Are elevation certificates required to purchase flood insurance in all flood zone classifications?
No. Elevation certificates are required in order to properly rate post-FIRM buildings, which are buildings constructed after the publication of the first FIRM in a particular community, for flood insurance zones A1-A30, AE, AH, A (with BFE), VE, V1-V30, V (with BFE), AR, AR/A, AR/AE, AR/A1-A30, AR/AH, and AR/AO. All of these flood zones are SFHA, where federal law requires federally regulated lending institutions (mortgage companies) to mandate the purchase of flood insurance coverage for loans where buildings located in the SFHA represent collateral. Elevation certificates are not required to buy flood coverage for pre-FIRM buildings in the flood zones listed in the paragraph above, in A and V zones without BFE, in moderate risk flood zones B, X (shaded) and X-500, and in low risk flood zones C and X (unshaded).
