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Elevation Certificates

Elevation Certificate page bannerAn Elevation Certificate is a form created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as a compliance and insurance tool within federally mapped floodplains. The certificates verify that structures are safely elevated above the expected 100-year flood level and that they meet other floodplain requirements. Insurance companies utilize the certificates to determine flood insurance premiums for homeowners within flood hazard zones.

While the use of the FEMA Elevation Certificate is required by the federal government within federally mapped floodplains, the District also requires its use in locally mapped floodplains. The Ordinance requires Elevation Certificates to be completed by an Arizona registered land surveyor or Arizona registered civil engineer. Although Elevation Certificates may be completed by other individuals for insurance purposes, the District cannot accept an Elevation Certificate that is not completed, signed and sealed by a registered land surveyor or engineer.

PLEASE NOTE: The previous version of the Elevation Certificate form will be accepted until December 31, 2016.  Any Elevation Certificate submitted to the District after that date must be on the latest form or it will be rejected.

Fillable Elevation Certificate for Compliance/Permitting Purposes

The District has created a fillable PDF Elevation Certificate form that has community related fields pre-filled in, and also contains drop down menus to aid in the efficient and uniform completion of Elevation Certificates.  If an Elevation Certificate is required as a condition of a Floodplain Use Permit, an Elevation Certificate will be provided to you.  

Fillable Elevation Certificate for Insurance Purposes

If you need an Elevation Certificate for insurance purposes, please use the District's Insurance Only version of the Elevation Certificate.  Once completed, the District would appreciate receiving a copy of Elevation Certificates completed for insurance purposes so that we have more thorough records for structures in Pima County.

Completed Elevation Certificates

Check our list of completed Elevation Certificates to see if a certificate is on file for your property.

Elevation Certificate Information for Surveyors

ALERT: FEMA has published a new Elevation Certificate dated July 2015 and expiring on 11/30/2018.  The District and FEMA are still accepting Elevation Certificates completed on the form that expired on July 31, 2015.  The previous version of the form will be accepted until December 31, 2016.  Any Elevation Certificate submitted to the District after that date must be on the latest form or it will be rejected.

Please note that the form formatting was revised slightly after the original release.  This also occurred after the Elevation Certificate workshop hosted by the District in May. 

Surveyors and engineers should familiarize themselves with the new form by carefully reviewing the FEMA instruction manual and the Districts Elevation Certificate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

The District is currently requesting surveyors and engineers completing Elevation Certificates to establish a local datum of 100.0 feet at Highest Adjacent Natural Grade (HANG) for FEMA A Zones and local sheetflow floodplains.  The District will indicate the BFE in box B.9 of the Elevation Certificate as 101.0 (for example) and indicate that the datum is HANG = 100.0 ft.  Please see the December 20, 2011 memo to surveyors and engineers for more information.

The District has created a fillable PDF Elevation Certificate form. This form has certain common fields pre-filled in, and also contains drop down menus to aid in the efficient and uniform completion of Elevation Certificates.

Elevation Certificate Workshops

The District periodically coordinates with the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to provide training for surveyors, engineers, insurance agents and floodplain management officials on how to understand and properly complete Elevation Certificates.  These work shops are an important educational tool for users of Elevation Certificates.

An Elevation Certificate workshop was held on May 17, 2016.  There are no workshops currently scheduled in the Tucson area, but ADWR does have a workshop scheduled in Casa Grande on August 22, 2017.  For more information please see the workshop announcement.