Pitt County, NC Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Section 20(A) of the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance requires new construction and substantial improvement of any residential structure, including manufactured homes, to have its reference level, the top of the lowest floor, elevated no lower than the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation (RFPE) defined in Section 5. The ordinance sets that RFPE at the FEMA Base Flood Elevation plus two feet of freeboard where a BFE has been determined, or at least two feet above the highest adjacent grade where no BFE exists, giving Pitt County builders a two-foot margin above the mapped 1-percent-annual-chance flood level.

Electrical, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, plumbing, and other service equipment for a residential structure must also be elevated at or above the RFPE unless it is specifically designed and installed to resist flood damage while remaining below that level, with the installer required to document that flood-proofing. Section 20(B) sets a parallel but slightly different rule for commercial and other non-residential structures, allowing floodproofing to the RFPE as an alternative to elevation if a registered engineer or architect certifies the floodproofing meets the ordinance's watertight standard.

A property owner who wants to build below the RFPE must seek a variance under Section 18, and Section 18(G) requires written notice that construction below the BFE increases flood-insurance premiums by as much as $25 per $100 of coverage.