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Guide · Flood zones

House plans for Florida flood zones.

If your lot is in a flood zone, the code decides how high the lowest floor goes and what can sit below it. The plans show all of it, and the building department checks it before the permit and again during construction.

Start your project See a flood data sheet

How high

The rules for the lowest floor.

Your flood zone and the base flood elevation come from the flood map and your survey. From there the code sets the minimum height.

A zonesLowest floor at the base flood elevation plus 1 ft, or the design flood elevation if higher
V and Coastal A zonesThe bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member goes to that same height
Local rulesSome cities ask for more; Jacksonville uses the base flood elevation plus 2 ft
No mapped elevationA registered design professional determines the design flood elevation
During constructionElevation certificate when the lowest floor is placed, before building higher
At the endA final certification of the lowest floor elevation at final inspection
Who certifiesA licensed surveyor and mapper or a registered design professional
Find your zoneFEMA flood map and your boundary survey

On the plans

What the reviewer checks for flood.

For a new home in a flood hazard area, the plan review covers the flood zone, the design flood elevation, the lowest floor, any enclosure below it, where the equipment sits and the materials that can get wet.

In our sample home

  • Flood zone AE, with the lowest floor 1.75 ft above the base flood elevation
  • The heat pump on a pedestal and the electrical equipment above the flood level
  • Flood resistant materials below the lowest floor: reinforced concrete block stem walls, compacted fill and concrete
  • Grading, drainage and flood data on their own site sheet
SP102 Grading, drainage and flood data

Elevated homes

Raising the house to the flood level.

How the house gets up to its floor height depends on the zone, the height needed, the soil and the wind. The engineer chooses the foundation, and the plans draw it.

Stem walls and fill

Block stem walls around a compacted fill pad lift a slab a few feet. This is the foundation of our sample home.

Columns or piles

Homes on columns or piles, often called stilt homes, raise the whole living floor and leave the space below open.

Below the floor

Whatever sits below the flood level is limited to flood resistant materials, and the equipment goes above it.

Based on the Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th Edition (2023), sections R322.1.4.1, R322.1.10, R322.2.1 and R322.3.2, and Building section 110.3, checked in October 2026. Local rules can be stricter. Sources: Florida Building Commission, FEMA Elevation Certificate.

Building in a flood zone?

Send your survey with the flood information. We draw the house at the right height, with the engineering included.

Start your project Hurricane ready plans