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Elevation certificate explainer

Upload your FEMA elevation certificate and get it explained in plain language: the flood zone, the base flood elevation, how your lowest floor compares with it, and what on the certificate is worth a second look.

Free. No sign-up. Read by Roxy, the AI assistant at Insurox, from a scan, photo or PDF of the FEMA form.

Your elevation certificate

PDF, JPEG or PNG. One PDF with every page of the certificate works best. A PDF can be up to 15 MB, a picture up to 10 MB.

Your file is kept by Insurox so that a reading can be checked. The explanation leaves out the owner's name.

See what your property is quoted

A certificate describes the building. A quote prices it. Insurox compares flood insurance quotes from 35+ insurance companies, NFIP and private, and a licensed agent can go through your certificate with you at (888) 546-1099.

What you get

  • The headline. The base flood elevation, the top of your bottom floor, and how far one is above or below the other.
  • Every elevation, named. The eight elevations of Section C in plain words, each compared with the base flood elevation: floors, garage, equipment and the ground beside the building.
  • Things to look at. Equipment below the base flood elevation, missing flood openings, mismatched datums, a certificate based on drawings instead of the finished building.
  • The rest of the form. The building diagram, the map panel and its dates, the flood zone and what it means, and who certified it.
  • A reading you can check. Where the form's layout allows, the key figures are read twice, by separate methods. Only a figure both readings agree on is compared with anything; the rest are shown and marked.

The sections of an elevation certificate

Section A: property information
The address, what the building is used for, its building diagram number (the type of foundation), and any crawlspace, enclosure or attached garage with its flood openings.
Section B: flood map information
The community, the map panel and its dates, the flood zone, and the base flood elevation with where it was taken from and its datum.
Section C: building elevations
The surveyed elevations: the bottom floor, the next floor up, the garage, the lowest equipment, and the lowest and highest ground touching the building. This is the part a surveyor has to measure.
Section D: certification
The surveyor, engineer or architect who certifies the elevations, with a license number, signature, seal and date.
Section E: heights without a survey
Used in Zone AO and in Zone A where there is no base flood elevation: heights of the floors above the ground beside the building.
Sections F and G
The owner's signature for Section E, and a section the community's floodplain official can complete.
Section H, on the current form
First floor height for any zone: how high the floors sit above the lowest ground beside the building. It takes no survey, and it is not on older editions of the form. This explainer does not read it yet.

Common questions

What is an elevation certificate?
It is a FEMA form, completed by a licensed land surveyor, engineer or architect, that records how high a building sits: the elevations of its floors, its equipment and the ground beside it. It also notes the flood zone and the base flood elevation from FEMA's flood map.
What is the base flood elevation?
It is the height FEMA expects floodwater to reach in a 1% annual chance flood. The certificate notes it in item B9, but it does not set it: the official figure comes from FEMA's flood map and flood study.
Do I need an elevation certificate to buy flood insurance?
No. An elevation certificate is not required to buy a National Flood Insurance Program policy. If you give one to your insurance agent, FEMA says it will compare the data on the form with its own information and give the policy the lower premium. Some private insurers ask for one.
Does an elevation certificate expire?
No. It stays good until the building is physically changed, and a new flood map alone does not call for a new one. The expiration date printed at the top of the form is the date of the blank form.
What if my floor is below the base flood elevation?
It means a 1% annual chance flood is expected to rise above that floor. It does not stop you from buying flood insurance. Comparing NFIP and private quotes shows what it costs for your building.
How accurate is the explanation?
Roxy, the AI assistant at Insurox, reads the file. She can misread a figure, most often on a faint scan or handwriting. Where the form's layout allows, the flood zone, the base flood elevation and each building elevation are read a second time by a separate method. Only a figure both readings agree on is compared with anything. Where they disagree, where only one could read it, or where the scan was hard to read, the page says so and leaves the figure out of any comparison. The certificate itself is always the record.
Who is Roxy?
Roxy is the AI assistant at Insurox. On this page she reads your certificate and explains what is written on it. She is an AI, not a licensed insurance agent, and she can make mistakes. A licensed Insurox agent can go through your certificate with you at (888) 546-1099.
What happens to the file I upload?
It is kept by Insurox, a licensed insurance agency, so that a reading can be checked. The explanation leaves out the owner's name. It is shown in the browser tab that sent the file and has no web address of its own. To keep it, print it or save it as a PDF.

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