Wondering where to obtain a certificate for flood insurance? Advance Surveying & Engineering can help. Read on for details about the “where” and “why” of flood insurance certification.
Flood Elevation Certificates – What You Should Know
Getting your certificate is easy. Just contact our local licensed land surveyor. Not only will we provide you with an elevation certificate, we’ll also answer important questions such as:
What Is a Flood Elevation Certificate?
If your property is classified as being in a flood zone and you’d like to dispute this assessment on a federal level, it’s essential that you obtain a flood elevation certificate. This document, generated by one of our professional engineers, determines exactly where your home is located in relation to your property’s Base Flood Elevation. Thus, a flood elevation certificate confirms how your property should be rated for flood insurance, and is a crucial piece of “evidence” to cite during a dispute with FEMA.
Why Should You Purchase a Flood Elevation Certificate?
There are a couple of reasons why you should purchase an elevation certificate required for flood insurance determination. For one, the Flood Disaster Protection Act, passed in 1973, requires property owners to purchase flood insurance before they can be considered for direct or indirect federal financial assistance. If your property is designated as being in a flood zone (also called a “Special Flood Hazard Area”), then FEMA will use the flood elevation certificate to certify the property’s elevation and determine the correct flood insurance premium rate for the property.
As you might expect, the fact that a federal department like FEMA is involved means that only a state-licensed land surveyor/engineer can complete and issue an elevation certificate. In the event of a dispute, the certificate is included with other necessary paperwork that FEMA will need to see.
What Are We Hoping To Achieve?
Federal law stipulates that local banks and other lenders require property owners to purchase flood insurance. However, the amount of insurance – and whether flood insurance is necessary at all – can be disputed if it’s confirmed that your property doesn’t flood. To confirm whether or not this is true, Advance Surveying & Engineering prepares a flood elevation certificate which shows three important items:
- The Base Flood Elevation for your property (as established by FEMA)
- Your property’s low-floor elevation (the lowest elevation that your property descends to)
- The lowest adjacent-grade elevation for your property (this refers to the lowest point a person would step on when walking around your property’s outside perimeter)
If your property’s low-floor elevation or lowest adjacent-grade elevation sits above the Base Flood Elevation, there’s a very good chance that the flood insurance requirement will be waived, thus saving you a lot of time and money.
Our Engineers Will Handle All Of The Details
Whether you need an elevation certificate for flood insurance near Minnetonka, St. Paul, or Rochester, Advance Surveying & Engineering is the company to call. We’ll handle all of the details, with the goal of properly assessing your property’s elevation and confirming how much flood insurance you need, if any.