The City has elevation certificates on file for many properties that have been developed and are available free of charge. Contact the Public Works Department to request an existing elevation certificate for a specific property.

If an elevation certificate has not been completed for a particular property, the City will provide a blank elevation certificate that the landowner can have completed by a professional land surveyor, architect or engineer who is licensed by the State to perform such functions. The City retains a permanent record of all elevation certificates it receives on file for future availability to the public. Elevation Certificate forms can also be found at the FEMA floodsmart resource page.

Information on the City's existing benchmarks may be found on the City's Vertical Datum and Horizontal Datum for Land Surveys webpage.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides a facts page which includes more information about who needs elevation certificates and why. Described below are a few common reasons that you would need to request or use an elevation certificate.

Flood Insurance Policy

Elevation certificates no longer required to purchase flood insurance coverage under Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action. Instead, FEMA uses its tools and resources to determine the first-floor height of a building as one of the factors used when calculating rates. However, you may choose to provide an Elevation Certificate and submit it to your agent to determine if it will lower the standard cost of insurance.

Building Permits

Elevation certificates are always required by the City for new or substantially improved buildings in the high-risk floodplain. Review and approval of these certificates through different phases of a project ensure compliance with local and federal floodplain development standards. Building elevation information is confirmed on the FEMA Elevation Certificate form in Section C under the following conditions:

• Construction Drawings – prepared and submitted during permit plan review based on the proposed construction drawings.

• Building Under Construction –typically done with the footing/foundation work to ensure the finished floor elevation (based on the construction drawings) is at the required height. For most types of construction, it makes sense to do the verification with the underfloor framing inspection when the height of the floor can be identified. However, it’s too late at that stage if the foundation was constructed too low. Check early and request that your surveyor provide an elevation reference point before forms are set.

• Finished Construction –completed after all mechanical and electrical equipment such as furnaces, water heaters, heat pumps, air conditioners, and elevators and their associated equipment have been installed and the grading around the building is completed.

Some common items missed at finished construction are:

• All mechanical equipment (this includes ducting) must be elevated to one foot above the base flood elevation, even if it is in an attached garage or outside the structure.

• The bottom of required foundation vents cannot be more than one foot above adjacent grade.

• Crawlspace heights are limited to four feet and can be no more than two feet below grade on all sides measured from the interior grade of the crawlspace to the top of the crawlspace. Fill can be added to raise the crawlspace height to comply but must meet other required clearances.

A final certificate of occupancy will not be issued until an elevation certificate is completed based on the final building improvements and submitted to the City for review and approval. Find more information about getting a building permit.

Elevation certificates are permanently retained by the City and provide essential information demonstrating compliance with local and federal floodplain development requirements.

Letter of Map Change

An elevation certificate may be used to support a request for a letter of map change, which is used to remove structures or a property from the high-risk floodplain. There are a few types of letter of map changes:

• Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA)
• Letter of Map Revision (LOMR)
• Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F)

These requests could be considered if a property has been incorrectly mapped as being in a floodplain, a structure or property has been raised above the flood elevation, or for other various reasons. Please contact the city or a licensed surveyor to see if your property qualifies for a letter of map change. After review, if FEMA determines a property qualifies for removal, they will issue a document that officially removes the property or structure from the high-risk floodplain.