re: Building in Flood Zone A

I just went through this exact scenario. I’m going to assume your building on a slab. Call your local floodplain administrator and ask what the freeboard requirement is. Ours is a finished floor height 1’ above BFE. You can do this two ways - bring in fill dirt for a pad and ensure it’s above the BFE, then have a surveyor file a LOMR-F on the elevated dirt. The other option is to build and then have the surveyor complete a LOMR-F on the actual structure. We went with the dirt pad route so that we don’t have to carry flood insurance during construction. Your final elevation certificate is where you will prove you met the freeboard requirement. If your have a LOMR-F then you won’t be in flood zone A anymore and won’t have to carry flood insurance at all - it does change the map - it’s a letter of map amendment.