Elevation Certificate – Condos – RPLS.com – The Online Resource for Land Surveyors

#1 · July 19, 2010, 10:41 am

Good Morning:

I'm sure the answer to this question is locked in the RPLS.com archives, if only I could find it....

I don't prepare Elevation Certificates frequently, but with today's work load, this sounds like a good project.

I've been asked to prepare Elevation Certificates for about a dozen residential condominiums that are configured in 3 buildings.

Assuming the first floor and crawl space for each building is the same for each unit in that building, can one Elevation Certificate be prepared for each building, or must a seperate Certificate be prepared for each unit? I'm guessing the latter, but am checking here just to be sure.

Thanks for the advice.

#2 · July 19, 2010, 11:14 am

I've always prepared individual certificates for each unit/owner in this case. End units usually have more permanent flood openings as do the interior units in the case of a crawlspace.

#3 · July 19, 2010, 11:24 am

I would say it depends on who your client is and what / how is being insured.

If the client is the condo association and they are buying flood insurance for the entire building as a condo service, then one per building.

If each individual unit is buying their own insurance, then you need individual EC's.

This is clearly a case of needing to understand the end use of your service.

#4 · July 19, 2010, 11:30 am

I agree, it depends on ownership.

First of all, how would you fill out the "Building owners name" and "Building address" lines doing just one EC per building, assuming they all have unique names and addresses (and lenders)?

#5 · July 19, 2010, 11:38 am

Thanks for the replies.

You've reinforced what I was thinking. Individual is the way to go -

#6 · July 19, 2010, 12:10 pm

there is the billing advantage (more!) for doing them individually...

#7 · July 19, 2010, 1:34 pm

For condo's, it been my experience that there is a bulk (I forgot the word) policy put into place so everyone pays their prorata share. If I remember correctly, the last one I did was prepared under the Condo associations name. That way if someone moved out there would be a constant scrambling to get another EC done just for that unit.

I believe I did one for each building rather than each unit. There were several buildings. It was a nice little project.

#8 · July 19, 2010, 1:59 pm

Well, I got to speak with the board member ordering this information, and it seems the insurance agent wants them per building, not for the individual unit, since that give the association a better price on the insurance. It is sort of complicated, with the condo association owning the outside of the building and the individuals having fee ownership of the internal walls and floor. We'll see what happens.

Thanks again for the replies.