Elevation Certificates in Vacaville, CA

Elevation certificates and flood zone surveys for Vacaville homes and buildings along the Alamo Creek and Ulatis Creek system in northern Solano County.

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

Elevation Certificates in Vacaville: Local Conditions

Vacaville's flood zones belong to the Ulatis Creek basin, which drains most of northern Solano County east toward Cache Slough. FEMA's Solano County Flood Insurance Study records 31 floods in the basin between 1880 and 1959 and more in 1962, 1963, 1964-65, 1967, 1969, and 1973. In the city itself, the worst floods were in February and March 1940, January 1967, and January 1973. In 1940 Alamo and Ulatis Creeks flooded homes and forced evacuations. In 1967 and 1973 Alamo Creek overflowed at several locations, stranding residents and flooding lower floors badly enough that several families had to leave their homes or apartments.

Since 1964 a Natural Resources Conservation Service project has reduced that flooding with channel improvements and levees on Ulatis, Old Alamo, Horse, and Gibson Canyon Creeks and a new channel for Alamo Creek downstream of Nut Tree Road. That project was designed for the 10-percent-annual-chance flood, a much smaller storm than the 1-percent flood FEMA uses for its maps, which is why mapped zones still follow the creeks through established neighborhoods. FEMA's study history includes a 1996 revision that added detailed analyses for Alamo, Encinosa, Laguna, Ulatis, and Bucktown Creeks. The study also notes that Vacaville has required developers to elevate building pads above the 1-percent flood, so in newer subdivisions the house is often higher than the map suggests. That situation, a pad built up during grading but a lot still drawn inside the zone, is where an elevation certificate and possibly a LOMA or LOMR-F come in. Vacaville is FEMA community 060373.

Our survey ties to NAVD88 benchmarks with GNSS, and a Trimble S3 total station picks up the lowest and highest adjacent grade, top of the lowest floor, garage slab, flood openings, and HVAC and utility equipment. We take the required photos and sign FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-152. If the lot was naturally at or above the Base Flood Elevation, a LOMA (no FEMA fee) may work, filed through eLOMA when eligible; if it was raised with fill, the request is a LOMR-F, which carries a FEMA fee. See our elevation certificates page, the Fairfield and Dixon pages, and our Vacaville area page.

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

The NRCS channel and levee project on the Ulatis Creek system was designed for the 10-percent-annual-chance flood. FEMA maps the 1-percent-annual-chance flood, so some land along Alamo and Ulatis Creeks remains in the Special Flood Hazard Area.

If the pad was built with fill, FEMA treats the request as a LOMR-F, which has a fee. If the natural ground was already at or above the Base Flood Elevation, a LOMA applies and has no fee. The elevation survey and the grading history decide which.

The lowest adjacent grade, highest adjacent grade, top of the lowest floor, garage floor, flood openings, and the elevation of machinery and utilities, all tied to the FIRM datum, plus building photos and the surveyor’s signature.

Need Elevation Certificates in Vacaville?

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

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

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