Elevation Certificate

Completing an Elevation Certificate (EC) may help lower your insurance rate. It is an administrative tool used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with the community’s floodplain management ordinances; to inform mitigation action that will lower flood risk; and to support a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) to remove a building from a high-risk flood area.

The EC needs to be acquired privately and needs to list a building’s geospatial location, the lowest point of elevation, flood zone, and other characteristics. This information compares a building’s elevation to the height of estimated flood waters during a major flooding event to determine a property’s flood risk.  An EC must be certified by a licensed professional (Surveyor, Engineer, or Architect).

Raise your Elevation to Lower your Risk

Under FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action, a property may choose to provide an EC and submit it to their insurance agent to determine if it will lower their insurance cost, but an EC is no longer required to purchase coverage. ECs will continue to be used for floodplain management building requirements, which can affect Ocoee’s eligibility for the Community Rating System (CRS). Participation in the CRS grants our community discounts on flood insurance with the NFIP.

Contact Ocoee’s Building Department to discover if your property already has an EC.

Additional Resources

1. https://agents.floodsmart.gov/write-policy/elevation-certificates
2. https://www.floods.org/resource-center/elevation-certificate/
3. https://www.floridadisaster.org/elevation-certificates/
4. https://floridafloodinsurance.org/elevation-certificate/
5. https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/risk-rating
6. https://library.municode.com/fl/ocoee/codes/land_development_code?nodeId=ARTVIINAREMAFLMA_PT1AFLMA
7. https://www.fema.gov/floodplain-management/community-rating-system