Tallahassee, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Section 6-62 applies wherever base flood elevation data have been provided under § 6-11. Residential construction and manufactured homes placed in zones A1-30, AH, and AE must have the lowest floor, including any basement, elevated at least two feet above the base flood elevation, with mechanical and electrical equipment set at least one foot above it. Nonresidential buildings get an alternative under § 6-62(2): they may be floodproofed to the same two-foot mark instead of elevated, but only if a registered professional engineer or architect certifies the design is watertight and can resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads.

Any fully enclosed area below the base flood elevation, such as a garage under an elevated house, falls under § 6-62(3): it cannot be finished into living space, needs at least two flood vents totaling one square inch of opening per square foot of enclosed area with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade, and cannot carry electrical or plumbing connections. Elevation compliance is checked twice: § 6-32(b)(2) requires a registered surveyor's or engineer's certification of the as-built lowest-floor elevation at the framing inspection, and § 6-32(b)(3) requires a second certification at final completion, with work done before submission proceeding at the permit holder's own risk.