Bensalem, PA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Sec. 104-42 of the Bensalem Township Code starts from a default prohibition: new construction and substantial improvements are banned outright within any identified floodplain area. A property owner may only build there after obtaining a variance under Article VII, and even then the elevation standard controls. For residential structures in AE, A1-30 and AH zones, Sec. 104-42(1)a requires the lowest floor, including any basement, to be elevated up to or above the regulatory flood elevation, defined in the chapter as the base flood elevation (BFE) plus an 18-inch freeboard.

In A zones with no BFE published on the FIRM, the lowest floor must instead reach the elevation the Floodplain Administrator determines under Sec. 104-31(3), using the nearest boundary point of the identified floodplain area. In AO zones, the lowest floor must sit at or above the highest adjacent grade, at least as high as the depth number printed on the FIRM. Non-residential structures face the same elevation rule at Sec. 104-42(2)a, or may instead be floodproofed watertight to the regulatory flood elevation, with structural components able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and buoyancy, certified by a registered professional engineer or architect.

Sec. 104-42(1)d and (2)e layer the 2009 International Building and Residential Codes, ASCE 24 and 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401 through 405 on top of these elevation and floodproofing standards wherever those codes are stricter, and historic structures undergoing repairs that would otherwise trigger the elevation rule may seek a limited exemption if full compliance would remove the building from the National Register of Historic Places.