Elevation Certificates in Fairfield, CA

Flood elevation certificates and LOMA surveys for homes and businesses in Fairfield, the Solano County seat, signed by a California licensed land surveyor.

Elevation certificates from $1,000 · (510) 543-2220

Elevation Certificates in Fairfield: Local Conditions

Fairfield runs from about 5 feet above sea level at the edge of Suisun Marsh to about 350 feet in the hills, and its flood zones follow a set of small creeks down toward tidewater. FEMA's Solano County Flood Insurance Study lists McCoy, Union, Pennsylvania Avenue, Ledgewood, Laurel, and Union Avenue Creeks draining into tidal channels off Suisun Slough, with American Canyon, Suisun, Jameson Canyon, Green Valley, and Dan Wilson Creeks draining to Cordelia Slough on the west side. Parts of Pennsylvania Avenue and Union Avenue Creeks run underground. Because the sloughs are tidal, FEMA notes that restrictive outlets make floodwater pond in low areas and high tides can delay drainage for several days.

The flood record explains the mapping. Fairfield flooded in 1940, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1973. In January 1970 a high tide plus overflow from Suisun, Ledgewood, Union Avenue, and Laurel Creeks flooded about 1,100 acres, and the January 1973 flood damaged about 70 homes. The Army Corps' Fairfield Vicinity Streams Project, designed for the 0.5-percent-annual-chance flood on McCoy, Pennsylvania Avenue, Ledgewood, Laurel, and Union Avenue Creeks, was completed in September 1992, after channel work on Green Valley and Dan Wilson Creeks in 1962. Private developers also improved stretches of Ledgewood, Laurel, and McCoy Creeks. The city's floodplain ordinance sets up primary, secondary, and tertiary floodplain zones along those streams. Fairfield is FEMA community 060370. With that many partial improvements, which side of a zone line your house lands on is often a question of a foot or two, and a measured elevation certificate settles it.

We tie the survey to NAVD88 benchmarks with GNSS and run the building with a Trimble S3 total station, recording the lowest adjacent grade, highest adjacent grade, top of the lowest floor, garage slab, flood vents, and the elevation of HVAC and utility equipment. We take the required photos and sign FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-152. If the lowest adjacent grade is at or above the Base Flood Elevation but the structure is still mapped inside the Special Flood Hazard Area, we can prepare a LOMA and file it through eLOMA when eligible. See our elevation certificates page, the Suisun City and Vacaville pages, and our Fairfield area page.

Full service details, process, and deliverables: FEMA Elevation Certificates & LOMA · All surveying in Fairfield: Fairfield land surveying

What's Included

Signed and sealed by a California Professional Land Surveyor
Completed on FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-152, with the required photographs
Elevations tied to a published benchmark on the flood map’s vertical datum
eLOMA submission as a licensed professional when the building qualifies
Construction-stage ECs for permits: construction drawings, building under construction, and finished construction
Sacramento region, Central Valley, Delta, and Bay Area

Our Process

Address & Flood Map Check

Send the address and the reason you need the certificate: lender letter, insurance quote, building permit, or a LOMA. We pull the effective FIRM panel, flood zone, and Base Flood Elevation before quoting, and tell you up front if a LOMA looks possible.

Benchmark Tie

We tie the site to a published benchmark on the vertical datum the flood map uses, with GNSS and a total station. Every elevation on the certificate is measured from that tie, not estimated from a contour map.

Building Measurement

We measure the top of the bottom floor, the next higher floor, the garage slab, the lowest and highest adjacent grade, the lowest machinery and equipment, and the flood openings, and take the photographs the form requires.

Signed EC, and the LOMA if It Qualifies

You receive the completed, signed Elevation Certificate as a PDF. If the lowest adjacent grade is at or above the Base Flood Elevation, we prepare the LOMA request and submit it to FEMA, through eLOMA when the building meets its criteria.

Elevation Certificates in Fairfield: FAQ

FEMA's study explains that Fairfield's creeks drain into tidal channels off Suisun Slough. Restrictive outlets cause floodwater to pond in low areas, and high tides can delay drainage for several days.

The Fairfield Vicinity Streams Project was completed in 1992 on several creeks, but mapped flood zones remain in parts of the city. Look up your parcel at msc.fema.gov. If it is in or near an A zone, an elevation certificate shows exactly where your building stands.

For a LOMA, FEMA requires the elevation information to be certified by a licensed land surveyor or registered professional engineer. Contour Survey is a California licensed land surveyor (PLS 9686), so we can certify the elevation certificate and the LOMA data and file eligible requests through eLOMA.

Need Elevation Certificates in Fairfield?

Elevation certificates start at $1,000. Call (510) 543-2220 with the Fairfield address and we'll check the flood map and give you a fixed price.

Get a Quoteor(510) 543-2220

Private licensed surveyor, not affiliated with FEMA • Homeowners welcome • Response within 24 hours

Call (510) 543-2220 Get a Quote