Use GOV.UK long-term flood risk service to locate the mapping available for the surface-water review, then confirm the map owner, covered area, study or effective date, and hazard layer. Follow the responsible local authority when the result affects a property decision.
For surface water flood risk check, a color or zone is useful only with the property location, hazard type, scenario, map owner, and study or effective date. When GOV.UK long-term flood risk service is a national viewer or catalogue, follow it to the current local map before making a property decision.
Find the map owner for surface water flood risk
Use GOV.UK long-term flood risk service for the surface-water review, then identify the map owner, covered hazard, effective or study date, and purpose of the layer shown.
- GOV.UK long-term flood risk service
- Geoscience Australia Flood Risk Information Portal
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center
- FEMA Flood Maps Overview
- GOV.UK Flood Map for Planning
- GEO.ca flood mapping
Use the exact parcel and map date
For the surface-water review, keep the exact address, parcel or coordinates, community or panel number, and the map date visible while comparing layers.
- Exact property address
- Parcel or coordinates
- Community or map panel
- Effective map date
Read the hazard layer in its stated scenario
- Locate the property and confirm the parcel or map pin before reading the colored hazard area.
- In GOV.UK long-term flood risk service, identify whether the layer is regulatory, planning, long-term risk, drainage, insurance, or emergency information.
- Before relying on the surface-water review, record the zone or scenario, panel or study name, effective date, and map owner.
- To complete the surface-water review, after the first GOV.UK long-term flood risk service result, open amendments, map-change documents, local studies, and current warnings separately when they answer different questions.
- Save the authority, map title, date, layer, and property location.
Check coverage, effective date, and local authority together
To complete the surface-water review, the result is meaningful only when the property, hazard type, scenario, map purpose, and date all match the decision being made.
| Map detail | Why it changes the answer |
|---|---|
| flood zone | For the surface-water review, match the property, parcel, or coordinates |
| panel number | In the surface-water review, identify the mapped hazard, scenario, and source owner |
| effective date | Before relying on the surface-water review, use the effective or study date when comparing maps |
| LOMA, LOMR, or other map-change record | Keep the panel, study, layer, and local-authority link with the surface-water review |
Use surface water flood risk check as mapped evidence for its stated hazard, date, and purpose, not as a promise that flooding will or will not occur or as a final insurance quotation.
If the property is outside the visible study
Check the local floodplain, planning, drainage, emergency-management, or water authority when the national map has no detailed layer.
For the surface-water review, ask the map owner which current study applies; absence from one viewer is not evidence that the property has no flood risk.
Related guides
- Flood Risk Map vs Flood Insurance Map
- River Flood Risk Check
- Flood Risk Map by Postcode: Official Flood Map Checks
Related official record checks
Use the guide that matches the exact agency, jurisdiction, tool, product, program, or record type; verify the live official source before acting.