Texans Urged to Get Permits Prior to Rebuilding

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management (GDEM) urge owners of homes and other buildings to get appropriate building permits before they begin any construction work on their property damaged by Hurricane Ike. This is especially important for structures located in Special Flood Hazard Areas, also known as regulatory floodplains.

Communities that participate in FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program enforce a requirement called the "substantial damage rule." Properties subject to the rule are those that are in a regulatory floodplain and for which repairs will cost at least 50 percent of the structure's pre-disaster value.

For example, if a structure's market value before the damage was $200,000 and repairs are estimated to cost $120,000, that structure is "substantially damaged." Land value is excluded from the determination, which is made by local officials.

Buildings in regulatory floodplains that are "substantially damaged" must comply with local floodplain management regulations. Owners who decide to rebuild may need to elevate or retrofit their structures or change them in some other way to comply and to avoid future flood losses. Owners of non-residential structures have the additional option of making the buildings floodproof.

In some cases, owners may decide to relocate their structures outside of the regulatory floodplain or to demolish them.

Owners can obtain specific information about building permits from local officials who enforce the "substantial damage" rule and other requirements.