Course description
In Ensuring That Structures Built on Fill are Reasonably Safe From Flooding , you'll learn ...
- How elevating a structure using fill can move the property outside of a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)
- The relative flood risk of different types of foundation construction methods that have been removed from the SFHA by the placement of fill
- Flood mitigation methods for basements located at or below the base flood elevation (BFE)
Overview
Credit: 2 PDH
Length: 28 pages
In this two-hour course, you'll learn what's required to meet FEMA construction guidelines for ensuring that structures built on fill are reasonably safe from flooding.
FEMA identifies and maps flood hazard areas nationwide by conducting flood hazard studies and publishing Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). These flood hazard areas, referred to as Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), are based on a flood having a 1-percent probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also referred to as the 100-year flood or Base Flood).
When permitted under laws and regulations, earthen fill is sometimes placed in an SFHA to reduce flood risk to the filled area. Under certain conditions, when engineered earthen fill is placed within an SFHA to raise the surface of the ground to or above the BFE, a request may be submitted to FEMA to revise the FIRM to indicate that the filled land is outside of the SFHA. If the request is approved, FEMA revises the FIRM to show that the filled land is outside the SFHA, and the community is no longer required to apply the minimum National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) floodplain management standards to any structures built on the land, thus removing the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements.
When building on fill, flood risk will depend on how much of the structure is built at the BFE and how much is located above the BFE. Different foundation construction methods are covered in the course, along with their relative flood risks. Basements located at or near the BFE have the highest risk of flooding. For those willing to accept the additional risk associated with basement construction below the Base Flood on filled land that has been removed from the SFHA, this course provides technical guidance about measures that can be taken to protect basements from flooding.
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Who should attend?
Certificate of Completion
You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 16 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.
Training content
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Summary of NFIP requirements
- Procedures and means for communities to determine whether new developments will be reasonably safe from flooding
- Unintended consequences of using fill, such as loss of storage and conveyance
- What is freeboard, and how it is used
- Relative flood risks of basement foundations and non-basement foundations
- Guidance for keeping basements reasonably safe from flooding
Costs
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