A National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Elevation Certificate (EC) is a FEMA form, or certificate, that is used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances, to determine the proper insurance premium rate, or to support a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA). The EC includes information on the type of structure as well as elevation data of a structure on a given property relative to the ground level.
Within Leon County, an EC is required for all new construction and substantial improvements when any portion of a property is located below the flood protection elevation. The EC is part of the permit record and must be submitted before the building may be occupied. The flood protection elevation is generally 3 feet above the base flood elevation. Substantial improvements are defined as any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement to a structure, the total cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement.
Nonresidential structures can be floodproofed instead of elevated. Floodproofed structures are designed to be substantially impermeable to the passage of floodwaters and to withstand the forces floodwaters can exert onto the structure.
Leon County Development Support & Environmental Management (DSEM) maintains copies of ECs collected since 1994. If your home was built or substantially improved after 1994, DSEM may have an elevation certificate on file for your property. To obtain an EC for a property, contact DSEM Records by phone at 606-1300 or in person at the DSEM office located on the 2nd Floor of the Renaissance Building at 435 North Macomb Street.
If you need an elevation certificate and one is not available from DSEM, you may need to hire a surveyor or you can ask the prior owner for a Flood Elevation Certificate.
For more information on Leon County's elevation certificate requirements contact the Building Plans Review Division at DSEM by phone at 606-1300 or in person at the DSEM office located on the 2nd Floor of the Renaissance Building at 435 North Macomb Street.