What is Freeboard?
What Is Freeboard?
Recently there has been a lot of discussion in coastal communities all over the United States on the subject of rising sea levels and the impact on homeowner’s flood insurance coverage. This conversation is not just limited to towns here in the Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island communities but across the nation.
FEMA is “highly” recommending (note FEMA does not require towns to act but the towns will lose their eligibility for flood insurance if they do not comply) that towns adopt building codes that require homes to be built above Base Flood Elevation (BFE) and to add Freeboard (see definition below) to better protect the homeowner in the case of higher than calculated flood levels.
Understanding the severity of the issue and rising sea levels virtually all coastal communities are meeting the recommendations from FEMA. It is important to note that today's floodplain is not necessarily tomorrow's floodplain.
Definition of FREEBOARD by Merriam Webster Dictionary;
1 : the distance between the waterline and the main deck or weather deck of a ship or between the level of the water and the upper edge of the side of a small boat
2 : the height above the recorded high-water mark of a structure (as a dam) associated with the water
FEMA Defines Freeboard as;
Freeboard is a factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood level for purposes of floodplain management. "Freeboard" tends to compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave action, bridge openings, and the hydrological effect of urbanization of the watershed. Freeboard is not required by NFIP standards, but communities are encouraged to adopt at least a one-foot freeboard to account for the one-foot rise built into the concept of designating a floodway and the encroachment requirements where floodways have not been designated. Freeboard results in significantly lower flood insurance rates due to lower flood risk.
Communities must require that all new construction and substantial improvements of residential structures within Zones A1-30, AE and AH Zones on the community's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) have the lowest floor (including basement) elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). Common elevation techniques include elevation on file, elevation on piles, piers or columns, and elevation on extended foundation walls such as on a crawl space.
In areas designated as Zone A, the community must obtain, review, and reasonably utilize BFE data available from a Federal, State, or other source and use these data as criteria for requiring that new construction and substantial improvements of residential structures have the lowest floor (including basement) elevated to or above the BFE.
All new construction and substantial improvement in Zones V1-30, VE, and also Zone V (if BFE data is available), must be elevated on pilings and columns so that the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member of the lowest floor (excluding the pilings or columns) is elevated to or above the BFE.
For residential structures in AO Zones, the lowest floor (including basement) must be elevated at least as high as the depth number specified in feet on the community's map, or at least two feet if no number is specified.
For additional information please visit StormSmartCoasts article;
Using Freeboard to Elevate Structures above Predicted Floodwaters
And the following link;
Raise Your House, Lower Your Payments provided by the DNR of Maryland
REMAX By The Sea
Bethany Beach DE 19930
Direct: 302.537.3171
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