Why do I Need a Survey and Elevation Certificate?!

In Florida, a survey is not legally required before buying or selling a property. If financing a purchase, lenders will typically require a survey. Yet even for cash buyers it’s strongly recommended! Lets look at what is is and why you should have it!

A property survey is done by a licensed property surveyor, preferably a local surveyor that knows of issues that tend to arise here in the keys. The survey shows boundaries and land features, along with improvements. So what do Surveys show?

• Boundary lines.
• Improvements on the land.
• Show any encroachments, easements, right of ways, and the setbacks
• Property violations like height of buildings, frontage requirements, environment regulations, or safety concerns.
• Utilities like drains, sewer systems, utility poles and power cables.

Bottom line is that a survey provide very valuable information that would not otherwise be revealed. When purchasing a property in the Keys, you want to know everything is in order. In some cases, a seller may have a recent usable survey (they are good for 5 - 10 years), or in newer construction, there may be a copy of the survey on file with the municipality.

OK, so Then Why an Elevation Certificate?

An Elevation Certificate (EC) is issued by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and shows the property location, flood zone, building characteristics, and elevation of its lowest floor. Even if the property you are purchasing is in the x-zone, which most waterfront properties are not, your insurance agent will require an up to date EC to select insurance coverage and correct premium amount.

An EC shows the correlation between how high your property is above Base Flood Elevation (BFE). The lower the BFE, the higher your rate, and the higher the BFE, the lower your flood insurance costs will be. Here is an example:

Suppose a property is is the current FEMA flood zone of AE8. The BFE is the number 8. The EC measures the "top of  bottom floor" which will be where any enclosures are like storage. The EC also measures the "next highest floor", which it the Floor Living Area (FLA) of the home. In order to be considered to be "above flood", that FLA needs to be at least 8' and with current code, considerably higher. If the FLA is 7'6'', then the property is below flood. Which for insurance purposes is not bad at all. But if the FLA was 5'... Watch out! Flood insurance will be very, very high! 

Fortunately we have less and less properties with legal FLA below flood as time goes on. Since 1976 all properties were required to be built above flood, and the insurance rates on those homes are typically lower. An Elevation Certificate can be completed by your surveyor at an extra cost when they do the land survey. Architects and engineers can also do an elevation certificate. There may also be a copy of an EC on file with the municipality.

All information on this page regarding surveys and elevation certificates is personal opinions and should not be relied on. Please contact a licensed and registered surveying company for accurate information.

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