Orange County, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)
FEMA flood zone rules in Orange County, FL, also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules, determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 19-2
- Applies to
- unincorporated Orange County
- Trigger
- wholly or partially within a flood hazard area
- Covered work
- subdivision, fill, utilities, tanks, pools, RVs
- Adopted by
- Ord. No. 2021-37 (9-14-21)
- Administered by
- county Floodplain Administrator
Summary
Orange County regulates any development that sits wholly or partially inside a mapped flood hazard area in the unincorporated county. Section 19-2 sweeps in everything from subdividing land, grading, and utility work to placing a manufactured home or recreational vehicle, installing a tank, or building a swimming pool, and ends with a catch-all for any other development.
The provisions of this chapter apply to all development within the unincorporated areas of Orange County that is wholly within or partially within any flood hazard area, including but not limited to the subdivision of land; filling, grading, and other site improvements and utility installations; construction, alteration, remodeling, enlargement, improvement, replacement, repair, relocation or demolition of buildings, structures, and facilities that are exempt from the Florida Building Code; placement, installation, or replacement of manufactured homes and manufactured buildings; installation or replacement of tanks; placement of recreational vehicles; installation of swimming pools; and any other development.
(Ord. No. 2021-37, § 1, 9-14-21)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 128).
Full Breakdown
Section 19-2 defines the reach of Orange County's floodplain management chapter, adopted through Ordinance No. 2021-37 on September 14, 2021. The trigger is purely locational: the chapter applies to all development within the unincorporated areas of Orange County that is wholly within or partially within any flood hazard area, so a project is covered even when only part of the site touches the mapped hazard area. The section then catalogs what counts as development: subdivision of land; filling, grading, and other site improvements and utility installations; construction, alteration, remodeling, enlargement, improvement, replacement, repair, relocation, or demolition of buildings, structures, and facilities that are exempt from the Florida Building Code; placement, installation, or replacement of manufactured homes and manufactured buildings; installation or replacement of tanks; placement of recreational vehicles; and installation of swimming pools.
The closing phrase, "and any other development," makes that list illustrative rather than exhaustive. Exemption from the Florida Building Code therefore does not exempt a structure from floodplain regulation in Orange County, and the program is administered by the county Floodplain Administrator.
Violations & Fines
Development undertaken without required floodplain review or a floodplain development permit is subject to enforcement by the county Floodplain Administrator under Sections 19-71 through 19-73, including remedies, costs, and fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this ordinance apply inside Orlando?
My property is only partly inside a flood hazard area. Does the chapter still apply?
Does a swimming pool or a recreational vehicle really need floodplain review?
My structure is exempt from the Florida Building Code. Is it exempt here too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Orange County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Orange County to another location·View the Florida environmental rules overview
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