Elevation Certificates in Richmond, CA

Richmond's best-known flood mapping issue is in the north end of town. The city's Public Works Floodplain Modifications page explains that FEMA revised the digital flood maps because the Wildcat Creek and San Pablo Creek levees were not in full compliance with National Flood Insurance Program regulations. The revision redrew the 100-year floodplain along Wildcat Creek from roughly 1,900 feet downstream of Richmond Parkway to roughly 600 feet downstream of 3rd Street, and along San Pablo Creek from roughly 1,400 feet downstream of the North Richmond Bypass Bridge to just downstream of 3rd Street, partly in unincorporated Contra Costa County. Public notice ran in 2010. If you own in that corridor and your lender is asking about flood insurance, that levee status is probably why.

The city's Building Division is unusually helpful here. Its flood services page says staff can tell you whether a property is in a mapped floodplain, the depth of flooding over a building's first floor, and past flood problems in the area, and it keeps copies of elevation certificates for buildings built in the floodplain since 1991. Ask for that before you order new work, since an existing certificate may answer the question. Public Works will also visit a property to review a drainage or flood problem at no charge. The city warns that storm flooding can cover many blocks in up to five feet of water, so even properties outside the SFHA should not assume zero risk.

When a new flood elevation certificate is needed, we tie a benchmark on the FIRM's vertical datum with GNSS and use a Trimble S3 total station to measure the lowest adjacent grade, lowest floor, garage or crawlspace, and machinery and utilities. We photograph the building per FEMA instructions and deliver a signed FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-152. In the remapped creek areas, ground elevations vary from lot to lot, and some structures sit high enough for a letter of map amendment. We can prepare the LOMA data and file through eLOMA when eligible. Richmond work is scheduled as a mobilization from Lotus. See our FEMA elevation certificate service, nearby Oakland and Vallejo pages, and our Richmond area page.