Elevation Certificates in Folsom, CA

Contour Survey prepares FEMA elevation certificates in Folsom, Sacramento County, from our base nearby in Lotus.

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

Elevation Certificates in Folsom: Local Conditions

Folsom is hillier than most of the valley. Carpenter Hill is the highest point in Sacramento County at 831 feet, and many lots sit well above any mapped creek floodplain. Folsom Dam, finished in 1956, holds back the American River, and the federal work on it continues. The Joint Federal Project added an auxiliary spillway in 2017, and the Army Corps has been raising the dam and its dikes by 3.5 feet since 2019. Flood zones in Folsom come mainly from its creeks. The City counts about 23 miles of natural creeks and channels with floodplains, in four watersheds: Willow, Humbug, Hinkle and Alder Creeks. All of them drain to the American River.

Mapping in Folsom is still catching up. The City has said that FIRMs existed only for the Hinkle Creek watershed and part of the Willow and Humbug watersheds, with none for Alder Creek. It got FEMA grants in 2014 and 2015 to update Humbug, Willow and Hinkle and to map Alder Creek for the first time. In September 2022 FEMA delivered preliminary maps for Sacramento County, Folsom and three other cities, with revised hazards along Hinkle Creek, the Willow and Humbug basin, and Alder Creek tributaries. Alder Creek matters most for new construction, because the land south of Highway 50 drains to it and is still being built out. The County Flood Insurance Study notes that the Willow, Humbug and Hinkle floodplains historically had little development and no recorded flood damage. So the new maps may be the first time some owners learn their lot touches a floodplain.

For a Folsom EC we tie a benchmark on NAVD88, the datum of the Sacramento County FIRM, and measure lowest adjacent grade, the lowest floor, the garage, and machinery such as HVAC and water heaters. We photograph the building and certify the EC. On sloped creekside lots the lowest adjacent grade is often at the downhill corner, so we shoot all the way around the foundation. If the house sits above the base flood elevation but the map line clips the lot, a letter of map amendment is often the answer, and we file through eLOMA when it qualifies. See our elevation certificate service, nearby Rancho Cordova and Placerville, or our Folsom area page.

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

It depends on the effective map. Alder Creek had no FEMA flood map until the City began a FEMA-funded mapping project, and the 2022 preliminary maps included Alder Creek tributaries. If your building ends up in an A zone, your lender will require flood insurance on a federally backed loan, and an EC is the document that shows the building's real elevations.

Many do not. But creekside lots along Willow, Humbug, Hinkle and Alder Creeks can have a mapped floodplain line across the yard even when the house sits well above it. In that case an EC, and often a LOMA, documents that the structure is above the base flood elevation.

The dam controls the American River, not the local creeks. Willow, Humbug, Hinkle and Alder Creeks flood from local rain and are mapped on their own. Your flood zone comes from the creek analysis on the FIRM for your parcel.

Need Elevation Certificates in Folsom?

Elevation certificates start at $1,000. Call (510) 543-2220 with the Folsom 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