Substantially Improved/Substantially Damaged Buildings

This online engineering PDH course outlines many of the ways to determine if a building has been substantially damaged or substantially improved.  This course also outlines how to determine the cost of improvements/repairs in difficult situations such as dealing with donated materials and labor.

 

The national flood insurance program (NFIP) has a primary goal of protecting buildings from flood damage.  In order to meet this goal, the federal emergency management agency (FEMA) has specific design requirements for new construction, as well as substantially damaged or substantially improved structures within special flood hazard areas. FEMA has set requirements meant to balance the needs for maintaining and improving existing structures while managing the risk associated with allowing improvements in the floodplain. FEMA has established a methodology to evaluate when improvements to buildings trigger the requirement to bring the entire structure into compliance with all requirements of the NFIP.  FEMA requires that the value of the structure and improvements be calculated in an equitable consistent manner.

 

This 2 PDH online course is intended for practicing civil, structural and geotechnical engineers, contractors, developers, governmental agencies, regulators, and all other personnel involved with the permitting, design, and approval of improvements to structures in the floodplain.