Key takeaways
- Consider having a flag for wildfire risk for each home on your asset management systems.
- Consider building wildfire prevention and mitigation measures into your asset management programmes, focusing on upgrading homes that are at heightened risk of wildfire.
- Consider how to ensure any new homes you develop or acquire in areas at heightened risk of wildfire have suitable prevention and mitigation measures, and that these are recorded on your asset management systems at handover and/or occupation.
- Consider taking out appropriate insurance for your homes that corresponds to their level of wildfire risk.
Managing and maintaining a home is the collective responsibility of the housing provider and the resident. However, some of the actions that can be taken to make a home more resilient to the threat of wildfire can only be taken by the housing provider (Supporting residents with wildfires covers the actions that can be taken by residents).
Strategic, risk-based, and data-driven approaches to asset management and maintenance
There are alternative approaches, but CIH recommends approaches that are rooted in strategic asset management, informed by a dynamic and ongoing assessment of risk and data. Although all homes can be at risk of wildfires, the heightened risk in some places, especially at the Rural Urban Interface, necessitates an approach which focuses limited resources strategically. In practice, this means identifying homes and communities that are most at risk and prioritising them for monitoring and action, working with local partners to do so wherever possible (see Working in partnership with local actors to reduce wildfire risk).
A simple way of approaching could be to undertake the kind of risk assessment described in Understanding wildfire data and risk, and use it to create three categories of wildfire risk: high risk, medium risk, and low risk. This can then inform an approach to strategic asset management and maintenance as follows:
- High risk. The home is at high risk of damage from wildfire, and should be prioritised for management and maintenance to reduce this risk at the earliest opportunity.
- Medium risk. The home is at medium risk of damage from wildfire, and should undergo management and maintenance to reduce this risk as part of ongoing asset management work. This could take place either as part of upcoming planned programmes, or when the home becomes void, whichever is earlier.
- Low risk. The home is at low risk of damage from wildfire, and should not undergo management and maintenance to reduce this risk unless updated assessments show a heightened risk.
These risks could be recorded for each home on your asset management system. In practice, this kind of process will create clusters of homes in certain places that are classified as higher risk, and which could be the subject of a specific programme of works carried out in that area. These areas can also be prioritised for proactive monitoring of weather and wildfire risk alerts. The use of GIS mapping is a helpful way of illustrating this, and can inform decision making.
Your assessment and classification of risk can also relate to other forms of asset management. While the sections below cover only those actions that can be taken to improve wildfire resilience, your classification of risk can inform other planned programmes of works. For example, any homes classified as high-risk that are retrofitted to improve their energy performance should consider the use of materials that are particularly resistant to ember penetration and ignition.
You can also explore whether some of the actions noted in the next sections can be undertaken as part of responsive repairs or other forms of planned works, such as retrofit or kitchen replacement programmes. In many cases, this will not be possible due to the different trades involved, but a strategic approach to asset management should look to align work wherever possible.
Improving the resilience of homes and communities
Broadly, according to good practice guidance on Wildfire resilience in the rural and built environment planning in England, led by the Forestry Commission, the intention of these types of improvement should be to ensure structures can be kept at an optimum level of wildfire resilience, especially in relation to embers, radiant heat, and direct flame.
According to the NFCC and other good practice information, the following types of improvement may be considered for homes that are at heightened risk of wildfire.
- Covering exterior attic vents with metal wire mesh no larger than an eighth of an inch to prevent embers and sparks entering the home.
- Enclosing under-eave and soffit vents with mesh to prevent the entry of embers.
- Ensuring that guttering works remove leaves and other debris to prevent the risk of ember sparks landing and igniting the structure.
- Screening off or boxing in any areas below patios and decks with mesh to prevent debris and combustible materials from accumulating.
- Pruning and/or thinning any trees that are within the boundaries of the home so that the lowest branches are approximately 1.5-3 metres from the ground. This minimises the risk of ladder and/or aerial fires.
- Considering the retrofitting of firebreaks into suitable parts of a development or community.
- Replace existing wooden fences with non-flammable alternatives wherever possible, such as stone or brick walls. If not possible, manage the vegetation around existing fencing carefully to minimise the risk of fire spread.
- Inspecting thatch or roof tiles to replace or repair those that are loose or missing. This can help to prevent ember penetration.
- Ensuring that any landscaping or tree planting work you undertake or commission in the community is designed with wildfire prevention and mitigation at its centre.
- Ensuring adequate ventilation systems are installed, to circulate out any particulates that may enter the home during a wildfire.
- Ensuring that any chimneys are clean and, where suitable, installed with a spark arrestor.
- Ensuring that house names or numbers are visible from the roadside, to aid emergency service attendance if required.
To consolidate your use and understanding of these improvements, you might wish to consider consulting building codes and standards that have been developed elsewhere in the world for wildfire resilient housing. For example, in the United States, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes NFPA1140: Standard for Wildland Fire Protection, which includes the previously separate NFPA 1144: Standard for Reducing Structure Ignition Hazards from Wildland Fire. It is not free to access, but includes information on (for example) good practice in construction design and materials; exterior vertical walls and openings; roof design and materials; and accessory structures.
Alongside other actions that can be taken by the resident (see Supporting residents with wildfires), taking these measures can reduce the risk of a wildfire affecting a home or community.
Any improvements you make to a home to increase its resilience to wildfire should be taken in accordance with relevant wider standards and specifications on quality, safety, and energy efficiency. It is particularly important to ensure any improvements you make do not create the conditions for other issues or hazards to emerge in the future.
As with all planned works, you should finally ensure that any works you undertake to homes to improve wildfire prevention and mitigation are regularly inspected, have a clear component lifecycle, and are built into cyclical maintenance and replacement programmes.
Managing new homes
Strategic approaches to asset management can include consideration of how you manage new homes located in areas of heightened wildfire risk.
You should consider ensuring that you have accurate information about wildfire-relevant stock condition features of any new homes you develop (or acquire via Section 106, or via other means) in areas that are at heightened risk of wildfire. At minimum, you should try to integrate information on new homes into your asset management databases in a way that includes all relevant features noted earlier in this guide.
You may also want to take the opportunity to include information about wildfire risk to new residents when they move into a home, regardless of whether the home is new and being occupied for the first time, or if it is a change of tenancy. This can be achieved by the provision of specific information in Home User Guides.
Insurance
Lastly, consider taking steps to ensure that any homes you have in areas at heightened risk of wildfire are properly insured.
If you have taken the steps set out in this guide, you should be able to provide your insurer and/or broker with detailed information to help them understand the risk associated with ensuring homes at heightened risk of wildfire. Highlighting preventive and preparatory work you have undertaken should reduce your insurance premiums.
The National Housing Federation’s flooding toolkit highlights some of the other ways you can ensure homes at risk of damage or destruction, whether from wildfires or floods, are adequately insured. These are:
- Joining with other housing providers to broker deals and explore the potential for economies of scale through joint procurement.
- Exploring alternative forms of risk financing, such as self-insurance arrangements.
