In recent years, extreme weather and urban flooding have increasingly threatened industrial facilities and high-value buildings. Flood protection has become a critical part of risk management and business continuity planning.
FM Global Data Sheet 1-40 (Flood Loss Prevention) clearly states that flood protection design should evaluate site-level (perimeter) protection versus building-level floodproofing, with careful cost-benefit analysis.
So why is building-level floodproofing often the smarter choice?
Limitations of Site-Level Flood Protection
Perimeter floodwalls or levees may create a “dry island” effect for the entire site, but they come with significant drawbacks:
·High Capital Cost – Requires large-scale civil works, land acquisition, and long-term maintenance.
·Fragile Failure Mode – One breach can result in catastrophic, site-wide flooding.
·Operational Constraints – Multiple gates for roads and logistics demand large manpower and time to deploy, which is impractical under short warning periods.
In practice, site-level systems are vulnerable “all-or-nothing” defenses that do not align with modern resilient design.
Advantages of Building Floodproofing
By contrast, building floodproofing provides targeted and resilient protection:
·Protects Critical Assets – Focuses on control rooms, power distribution, IT facilities, and other essential spaces.
·Flexible Deployment – Dry floodproofing systems (FM Approved flood doors/barriers) can be stored on-site and installed quickly during warnings.
·Cost-Effective – Lower capital investment with staged implementation; manageable O&M costs.
·Resilient Defense – Even if one barrier fails, losses remain localized instead of site-wide.
This is fully aligned with FM 1-40’s principle of “resilient defense”—allowing partial failures while ensuring overall safety.
The Value of FM Approved Quick-Fit Buckled Flood Doors
Shanghai Weiwang Technology has developed the FD-02 Quick-Fit Buckled Flood Door, certified by FM 2510, offering a superior solution for building floodproofing:
✅Bolt-Free Buckle System – Two people can install within 3 minutes, with reliable sealing and low error risk.
✅Wide-Span Capacity – Single door up to 4 meters wide without center post, ideal for logistics and industrial access.
✅Strict Leakage Control – Meets FM standard ≤ 1 L/hr·m² leakage under design head.
✅Reusable & Durable – Suitable for repeated drills and rapid deployment with low life-cycle cost.
This solution has been successfully applied in power plants, semiconductor fabs, pharmaceutical sites, and automotive facilities, proving to be the most balanced choice for cost, safety, and compliance.
Conclusion: Best Practice in Flood Protection
FM 1-40 provides clear design logic:
·Site flood protection may suit compact sites with few entrances.
·Building floodproofing is better for complex layouts, multiple access points, and dispersed critical assets.
For most modern industrial and high-tech facilities, FM Approved flood doors and dry floodproofing systems represent the safer, more economical, and globally recognized solution.
Shanghai Weiwang Technology continues to deliver FM certified flood protection products and engineering expertise, helping clients build a more resilient future.