Temporary Deployable Flood Barrier Guidance and Procedures

As a flood barrier owner and/or manager, you are required to register your barriers with the City of Boston Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to ensure the City is aware of potential deployments in flood-prone areas. Barriers should be registered annually to ensure information is current. For inquiries, please contact OEM at oem@boston.gov.

If the deployment of your barrier alters existing infrastructure or egress paths, you may also need to apply for an Alteration (ALT) Permit from the City of Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD). This ensures that the flood barrier complies with building safety standards. Contact ISD at isd@boston.gov for guidance on whether an ALT permit is necessary.

If you are proposing flood barriers in a new, non-residential building, to comply with flood safety standards of the building code, review is required by ISD before issuing an Erect (ERT) Permit for the building. Additional information may be found on ISD's flood review page. 

New buildings protected by flood barriers are considered "dry-floodproof"; proponents must provide a dry floodproofing certificate and associated documentation (see Page 6 of the certificate). Once the building is constructed, the flood barriers must be registered with OEM. 

If your proposed flood barrier would be on the public right of way, you will need to apply for a Specific Repairs License from the City’s Public Improvement Commission (PIC). This requires several steps:

1. Engage a civil engineer to create engineered plans for your proposed barrier based on an existing conditions report which establishes property lines, building edges and sidewalk composition.
2. Reach out to the Public Improvement Commission at pic@boston.gov to notify the Commission of your interest in applying for a Specific Repairs License.
3. With PIC’s approval, submit your request for a Public Hearing on your proposed project.

When the weather forecast has the potential for hazardous flooding, OEM will issue a notification to registered flood barrier contacts. OEM monitors weather conditions using a variety of sources, including the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as State and local sources.

Upon deciding to deploy the flood barrier, notify the Boston Police Department (BPD) Operations at 617-343-4680 (at least 24 hours prior to the barrier being in place). Request to speak to the Duty Supervisor and specify which entrances/exits will be blocked and any expected impacts related to building access. BPD will notify relevant public safety agencies and City departments of deployment status.

Once the flood barrier has been removed, the point of contact must notify BPD Operations at 617-343-4680 to confirm the demobilization and restoration of normal building access.