Elevation Certificates in Truckee, CA

Truckee's flood zones are tied to running water, not to the town as a whole. FEMA's flood data for the Town of Truckee shows flood profiles on the Truckee River, Donner Creek, Trout Creek and Summit Creek, with mapped zones also along Prosser Creek, the Little Truckee River, Martis Creek and Cold Creek. Inside the town the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area is mostly Zone AE with a regulatory floodway along the main channels, plus approximate Zone A and some Zone D. FIRM panels in the area carry effective dates of February 3, 2010 and later revisions, so check the current panel before relying on an older determination. Parcels along the Truckee River, Trout Creek and Donner Creek are the ones most likely to be asked for flood insurance by a lender.

Mountain conditions change the job. Snow cover hides lowest adjacent grade for months, so we often schedule the survey for late spring through fall, or plan around plowed and shoveled areas when a closing cannot wait. Many Truckee homes have walkout lower levels, garages under living space, or crawlspaces on stepped foundations, and the FEMA elevation certificate has to describe each correctly, because the building diagram number drives how the insurer reads the data. Where a house sits on ground above the base flood elevation but the map line still touches it, a letter of map amendment can remove the structure from the SFHA at no FEMA review fee. A licensed land surveyor can file eligible requests through eLOMA. If the building is truly below the BFE, the EC still documents the actual elevations for insurance rating.

The field work ties a benchmark on the FIRM's vertical datum with GNSS, then uses a Trimble S3 total station to measure lowest adjacent grade, the lowest floor, garage and crawlspace levels, and machinery and utilities such as furnaces and water heaters, with photographs of each side of the building. We process in Trimble Business Center and sign the EC. When the measured data supports it, we prepare the LOMA or file through eLOMA. See our elevation certificate service, the South Lake Tahoe and Grass Valley pages, and our Truckee surveying page.