Reducing Flood Losses Through the International Codes®

Reducing Flood Losses Through the International Codes®: Coordinating Building Codes and Floodplain Management Regulations, 5th Edition (October 2019)

This guide is intended to help state and local officials integrate the I-Codes into their current floodplain management regulatory processes related to structures, buildings, and other development to satisfy the requirements to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Benefits of coordinating building codes and floodplain management regulations include reduced duplication and conflict between requirements and improved, consistent, and thorough review, permitting, and enforcement processes. This guide may also be useful to state and local officials when applying the flood provisions of the I-Codes to mitigation and recovery projects approved for FEMA grant funding. It is not intended as an endorsement of any specific approach for effectively managing flood hazards, nor does it explain all of the NFIP and building code requirements and how to administer them. FEMA and others have produced numerous documents and publications related to the NFIP and the regulation of flood hazard areas.  Free PDF Download