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Fort Lauderdale · Broward County

What flood zone is Fort Lauderdale in, and what does it require?

BFE +1 ft (state code)lowest floor above base flood elevation; no extra city freeboard

Fort Lauderdale's floodplain chapter adds no freeboard number of its own for ordinary buildings, so the Florida Building Code's BFE + 1 ft applies. What the city does add is a two-year look-back: improvements are added up over two years when testing the 50% substantial-improvement line.

Source: Fort Lauderdale Code of Ordinances Ch. 14 Secs. 14-1, 14-11; City of Fort Lauderdale Flood - Flood Insurance page; FEMA Community Status Book, Florida (www.fema.gov/cis/FL.html, report 10/03/2026); 2023 Florida Building Code, Residential R322.2.1, R322.3.2; 44 CFR 59.1; FEMA Flood Map Service Center · Verified 2026-10

The detail

City freeboardNone set for ordinary buildings in Code Ch. 14; critical facilities must be at BFE + 3 ft or the 500-year flood elevation, whichever is higher - Sec. 14-11.
Substantial improvementAny combination of work taking place during a two-year period whose cumulative cost equals or exceeds 50% of the building's market value - Sec. 14-1.
City lookup toolThe city's flood-insurance page sends owners to its GIS Application (gis.fortlauderdale.gov/FemaFloodZones) to read the FIRM zone for a parcel; the same page still quotes 2014 maps and a 20% discount, which FEMA's current records supersede.
FEMA flood mapFEMA's Community Status Book (report dated 3 Oct 2026) lists Fort Lauderdale as NFIP community 125105 with a current effective FIRM dated 31 Jul 2024. Zones are set parcel by parcel, so no single zone covers the whole city - check your own address.
NFIP historyFEMA record: first flood hazard boundary map 3 Nov 1972; first FIRM 3 Nov 1972; regular NFIP program since 3 Nov 1972; entered CRS 1 Oct 1992.
Flood insurance discountCRS class 7 - 15% off NFIP premiums for policies in the Special Flood Hazard Area (class in effect 1 Oct 2020).
State minimum2023 Florida Building Code, Residential R322.2.1 and R322.3.2 - lowest floor (A zones) or bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member (V and Coastal A zones) at BFE + 1 ft or the design flood elevation, whichever is higher.
Look up your zoneCity GIS Application (gis.fortlauderdale.gov/FemaFloodZones) or FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov), the official public source for FIRMs.

Your city's height sheet

The elevation your city requires, the datum it is measured in, and the section of code that says so. One page.

Available for the cities whose rule we have verified and sourced.

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The county rule behind this

What applies across Broward County, and where each city departs from it.

Broward CountySeawall requirements county-wide

The same question, nearby

The rule changes at the city line, not the county line.

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Twelve signs a seawall is failing

What to look for, where to look for it, and what it means when you find it. Walk your wall in twenty minutes.

A screening sheet for owners, not an engineering inspection.

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