Floodplain Experts Share Knowledge Along Mississippi Coast
New Floodplain Elevation Certificates Mandatory Starting April 2010

From: FEMA News Release   Filed 4/28/09  GCN

BILOXI, Miss. – With the hurricane season fast approaching, community floodplain managers, building and planning officials, architects and surveyors want to make sure their knowledge about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is up to date.

As part of the agreement for making flood insurance available in a community, the NFIP requires the community to adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance that specifies requirements for reducing flood losses. One such requirement is for the community to obtain the elevation of the lowest floor, including the basement, of all new construction and substantial improvements and to maintain its record.

NFIP experts from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency teamed up recently to provide community floodplain managers and other such stakeholders the latest information about elevation certificates (EC).

“An elevation certificate is an insurance rating tool that’s used to determine compliance with NFIP,” FEMA’s Dan Bass, a registered architect, said as he began the three-hour session.

The class was one of several that have been frequently scheduled along the Mississippi Gulf Coast after revisions to flood maps were made during the last year or two.

“The certificate is used to verify and document critical finished elevations of a structure,” said MEMA Director Mike Womack. “In order to be rated properly, the insured needs a professional to certify the building information.”

The elevation certificate is also used to determine the proper flood insurance rate as well as to support letters of map amendments and revisions.

(FEMA Photo right: Gulfport, MS, April 17, 2009 --A representative from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency teaches community floodplain managers about elevation certificates. NFIP experts from FEMA and MEMA teamed up to teach the class. Jennifer Smits/FEMA.)

Anyone who has applied for flood insurance on a building that is located in a Special Flood Hazard Area must have an elevation certificate. Also, an elevation certificate is required if there was construction or substantial improvement of a building started after Dec. 31, 1974, or on or after the date of the initial Flood Insurance Rate Map – whichever is later.

FEMA's new elevation certificate was approved for use, effective March 16, 2009, through

March 31, 2012. The new EC will be phased in on a voluntary basis until March 31, 2010; it will be mandatory by April 1, 2010. Although the old version of the form is no longer available for distribution, existing copies may be used until March 31, 2010. Elevations certified on or after April 1, 2010, must be submitted on the new form.

For more information about the new EC, visit: www.fema.gov/business/nfip/elvinst.shtm.