Elevation certificates are public record in communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Federal regulations require those communities to keep elevation data on file for buildings in flood hazard areas and to share it with anyone who asks. The catch is that not every property has a certificate on file, so whether you can actually get one depends on whether it was ever submitted to local authorities.
The Federal Rule That Makes Them Public
Two regulations do the work here. Under 44 CFR 59.22, an NFIP community must “maintain for public inspection and furnish upon request” elevation information for buildings in Special Flood Hazard Areas, including the lowest floor elevation of all new or substantially improved structures.1eCFR. 44 CFR 59.22 – Prerequisites for the Sale of Flood Insurance A companion provision, 44 CFR 60.3, requires the community to obtain and keep those elevation records with its designated floodplain official.2eCFR. 44 CFR 60.3 – Flood Plain Management Criteria for Flood-Prone Areas FEMA reinforces the point by requiring communities to keep permit files showing that buildings in flood hazard areas are properly elevated.3Federal Emergency Management Agency. Elevation Certificate
Practically, that means if a certificate was submitted to your local building department or floodplain office as part of a permit, the community has to make it available. Some jurisdictions post certificates in searchable online databases. Others handle it through a written public records request. Either way, this is not information a community can decline to share.
How To Request a Copy From Local Government
Start with the local floodplain administrator or building department. Give them the property address or parcel number and ask whether an elevation certificate is on file. For properties that went through a building permit in a flood hazard area, the answer is usually yes.
If your community participates in FEMA’s Community Rating System, certificates are often easier to find, sometimes through an online portal, because maintaining accessible elevation records is one of the activities that earns CRS credit.4Federal Emergency Management Agency. Community Rating System You can ask your floodplain administrator whether the community is a CRS participant.
When No Certificate Is on File
A certificate typically enters the local record only when a building permit triggered the requirement. Homes built before the area was mapped into a flood zone often have no certificate on record at all. And if a previous owner paid a surveyor to prepare one for insurance purposes but never submitted it to the local government, the community simply has no copy to hand over.
Before assuming you need a new one, try these sources:
- The seller or previous owner. During a real estate transaction, ask directly. Sellers often kept a copy from their own purchase or from when they bought flood insurance.
- The builder or developer. For newer construction, the original builder may still have a copy in project files.
- Your insurance agent. If a flood policy was previously written on the property, the insurer may have used a certificate to rate it, and the agent can sometimes pull it from their records.
Getting a New Certificate Prepared
If none of those turn up a certificate, you will need one prepared. For most flood zones, only a licensed land surveyor or registered professional engineer can certify the elevation data on the official FEMA form.5National Flood Insurance Program. Get an Elevation Certificate The surveyor visits the property, takes the measurements, and completes the form.
Fees for a standard residential property typically run from roughly $400 to $750. Complex sites, remote locations, or high-cost regions can push the price above $1,000.
There is a narrower option in certain low-hazard areas. The current FEMA form includes a Section E that allows a local floodplain official, the property owner, or an authorized representative to provide compliance information in Zone AO and in Zone A areas where no Base Flood Elevation has been determined.6Federal Emergency Management Agency. Elevation Certificate Form and Instructions Self-reported information from Section E cannot support a map amendment request, but it can feed into insurance rating and may save you the cost of hiring a professional.
Why You Might Want the Certificate
Two common reasons drive people to track down a certificate. The first is flood insurance pricing. Under FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 methodology, most homeowners do not need an elevation certificate to buy a policy, because FEMA now draws elevation data from its own modeling.5National Flood Insurance Program. Get an Elevation Certificate FEMA says policyholders “may acquire an elevation certificate” and submit it to their agent “to determine if it will lower their rate.”7Federal Emergency Management Agency. Risk Rating 2.0 If FEMA’s model underestimates your actual elevation, a certified measurement can bring the premium down.
The second reason is a Letter of Map Amendment. If a certificate shows the lowest adjacent grade of your building sits at or above the Base Flood Elevation, you can apply to have the property removed from the high-risk zone on FEMA’s maps, which can eliminate the mandatory flood insurance requirement that lenders impose in Special Flood Hazard Areas.8Federal Emergency Management Agency. Letter of Map Amendment and Letter of Map Revision-Based on Fill For a LOMA, the elevation data must be certified by a licensed land surveyor or professional engineer.
One boundary worth flagging: homeowners in high-risk Zone A or coastal Zone V areas may still need a certificate to verify compliance with local building standards, even though it is optional for insurance rating.5National Flood Insurance Program. Get an Elevation Certificate So “optional for insurance” does not always mean “optional for your property.”