Elevation Certificate Training Now Offered Online for Surveyors

Certifying building elevations on the Elevation Certificate just became a lot easier, thanks to a new web-based training module developed for land surveyors, engineers, and architects.

The Surveyor's Guide to the Elevation Certificate is a new tutorial available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) web site hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Located at www.fema.gov/business/nfip/, the NFIP web site provides a wide range of information about all aspects of floodplain management and flood insurance.

After accessing the NFIP web site, visitors can select "Surveyors" under "Audience Type" to view the tutorial for surveyors. The surveyor's tutorial also was developed to assist the community officials who monitor compliance with the elevation requirements of their communities' floodplain ordinances.

It takes about half an hour to browse through the new tutorial. At the home page of the Surveyor's Guide to the Elevation Certificate (http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip/info_surv.shtm), visitors view a short introduction to the EC and then click on three section tabs to move around the site.

Clicking on the "Elevation Certificate" tab allows visitors to view and download an electronic copy of the EC along with instructions in how to complete it.

Clicking on the "Surveyor Video" tab opens a video that briefly describes the process a surveyor follows to establish a building's elevation points.

Clicking on the "Bldg. Diagrams & Photos" tab displays a series of eight sample building diagrams and representative photos. This section of the tutorial is designed to show surveyors, engineers, and architects where to take the necessary elevation measurements for each building diagram.

Navigation tools at the bottom of each page on the site provide information not only for how to move around within the tutorial and how to use each section most effectively, but they also allow visitors to e-mail their questions or comments directly to EC specialists at FEMA.

For more information about the new Surveyor's Guide to the Elevation Certificate training module, visit the site (http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip/info_surv.shtm). If there are questions about completing the EC, contact the FEMA regional office covering your state or your State NFIP Coordinator. Contact information for each FEMA regional office is accessible at: http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/regions.shtm

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