Does anyone know when the requirement for breakaway walls for all zone V structures went into effect? I surveyed a beach front condo building (built in 1979) that was constructed without breakaway walls, and this is becoming a sticking point with the insurance company. I'm assuming there is some kind of grandfather rule if the building predates the requirement.
I don't think this may help, but for whatever it's worth...
There should be a “grandfather” exception, but insurance companies are always out to cover their butt and make sure they are liability free.
Note 1. V Zone buildings that are constructed similar to Diagrams 1-4, 7 and 8, are violations
under the NFIP. For buildings in V Zones the lowest floor is measured at the bottom of the
lowest horizontal structural member, which will be the bottom of the slab or a footing.
The “Note 1.” Is here:
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/fima/fema467-6-10-04.pdf
Page 7, along with the diagrams might help you. Or otherwise subcontract this…
http://www.elevation-certificates.com/orlando2.php?gclid=COCH3c6ivqsCFZBb7Aodozc9xw
Never heard of them.
Have a great week!
I have a contact with FEMA. I will send an email to see if she knows the answer.
I think I found something:
1985 regulation change. Prior to 1985, the [e][5] regulation was a much more general performance standard that communities were having difficulty administering. The 1985 change established more specific performance standards and limited enclosures to insect screening, open wood lattice-work, or breakaway walls that have a design safe loading resistance of not less than 10 and no more than 20 pounds per square foot. Stronger walls which will fail and not result in damage to the rest of the structure are permitted, but they must be certified by a registered professional engineer or architect. Also, masonry breakaway walls were allowed without special certification, as long as they met the standard. This change added specificity, but did not change the basic requirement that breakaway walls be intended to collapse under stress without jeopardizing the structural support of the structure. (FEMA Memorandum to Community CEOs, December 9, 1985.)
Page 105
http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/HAZ/docs/floods/nfip_summary.pdf?ga=t
I couldn't find "FEMA Memorandum to Community CEOs, December 9, 1985", but at least it's helpful to know that significant changes were made in 1985. I'm trying to get a hold of the community's flood plain manager to see if he has advice.
Thanks.
Thanks, Lamon!
Ut oh ...
I found this really cool PDF that lists the major events in the NFIP in chronological order.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_pia_mip_apnd_h.pdf
Unfortunately, it looks like the requirement for break-away walls dates back to 1975. I was hoping to be able to tell the owner differently.
3/1975 Proposed revisions to NFIP regulations are published in the Federal Register. The proposed revisions will allow minimum requirements for floodplain management to differ depending on the amount of technical data available to communities. Other proposed revisions will: allow the use, in establishing regulations, of data from other federal or state agencies or consulting services in communities where a FHBM has not yet been completed; require building permits for construction in SFHA when FHBM have been issued; require that all new construction must have the lowest floor above the 100-year flood level in communities with FHBMs and in which 100-year flood-surface elevations have been issued; and require new construction in coastal high hazard areas to keep the space below the lowest floor free from obstructions or use “breakaway walls” when 100-year flood levels have been identified.
Ut oh ...
Do you know when was the community's initial FIRM?
Ut oh ...
Yeah, it was 1971, so no luck there.