Glossary

Elevation certificate

A form completed by a licensed surveyor, engineer or architect that records a building's key elevations against the mapped base flood elevation.

Also called: EC, FEMA elevation certificate, NFIP elevation certificate

An elevation certificate is an official FEMA form on which a licensed land surveyor, engineer or architect records measurements of a building: the elevation of its lowest floor, the lowest adjacent grade, the height of equipment such as the furnace and water heater, and the flood openings in the foundation. The figures are compared with the base flood elevation shown on the flood map.

Communities require one to show that new or substantially improved buildings in high-risk zones meet local elevation rules. Before Risk Rating 2.0, flood insurers generally needed one to price many policies. Today, FEMA says you do not need an elevation certificate to buy NFIP coverage, but you may give one to your insurer to see whether it affects your rate. A certificate that documents a higher floor can lower a premium. It is also the usual supporting document for a Letter of Map Amendment request, which asks FEMA to remove a building from the high-risk area.

Before paying a surveyor, ask the seller or the community's floodplain administrator whether one is already on file; communities often keep copies for permitted construction. A certificate does not waive a lender's flood insurance requirement. For how the form affects premiums, read the guide on elevation certificates and your flood premium.

Last reviewed October 10, 2026

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Related terms

Base flood elevation (BFE) The height, in feet above a standard reference level, that floodwater is expected to reach in a flood with a 1% chance of occurring in any year. Flood zone A map designation, such as Zone AE, VE or X, that classifies a property's flood risk and helps decide whether a lender will require flood insurance. Special flood hazard area (SFHA) The land FEMA maps as having at least a 1% chance of flooding in any year, where lenders must require flood insurance on federally backed mortgages. Risk Rating 2.0 FEMA's current method of pricing NFIP flood policies by each home's own flood risk and rebuilding cost rather than mainly by flood zone and elevation. Flood insurance rate map (FIRM) FEMA's official map of a community showing flood zones, base flood elevations and floodways, which lenders use to decide whether flood insurance is required.

Related guides

Elevation certificates and your flood premium What a FEMA elevation certificate records, who must have one, whether it lowers an NFIP premium under Risk Rating 2.0, and how to find or order one. Elevating a home and other flood mitigation How elevation, flood openings, raised equipment, floodproofing and buyouts work, what each does to flood insurance premiums, and where the money comes from. Flood zones and FEMA flood maps explained What the A, V, X and D flood zones mean, how to look up your address on a FEMA map, what a zone changes for your lender, and how to contest one with a LOMA. Risk Rating 2.0: how NFIP prices flood insurance now Since 2021 FEMA prices NFIP flood policies by each property's own flood risk and rebuild cost, not by zone. What drives your rate, the 18% cap, how to lower it.

Related states

New Jersey New Jersey home insurance: NJM leads, coastal hurricane deductibles are capped by rule, flood is the big gap, and a small FAIR plan covers what insurers won't.