Flood Certificate

Getting it from the FIRM? Are there benchmarks on the FRIM? Around here there are not, but I know places in PA where there are. Could he be using GPS?

Regardless of what one CAN do it for, this brings up another point: the certificate is worth far more than $200 even if it can be completed with minimal effort. It has to be signed by a "licensed professional". How can any document signed by a licensed professional go for $200??? I would rather not even extend my liability for $200

I agree with Dan. Even with GPS the liability is still too great to do a certificate for $200.00. Shoot, I would have more in office time than $200.00.

Going rate around here is $250. I know one firm that does them for $225. Everyone uses GPS. Some use VRS while others run a 1-hr static. Only way it works for this price is a one-man field tech and have an efficient process in the office. Volume is the key.

Old FIRMs had RMs on them that could be very handy. But, you must remember that they are in prehistoric units not today's units so conversion must be performed.

Bottom line. Don't touch one for less than what you would charge for a simple lot survey. If both of those numbers are $200 you are sinking fast and there is no hope on the horizon.

Most of our FIRMs here have benchmarks listed on them and they are in the same datum as the FIRM. Some of them are just road intersections or other less than useful entities. That being said, I would never do an EC that cheaply.

Establishing the elevation using OPUS is acceptable practice.

I've lost several flood certs and I've always wondered how anyone could do them that cheaply and still make money. Even with GPS, setting control to use on new construction seems like the liability alone would warrant a higher price. Of course, maybe that outfit already has control in the immediate area.

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Ya'all is makin me mad! Ec fer less 'n 700 bucks. No comprehende'

Nate The Surveyor, post: 403726, member: 291 wrote: Ya'all is makin me mad! Ec fer less 'n 700 bucks. No comprehende'

I'm with you on that one. No way I would do one for 200

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same here, I quote around $600

1.5 hours max in the field. 1 hour round trip travel. 0.5 hrs reducing field notes. So 3 hrs for my part time college student @ $45/hr (pay him $15). That's $125. Leaves me $125 to process the GPS data, QA the field notes, and fill out the form, which takes about an hour total. Not getting rich off these, but do turn a small profit. Good mailbox money. Especially if I can schedule several in one day. Since the floods here in August I've done over 100 of these. I certainly didn't set the price, other engineers and surveyors in the market did. But down here, nearly every house is in a flood zone, so there are plenty of these to go around.

Why do some sell our services so cheap is beyond me. I just refinanced my home and the appraisal fee was $475. How is it that some of our peers feel one man who took pictures and spent 15 min in my home and compared two sales in my neighborhood to value my home worth more than a flood cert or mortgage survey. Doesn't make sense.

I remember some firms doing ECs for $100-150 about 30 years ago. I thought that the rates were lacking at that time.
There is something tragically flawed in these rates mentioned here.

I totally agree. I charge much more for my engineering and GIS services. I have no idea how the price of ECs got so low here.

When I read that someone is doing Elevation Certificates for $200 - $250, I can hardly believe it... You're yanking my chain, right? I don't have a standard quote for one, but I know that by the time I do my research, site visit & finalize the certificate, I'm into it for a minimum of $600. To expound on what Dan said above, the liability involved is worth $500 alone.

It's hit & miss here whether the benches depicted on the FIRM still exist. Just curious, if you have a published local bench closer than the USGS bench, do you still go to the USGS monument?

So, again, you're just kidding about a $250 certificate, right? Oh, I'm sorry... I just noticed this post was dated 1978 🙂

GPS only. Only benchmarks that have been updated or installed as part of the height modernization studies are valid here due to subsidence. Those are few and far between.

Thanks for your input, I feel the same that $200 is not enough to charge especially since I would have to run a level net for 6500 feet..
And this is not a joke.
This same surveyor will do a suburban lot with a three man crew traveling 50 miles each way for $300.00.
Walmart greeter is looking very good right now.

andrewm, post: 403740, member: 10888 wrote: I totally agree. I charge much more for my engineering and GIS services. I have no idea how the price of ECs got so low here.

Because people hire a part time college student to do the work and don't charge what the job is worth. Period. No one say gouge people, but seems to me that if a EC is a necessity in the area the one certifying the EC should make a reasonable profit for the liability. In my area the lender can hire some company 1000 miles away to determine if the house is in a flood zone and they charge $350 to look at a map an then request a EC it's close. But if it works for you who am I to judge.

If the survival of my business depended on ECs, it wouldn't work. Other than ECs, I don't do any work for the general public. Don't see how you guys do it. I know a firm that only does ECs. $250 a pop all day long. So I guess it can work, but I prefer clients with deeper pockets.

One thing that I've learned over the years is that you can't sell more quality than what someone is willing to buy. It's hard to convince Mr Public that your $700 EC is better than the other guys $250 EC. As long as they can get their flood insurance or building permit, they couldn't care less what the EC actually says.