Schenectady, NY Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Section 158-17 of the city's Flood Damage Prevention chapter, adopted November 25, 2013, by Local Law No. 1-2013, sets the elevation standard for new and substantially improved residential structures on top of the general anchoring, construction-materials and utility rules in § 158-15 and § 158-16. Within Zones A1-A30, AE and AH, and within Zone A where base flood elevation data exist, the lowest floor, including any basement, must sit at or above two feet over the base flood elevation, a two-foot freeboard margin above FEMA's baseline.

Where no base flood elevation data are available in Zone A, the lowest floor must instead be elevated at least three feet above the highest adjacent grade. In Zone AO, the lowest floor must clear the highest adjacent grade by at least two feet above the depth number printed on the Flood Insurance Rate Map, or by two feet if no depth number is shown, and Zones AH and AO both require drainage paths that route floodwaters around and away from the structure on sloped sites.

The Building Inspector, as local administrator under § 158-11, reviews the as-built elevation certification a permit holder must submit once the lowest floor is in place, prepared and certified by a licensed land surveyor or professional engineer under § 158-13A. Any further construction undertaken before that certification is approved proceeds at the permit holder's own risk, and deficiencies found in the submitted data can trigger a stop-work order.