Fulton County, GA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Zoning Resolution § 4.24.9.E sets the county's freeboard standard: the lowest floor elevation, as described on pages 5 and 6 of FEMA's elevation certificate, must sit at least three feet above the base flood elevation and meet the additional utility-protection standards of § 4.24.9.G. That three-foot figure is not isolated to the floor itself. Subsection D applies the same three-foot minimum to the ground surface around any new structure adjacent to a special flood hazard or flood-prone area, and requires that a filled building site keep its wall face at least ten feet from the base floodplain. Subsection G layers on a residential-lot test: new residential development inside a special flood hazard area is prohibited unless at least 70 percent of the buildable land lies at least one foot above the base flood elevation, or at least 50 percent of the district's minimum lot area sits above it.

The elevation is not self-certified. Under § 4.24.7.B, the Director of the Department of Environment and Community Development requires an as-built lowest floor elevation certificate before signing off on a certificate of occupancy for any structure built in or next to a special flood hazard area, and that certificate has to come from a professional engineer or surveyor licensed by the State of Georgia and stay on file with both the Department of Environment and Community Development and the Department of Public Works.

This freeboard rule applies only to unincorporated Fulton County; new construction inside Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hills or South Fulton is measured against that city's own flood elevation standard, which may set a different freeboard above FEMA's base flood elevation.