FEMA Flood Map Change Research Pack
One address, two suitable public FEMA map states, and a source trail you can take into a lender, insurer, surveyor, engineer, or local-office conversation.
This is research support, not a flood determination. It is not insurance or legal advice, engineering, surveying, elevation analysis, a Standard Flood Hazard Determination, or a FEMA map-change decision. A map comparison can document what FEMA published; it cannot make a flood determination for a property.
A checkable record of what FEMA published
$249 one time
For a homeowner preparing for a conversation about a map update. The fixed scope covers one property address and one comparison: current effective versus preliminary, or current effective versus a prior effective map, when suitable public FEMA products exist. We confirm coverage before work begins, then deliver a PDF research pack and source appendix within three business days. There is no subscription and no renewal.
- The address reproduced exactly as supplied.
- Map panel and community identifiers displayed by each named FEMA product.
- Published effective dates, product or layer names, and visible zone labels.
- Source URLs and UTC search time for every lookup.
- A searched/not-searched table and every coverage or interpretation limit.
What we compare
We use the FEMA Map Service Center and the map products it makes available for the supplied location. The effective side is identified by the product, panel or community information FEMA displays. When FEMA publishes suitable preliminary or historical material for the same location, the second side is named and dated separately. We preserve the source names rather than converting them into our own map classification.
The Flood Map Changes Viewer can place effective, preliminary, and pending hazard layers in one view and can produce an effective-versus-preliminary comparison for a selected location. Not every layer exists everywhere. The pack names the products actually available and does not silently substitute a nearby panel, a third-party map, or an unmatched map vintage.
Official source documentation: FEMA Map Service Center, Flood Map Changes Viewer , Map Service Center FAQs, and Flood Hazard Mapping Updates overview.
Preliminary and pending data stay preliminary
FEMA states that preliminary and pending National Flood Hazard Layer information is for awareness, review, and guidance. It cannot be used for flood-insurance policy rating or mandatory flood-insurance purchase requirements. If a preliminary or pending layer is part of the comparison, that status appears beside every relevant image, label, and row. We do not present a proposed map as the current effective map.
A side-by-side image can show that two FEMA products display different labels at the searched location. It does not establish what a building footprint, lowest adjacent grade, parcel boundary, or elevation means. Those questions require the appropriate official, lender, insurer, or licensed professional.
What the pack does not decide
We do not conclude that a property moved into or out of a flood zone. We do not determine whether insurance is required, whether a premium should change, whether a charge should be refunded, or whether coverage can be removed. We do not recommend, prepare, review, or submit a Letter of Map Amendment, Letter of Map Revision, appeal, survey, elevation certificate, or lender dispute.
FEMA makes its map decisions. A lender makes the flood determination for a loan. An insurer makes its rating and coverage decisions. Licensed surveyors and engineers make the professional elevation and site determinations within their scope. Local floodplain officials make local regulatory determinations. This pack makes none of those decisions and cannot substitute for them.
Every source gap remains visible
Some locations do not have a usable preliminary layer, a matching historical panel, or enough public information to compare two map states without overclaiming. A source that cannot be reached is reported as unavailable, never as no change. A map state that cannot be matched to the address is reported as not searched, never as a clear result.
Before accepting the order, we inspect public-source coverage for the supplied address and requested comparison. If the public FEMA products are missing, ambiguous, or cannot be matched responsibly, we decline the scope before payment. We do not purchase private data or professional services on the buyer's behalf.
How the order works
- Send one property address. Tell us whether you need effective versus preliminary or effective versus prior effective.
- Confirm source coverage. We name the FEMA products, map states, exclusions, and delivery date, or decline the comparison before payment.
- Receive the research pack. The PDF and source appendix arrive within three business days, with the two map states and all limitations stated together.
The pack is designed to make a later conversation more specific and checkable. It does not tell any decision-maker what conclusion to reach.