Elevation certificate for Flood Zone A

Managing Floodplain Development in Approximate Zone A Areas: A Guide for Obtaining and Developing Base (100-Year) Flood Elevations

https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1545-20490-4110/frm_zna.pdf

I've done a few without a BFE in the past. Follows all the guidelines, exhaust all existing data. If you got nothing, then just do you best to make a professional judgement call.?ÿThe last one I did ended up being 30 some odd feet higher than the nearest BFE. Just report the facts and do your due diligence. Be sure to check for all LOMA-A, and LOMA-R in your area as well.?ÿ

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I rarely have to deal with a zone that doesn't have the BFE determined, but I always start here to see if there are any documents nearby that I can mine for data

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https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home

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Andy?ÿ

Sometimes the best thing to do is to decline, when it's something outside your normal repertoire.?ÿ I'm not entirely comfortable with doing elevation certs and definitely want nothing to do with ones where there's no BFE.?ÿ?ÿ

There are a couple of ways to check BFE through FEMA. The map service center they have show cross sections throughout your project area, and these are for the 1% annual chance flood event. But the surest way to know if there are updated is through the FIS reports, which can also be obtained through the web map service on the Effective Products section.

Contact your local Floodplain Administrator.

I read somewhere?ÿ (maybe here)?ÿ that on the LOMA app write 'please determine' in the BFE

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Going to FEMA is a waste of time. See your Flood Plain Administrator and ask him if there has been any Flood Plain Studies done in the area you can use. If not you have to have a Flood Study done. I usually do an Elevation on the building site and then contact an Engineering firm that is experienced in doing Flood Studies. The Flood Study usually costs around $5000.

I assume you're doing one for a local building site. If your client is just trying to get a cheaper insurance rate tell him to forget it.

I'm currently doing one where were right on the boundary line of the Zone A and Zone X. We've been at this about 8 months yet and finally gave up trying to convince FEMA the building site is higher than the elevation in the Zone X. Here if you're in a Flood Zone you have to be an additional 2 feet above the BFE.

It's almost all I do for FEMA.

If it's a major river or ocean issue I can't help. Don't have those.

The actual calculated Zone A BFE's have little relationship to the location of the flood plain lines shown on the Zone A maps. This causes many buildings and homes to be shown in when they are out, sometimes way out.?ÿ

I've given up getting an elevation from the flood plain manager, how could they do it anyway since there is no data and that is why it's a zone A.?ÿ

We cross section the stream and far enough into the valley to pass the BFE, give the data to an engineer, he determines a BFE, writes a report, then we submit it to FEMA, it's the only way I will do one. One cross section at the house site, one up and one downstream at locations picked by the engineer.?ÿ

I have a spread sheet that will calculate the BFE from the cross sections and drainage data, but I only use it to check the engineer.?ÿ

Costs range between $2500 for an easy step across creek to over $6000 for a larger stream or river.?ÿ

Normally I will be over $4000

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You should contact the local floodplain manager and have them fill out section g of the certificate, as they may have a bed that was not determined by fema. If they have no info to give or you cannot locate them then you should fill out section e of the elevation certificate. Give the instructions on the elevation certificate a once over and it gives some guidance on ƒ??zone aƒ? information that is needed.

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I usually tell the potential client he can fill out Section E on the EC by himself for starters. After first checking to see if it is really in a flood zone, as noted above I look for the following:

Is it elevated high enough to actually be removed?

Is the FIRM so old a quad map contour was used and is it realistic?

Can the elevation along the edge of the Zone A be mapped for the BFE and compared to finish floor (C2a)?

As Mighty Moe notes above, we rarely get a local Flood Plain Manger who's helpful in our area, so I check County or City road construction notes if there is a bridge, culvert, or other feature which was constructed and addressed a rise in the water level to see if it was determined.

As noted above, look for LOMAs in the area, some of the older ones state the BFE.

Read all the sections on determining the BFE in unnumbered Zones A in FEMA 265 (Managing Floodplain Development in Approximate Zone A Areas).

If you think the structure was inadvertently included in the Zone A and it could be removed based on the elevation, submit a LOMA with a cover letter stating how you determined the BFE (contour interpolation, mapping the edge of the flood zone, cross sections or profiles, county determined...) asking them to either remove it or determine the BFE. Be realistic and inform the client that just because you are doing the work, FEMA may still deny removing it and establish a BFE but the insurance premium will be more affordable.

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I have done several. In all cases, I got an Engineer involved. At his direction; I gathered cross-section data and submitted it to him. He determined the BFE. Then, I did the elevation certificate. It is always expensive and time consuming. But, it can be worth it. Flood Insurance is generally very expensive in Zone A.?ÿ

@kevinfoshee

I always do the Elevation Certificate first, then you can judge weather they have a chance or not before they spend alot of money for a Flood Study.

