In 2011, the United States suffered approximately $8.5 × 10⁹ in losses due to flood damages (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Hydrologic Information Center – Flood Loss). Federal regulations require the use of flood damage-resistant materials below the base flood elevation in special flood hazard areas, but they do not provide performance specifications for determining whether materials are resistant to flood damage. The proposed standard addressed in this paper was developed from and is intended to supplement specifications in National Flood Insurance Program Technical Bulletin 2, Flood Damage-Resistant Materials Requirements, which previously governed flood damage-resistant material selection. In addition to the proposed standard, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has undertaken a research effort to further understand the physical and environmental impacts of contaminated floodwaters on building materials and assemblies. This research effort will result in a standard floodwater for use in testing and an analysis of the physical and environmental effects of that floodwater on test specimens. The results of the research effort are expected to impact existing FEMA guidance and future versions of the proposed standard.