Elevation Certificates

What is an Elevation Certificate?

According to the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program, an Elevation Certificate is a document that is "used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances, to determine the proper insurance premium rate and to support a request for Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision based on fill (LOMR_F). The Elevation Certificate is required in order to properly rate Post-FIRM buildings, which are buildings constructed after publication of the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), located in Zones A1-A30, AE, AH, A (wth BFE), ... AR, AR/A, AR/AE, AR/A1-A30 and AR/AO".

Do I need an Elevation Certificate?
If you are building a new structure located within a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) or have purchased a structure within an SFHA, using a federally backed mortgage, an Elevation Certificate is required in order to obtain the mandatory flood insurance.   

Who can prepare an Elevation Certificate?
Elevation Certificates must be certified by an Arizona licensed land surveyor or engineer. Once it is prepared, it must be returned to the Mohave County Flood Control District.  

Upon request, the Flood Control District can fill in a portion of Section A - Property Information, Section B - Flood Insurance Rate Map Information and a portion of Section G - Community Information. The Flood Control District will then forward the document to the surveyor or engineer who will complete the remainder of the form.    

Does my property already have an Elevation Certificate?
Elevation Certificates are available on the Mohave County Flood Control District FEMA Map Viewer. Follow the directions to print an Elevation Certificate for a specific parcel. Please remember that ALL of the Elevation Certificates may not be on the map server. The Elevation Certificates available represent the majority of the certificates on file at the Flood Control District. If you believe that a property should have a certificate and it is not on the map server, please contact Flood Control District at 928-757-0925 or MCFloodInfo@mohave.gov for assistance. 

If you have any other questions or have found errors in the Elevation Certificate layer, please notify the Flood Control District.  It is always our pleasure to be of service.