Framingham, MA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Framingham City Code § 435-17 sets the elevation and certification rules that go with the Floodplain District overlay. The FIRM and Middlesex County Flood Insurance Study, both dated July 7, 2014, are incorporated by reference to establish base flood elevations, and are kept on file with the City Clerk, DPW, Inspectional Services, Planning, and the Conservation Commission. Any application for development in the district must show the boundary of the special flood hazard area and regulatory floodway on a site plan with contour lines at two-foot intervals, and the base flood elevation on that plan must be certified by a registered professional engineer, architect, or surveyor; in unnumbered A Zones, base flood elevation data must be pulled from sources other than the FIRM and reasonably applied.

For any building to be occupied as a residence, the applicant must certify that the lowest floor, including the basement, will be elevated above the base flood level. For nonresidential buildings, the applicant instead certifies either that the lowest floor will be elevated above base flood level, or that the building will be watertight and anchored to resist base flood forces (floodproofed). The Zoning Board of Appeals reviews these conditions before granting a special permit under § 435-17D, including confirming that residential lowest floors are elevated to or above base flood level and that any floodproofing used in lieu of elevation is adequate to withstand base flood forces.

No certificate of occupancy may be signed by the Building Commissioner until a post-construction elevation certificate or floodproofing certificate is submitted confirming the building was actually built to those specifications, per § 435-17E.