Why Should You Attend This Training?

The FEMA Elevation Certificate is an optional administrative tool of the NFIP which is used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances, to provide elevation data for the most accurate insurance premium rates, and to support a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA). This Elevation Certificate Workshop goes through each section of the Elevation Certificate in detail and provides necessary resources for surveyors, engineers, architects and community officials in understanding how to properly complete the Elevation Certificate. In addition, the instructor will provide an overview of the changes and new sections included in the 2022 version of FEMA's Elevation Certificate.

We have finalized our plans for two (2) Elevation Certificate Workshops scheduled for October 11 & 12, 2023. We once again have Del Schwalls providing us with this training.

Course Description

This workshop will:

• Provide detailed training on completing a FEMA EC accurately and in its entirety, allowing full compliance with any program that requires submission of an EC.
• Review the newly released EC and provide guidance on implementation and use.
• Cover EC requirements for surveying, foundation flood openings, and certification.
• Review how the EC should be completed by the EC certifier and how it should be reviewed by the local community.
• Review Community Rating System (CRS) requirements for an EC and those portions that can differ from other programs.
• Identify portions of the EC instructions that should not be used, in order to achieve full compliance with all programs.
• Include common errors and omissions, review of the various EC building diagrams, and real world examples.
• Review major changes compared to the prior version of the EC, including how Risk Rating 2.0 (RR2.0) insurance requirements affect the EC.

Course Objectives

• Learn to complete a FEMA EC in order to satisfy the requirements of any program.
• Understand the data needs for each individual EC section.
• Understand the local official's role in reviewing ECs for accuracy and compliance purposes.
• Understand how the EC is used by CRS.
• Understand how the EC is used for insurance under RR2.0.
• Change attendee's approach to ECs from 'minimum needs' to 'best practice'.
• Avoid common mistakes that can invalidate the EC for certain programs.
• Learn how to avoid errors that are causing many communities to miss the mandatory CRS EC prerequisites.

Our Instructor

Del Schwalls is President of Schwalls Consulting, the Immediate Past Chair of the Florida Floodplain Managers Association, and formerly the Region 4 Director of ASFPM. He has more than 20 years of experience in floodplain management, hydrologic, and hydraulic analyses, and water resources engineering. He specializes in working with communities to achieve their floodplain management goals, including refining their Community Rating System program, floodplain ordinances, and overall regulatory framework. He conducts

trainings across the country on accurately completing FEMA Elevation Certificates (ECs) and addressing EC deficiencies.

Mr. Schwalls has extensive experience with the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs, and serves as a subject matter expert (SME) in HMA grants and FEMA benefit cost analysis for states and communities. He has developed floodplain modeling and mapping across the nation, and specializes in conducting independent QA/QC of FEMA Flood Risk projects. He has repaired numerous LOMAs and LOMRs across the Southeast US, and began his career in Washington, D.C. reviewing LOMRs and FISs for FEMA.

Mr. Schwalls is currently the Hydrology/ Hydraulics SME to the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology. He holds a BS in environmental engineering from Mercer University, is a registered PE in FL, AL, GA, and SC, and earned his CFM in 2003.

The first workshop date is on Wednesday, 10/11/23. It will be in the City of Auburn, AL. The location of the training facility is to be determined.

The second workshop date is on Thursday, 10/12/23. It will be in Spanish Fort, AL at Blakeley Hall in the 5 Rivers Delta Center. The address is:

30945 Five Rivers Boulevard

Spanish Fort, AL 36527

Please register for the workshop if you plan to attend. We need to track the number of registrants planning to attend the training in order to have sufficient seating, handouts, and refreshments. The limit for this training is 30 registrants. Click on the button to the right labeled "RSVP" to register.

Auburn - October 11

Spanish Fort - October 12

Please download the following Elevation Certificate handouts at either the Dropbox or Google Drive link and review them before attending the workshop. Then, bring them with you to the workshop to follow along during the training.

• FEMA EC Instructions & Form (2022)

• FEMA 467-1 FPM Bulletin: EC (04-2004)

• EC Correction Memorandum Template

• EC Workshop Notes Pages

• Non-Engineered Opening Guide

• Schwalls Consulting FEMA EC 2019 to 2022 Comparison

An additional FEMA fact sheet is also available at: Understanding Elevation Certificates.

Elevation Certificates are Important Tools for Compliance & Insurance

Factors for Determining Flood Risk 

Today, flood risk is determined based on several property-specific factors. These include proximity to a flood source, occupancy type, construction type, number of floors, foundation type, cost to rebuild and flood insurance claims history. 

Other critical factors in understanding flood risk include a building’s First Floor Height (FFH), or the height of the building’s first lowest floor above the adjacent grade, and its elevation. Generally, water flows downward—so the higher the elevation of a building’s first floor, the less flood damage it’s likely to incur. An EC, which provides property-specific grade elevations, can indicate flood risk and thereby impact policyholders’ premiums. 

Property Owner's First Floor Height 

The FFH of a building is initially determined by FEMA using application information and various datasets. If property owners provide an EC with more detailed FFH and elevation information, the flood insurance rating engine may return a lower annual premium. FEMA’s system compares the original elevation data with the updated information to deliver a more property-specific and equitable rate for the

policyholder. For more information on FEMA’s rating system, please review the Rate Explanation Guide at FEMA Rate Explanation Guide.

Knowing the FFH and reviewing a building’s EC can also help property owners better understand their flood risk—it can prompt them to identify and take actions to mitigate flood damage. Property owners may benefit from elevating the building, installing flood openings and raising utilities. Such mitigation efforts reduce the financial impact of the next flood and can contribute to lower flood insurance rates. 

Community Perspectives

From a community perspective, ECs are used to provide necessary elevation information to ensure compliance with local, state and federal floodplain management ordinances. This affects property owners who are planning on building from scratch or making significant changes to their structure. A community may require an EC before and after construction.

Property owner and/or community requests to update an effective flood map or Flood Insurance Study (FIS) also call for ECs. A Letter of Map Change (LOMC) is necessary to change certain map findings—such as the flood zone, floodplain and floodway delineations, flood elevations and/or two-dimensional features—and an EC must accompany the submission.

FOR QUESTIONS:

Corey Garyotis

ADECA Office of Water Resources

Phone: (334) 353-0853

corey.garyotis@adeca.alabama.gov