Introduction. Recently, there has been an increase in the intensity of extreme weather conditions, which leads to an increased probability of flood risk. At the same time, according to the estimate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the annual damage from floods in the Russian Federation averages approximately 50 billion rubles. In order to reduce the possible degree of vulnerability of buildings from these natural disasters, various methods of protection are used in world practice, one of which is the use of pontoon foundations and telescopic piles.

Materials and methods. To assess the effectiveness of building construction on pontoons in areas of possible waterlogging of territories, the risk theory in the formulation of Academician                      L.V. Kantorovich, who considers risk as a mathematical expectation of damage, was used. Statistical material on flood damages in the Far East in the Amur River basin was used for risk assessment. The payment matrix of damages was made on the basis of these data. Repeatability was assessed by using the available material on floods in the same region. It is noted that the dependence of investments in floating buildings on the possible height of their surfacing is significantly nonlinear.

Results. The paper presents the results of evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed solution. It is shown that the device of floating bases for residential buildings with a floating height of 4–6 m is an effective means for construction in waterlogging zones. It is noted that in spite of rather large initial investments the further increase of the surfacing height is relatively small. The economic benefit of the adopted solution is revealed.