Recently, my brother in Ft. Myers, Florida asked me for advice about what he might do to reduce his cost for flood insurance.  He had just been hit with a notice of a 600% cost increase.  He showed me a document his bank had furnished.  The document had been prepared by a national firm which charged $100 to provide a "certification" that my brother's house was in a flood plain.  To generate that document it seemed the firm had merely used a computer to overlay the location of the house on a FIRM map.  There had not even been a visit to the house, let alone any on site surveying. 

I borrowed my brother's computer and quickly verified the bad news that his home does fall within a mapped 100 year flood plain.  However, the map includes data called the "base flood elevation" (aka the BFE).  As I explained to my brother, the elevation of the first floor of his house with relation to that BFE is a critical element to determining the relative risk of and potential cost of flood damage to his house and property.  Simply put, if his house elevation is higher than the BFE, his property qualifies for the lowest possible flood insurance premium.

We then contacted a Florida Professional Surveyor for a quote to obtain a FEMA FLOOD ELEVATION CERTIFICATION.  For a fee of only $100, the Florida surveyor will visit the property, take measurements including elevations, do analysis, and provide the CERTIFICATION.   His work potentially can save my brother $600 per year on his insurance premium.  

I could not do that CERTIFICATION for my brother because I am not licensed to do surveying in Florida.  However, here in Pennsylvania, Ludgate Engineering has worked for hundreds of home and business owners to provide surveying or engineering that eliminated or reduced their cost for flood insurance.   This work generally fell into one of the following categories.

 A "FEMA FLOOD ELEVATION CERTIFICATION" such as my brother requires.  This fee can be as little as $100 for a modest house close to a nearby "reference bench mark".    More work is required and fees will be greater if the structure is complicated, if the reference bench mark is remote, or other extenuating circumstances apply.

A "LETTER OF MAP REVISION (LOMR)" may be applicable in some cases where physical activity may have altered the flood plain characteristics.  A "LETTER OF MAP ADJUSTMENT (LOMA)" might be applicable  in certain other circumstances.   There also is a provision for a "LETTER OF MAP CORRECTION (LOMC)" in rare circumstances where an error in the FIRM map is proven and acknowledged by FEMA.  Each of the preceding involves an engineering analysis in addition to site surveying; consequently there is more expense associated with those forms of relief, where they are applicable.

CALL LUDGATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION competent, Professional service if you have a question about the correctness of the flood plain determination affecting your property.

By Robert B. Ludgate Sr., PE, President