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

Surry County's floodplain chapter builds its construction elevation standard around two defined terms in § 154.003-02. FREEBOARD is the height added to the base flood elevation (BFE) to account for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood, such as wave action, bridge-opening blockage, and watershed urbanization. The county then fixes that cushion at two feet: the REGULATORY FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION is defined as the BFE plus two feet of freeboard where FEMA has established a BFE, or at least two feet above the highest adjacent grade where no BFE exists.

Section 154.017-07(A) applies that number directly: new construction or substantial improvement of a residential structure, including a manufactured home, must have its reference level, including any basement, elevated no lower than the regulatory flood protection elevation. The same two-foot standard governs commercial and industrial construction under § 154.017-07(B), which lets a non-residential structure in Zone A, AO, AE, or A1-30 be flood-proofed to that elevation instead of physically elevated, provided a registered engineer or architect certifies the flood-proofing meets the standard and the certification is filed with the Floodplain Administrator under § 154.017-03.

Manufactured homes get the identical two-foot-over-BFE target under § 154.017-07(C), plus a separate anchoring rule: if reaching that elevation only requires raising the chassis 36 inches or less, the chassis must rest on reinforced piers or an engineered foundation, and any chassis elevation above 36 inches requires an engineering certification.