In my state, we request a BFE from our local flood administrator. He/She then requests one from our Department of Natural Resources. It take a couple of weeks during this Covid stuff but I'm glad we have that option.?ÿ

As a resident of Boondocks USA with the nearest town qualifying as Smalltown USA the thought of getting any help from the Flood Plain Administrator is a joke.?ÿ That title falls to some minion within the City or County staff who has zero training on the subject prior to being awarded one more subtitle to be added into his/her job description.?ÿ In one case, this is a fellow whose knowledge base is with overhead power lines but when the City Superintendent left he was the senior employee, based on longevity, so was named City Superintendent along with all the other subtitles like Animal Control Officer and Solid Waste Disposal Manager.?ÿ That is the typical route to becoming the Flood Plain Administrator, if anyone remembers that there is officially supposed to be one so named.?ÿ Many places have never named one since someone was named way back in 1968 when the municipality joined on with FEMA initially.?ÿ FEMA said, "Give us a name.", so they did................once.

I want to thank everyone for their input so far. To get some clarity from the person I am working for, I spoke with them yesterday and I asked them what their endgame was for having me do this. The person I am working for told me that their flood insurance automatically goes up 25% every year when the policy renews. They told me that they need an elevation for the building established in order to have this automatic rate increases stopped. If?ÿ I can't get a bfe established through the flood plain manager, can section E of the certificate be filled out and be sufficient for what they are looking for.

Yes, I think so. ?ÿI have done these in zone A with no BFE for locals to address that very same sort of insurance premium increase. ?ÿThe local insurance agent and flood insurance expert tells me that by simply having an elevation certificate completed for the structure even though no BFE is listed actually allows him to check off a certain box on the insurance side to help deal with the premium increases. ?ÿMaybe the insurance folks have some sort of secret magic BFE table?

Here are a couple of examples:

1. The client was informed by his bank that he needed to pay $700 dollars a month for flood insurance. The new Zone A maps show his house that's on a small hill above a stream to be in the zone while the hay meadow across the stream and clearly lower than the house is out of the flood plain----on the map. I hired an engineer, one the client wanted to use, he laid out cross-sections (in my opinion too long as we cross-sectioned over a 1/4 mile of the low side). His finished floor is 13' above the BFE, even all his outbuildings are well out. The $5000 price tag was cheap.?ÿ

2. A young family guy bought a nice place near a step across stream with 2 miles of drainage. In the field you could tell the Zone A as usual was bogus. He was 4-5' visually higher than the opposite side of the stream and that area was shown outside the Zone. A typical Zone A mess. He was paying $600/month and we did the same thing, hired an engineer; this time one I picked. He laid out cross-sections, calculated a BFE and the lag on his house is 4' above the BFE. No basement. Flood insurance went away. Cost $3500.?ÿ

This is repeated over and over. I've done close to a dozen of these since the Zone A maps came out, none of them have been in the flood zone.?ÿ

They ask and expect a report how the BFE is generated, the engineer supplies the report with the cross sections, calculations, ect.?ÿ

Now consider other ways to get the BFE, I was at a seminar that showed how to get a BFE from Quad Sheet contour maps, if you do such a thing the BFE is on you. Possibly you can get one from the flood plain manager, then hopefully the number is the managers responsibility. What happens if the house floods, can the homeowner or lender come back to you and say; "hey you said this house was out of the 100 year flood, we just had a 50 year flood and it's under water". Are you then liable??ÿ

Flood calculations are a math exercise, drainage areas, CFS volumes, there is a valid number for a BFE based on that math. Use an engineer to get that number, they are licensed to do it. FEMA will accept it.

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If I recall a recent webinar correctly, beginning as soon as 2021 the insurance industry will (may) no longer be relying on elevation certificates for insurance premium decisions. ?ÿLocal building and zoning compliance authorities will. ?ÿInsurance folks will not.

The message was (I think, as best I can recall) that historically insurance decisions have been made at the edge of the flood zone on a map. ?ÿIs the property or structure ƒ??in or out.ƒ? ?ÿThis has not been a fair or mathematically realistic basis for insurance risk decisions, is essentially what was said as best I recall.

Again, I want to thank everyone for their input on this topic. I wanted to share a little more information about the home I am doing this for. This is a home that was involved in a flood in 1996 that the water rose to the level of the first floor. The basement was completely submerged. The owner knows that this home can't be moved out of the flood zone and wants to carry the insurance but as I previously stated needs to know the elevations for the home for insurance purposes.?ÿ?ÿ