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

Chesapeake requires more protection than the federal minimum. Under Sec. 26-99(a)(5), electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing, and air conditioning equipment, along with other service equipment and duct work, must be installed at least one and one-half feet above the base flood elevation (BFE), the city's defined freeboard. Sec. 5 feet above the base flood level, and an elevation certificate has to be filed before the city will issue a certificate of occupancy. Sec. 5-foot elevation to commercial, industrial, and other non-residential buildings, but gives owners of buildings in A, AO, AE, AH, and A1-30 zones a flood-proofing alternative: the space below BFE plus two feet can be built watertight with substantially impermeable walls able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, certified by a Virginia-registered engineer or architect and filed with the floodplain administrator, plus a floodproofing certificate before occupancy.

Enclosed areas below the required elevation, such as a ground-level garage, may only be used for vehicle parking, building access, or limited storage, never as living space, must be built of flood-resistant materials, and in AO, AE, AH, and A1-30 zones need flood vents on at least two sides that total at least one square inch of opening for every square foot of enclosed floor area, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade (Sec. 26-100(3), (4)).