Iredell County, NC Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Appendix G, Article 2 of the Code of Ordinances defines the "Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation" (RFPE) as the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) plus freeboard: in Special Flood Hazard Areas where a BFE has been determined, the RFPE is the BFE plus two feet of freeboard, and where no BFE has been established, the RFPE is at least two feet above the highest adjacent grade. Article 5, Section B(1) applies that elevation to residential construction: new construction and substantial improvement of any residential structure, including manufactured homes, must have the reference level, including the basement, elevated no lower than the RFPE.

Section B(2) extends the same floor elevation to commercial, industrial, and other non-residential structures, though buildings in Zone AE may instead be dry-floodproofed to the RFPE if a registered professional engineer or architect certifies the floodproofing and files that certification with the Floodplain Administrator. Manufactured homes under Section B(3) must have their reference level, not just the chassis, at or above the RFPE, and must be anchored to resist flotation and lateral movement; if the chassis elevation exceeds thirty-six inches, an engineering certification is required.

Fully enclosed areas below the lowest floor of an elevated building are barred from human habitation and temperature control under Section B(4), must be built of flood-resistant materials to the RFPE, and in Zone AE need flood openings sized at one square inch of net opening per square foot of enclosed area, with a minimum of two openings on different walls. Fill is flatly prohibited in the Special Flood Hazard Area under Article 5, Section A(17), including construction of buildings on fill, and the county will not approve Conditional Letters or Letters of Map Revision based on fill for new development. The ordinance, adopted September 18, 2018 and amended April 20, 2021, is administered by the county's Floodplain Administrator.