Putnam County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Under Putnam County Code § 8-21(e), the county rewrote Section R322.2.1 of the Florida Building Code, Residential, as a local amendment adopted under Ord. No. 2013-19 and Ord. No. 2015-26. The base national standard sets the lowest floor at the base flood elevation; Putnam County's amendment adds a one-foot freeboard, requiring the lowest floor of buildings and structures in flood hazard areas that are not Coastal A Zones to sit at or above the base flood elevation plus one foot, or the design flood elevation, whichever is higher.

The same plus-one-foot standard applies to basement floors that are below grade on all sides. The county carved out one exception: enclosed areas below the design flood elevation, including basements whose floors are not below grade on all sides, are instead held to the lower standard set in Section R322.2.2. The amendment sits alongside two companion local rules in the same section: Sec. 107.6.1 blocks the building official from relying on an affidavit-based permit for flood load and flood-resistant construction requirements, and a new Section 117 routes any request for a variance from the flood elevation standard to the procedures in the county's own floodplain management ordinance rather than a generic variance process.