Charlottesville, VA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

R applies wherever a base flood elevation has been provided on FEMA's flood insurance rate map or established by the Floodplain Administrator under the Section's technical-methods provisions. Residential structures, including manufactured homes, in Zones AE and A with detailed BFE data must have the lowest floor, basement included, at or above one foot over the BFE, with no flood-proofing alternative allowed. 2 lets them flood-proof instead of elevate, provided every component below the BFE-plus-one-foot line is watertight, uses materials substantially impermeable to water, and can resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and buoyancy.

A licensed Virginia professional engineer or architect must certify that the flood-proofing meets the standard and record the specific elevation achieved, and the Floodplain Administrator keeps that certification and the project's elevation certificate on file. Any enclosed space below the elevated lowest floor cannot be used for living space; it is limited to parking, building access, or limited storage, and it must use flood-resistant materials plus at least two automatic-flood-vent openings on different walls, sized to at least one square inch per square foot of enclosed area, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade. The Floodplain Administrator obtains the finished lowest-floor elevation on every new or substantially improved structure during permitting.