details on studying for a PhD and details of how to apply here – https://www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/bsbe-research-degrees-phd-2019-20
Reference: CEBE-RESFLO

Contact
The successful candidate will be supported by an interdisciplinary research team, consisting of Prof David Proverbs, david.proverbs@bcu.ac.uk and Dr Hong Xiao. For further information please contact the Director of Studies, Prof David Proverbs, david.proverbs@bcu.ac.uk.

Funding notes
The opportunity is open to Home, EU and International applicants who meet the required Birmingham City University eligibility criteria. The PhD studentship includes a full stipend, paid for a period of 3 years at RCUK rates (in 2019/20 this is £15,009 pa) and fees at Home/EU rate. This studentship is available for September 2019 start and no later than February 2020. International applicants are eligible to apply for this studentship but must meet the shortfall on fees between Home/EU and International rate.