Palm Springs, CA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

68 defines base flood elevation, or BFE, as the water surface elevation shown on the flood insurance rate map for zones AE, AH, A1-30, VE and V1-30, representing a flood with a one percent or greater annual chance of being equaled or exceeded, commonly called the hundred-year flood. 140(c) to unnumbered A zones lacking a published BFE, and an AO zone measured instead from the highest adjacent grade. Once the structure is finished, a registered civil engineer or licensed land surveyor must certify the as-built lowest-floor elevation, and the city's building inspector verifies it before the certification goes to the floodplain administrator.

Nonresidential buildings can floodproof instead of elevate, but must be watertight to the same elevation, have structural components able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, and carry a civil engineer's or architect's certification. Electrical, heating, plumbing and air conditioning equipment must sit at least one foot above BFE even in an elevated structure, and manufactured homes in the same zones must be elevated two feet above BFE on a permanent, anchored foundation. Attached and detached garages built with the floor below BFE need flood-resistant materials and openings that let water pass through automatically. The two-foot elevation standard was most recently amended by Ordinance 2113 in June 2025.