Certified Floodplain Surveyor (CFS) Program

This certification program educates surveyors on the forms and processes associated with floodplain properties and the submital of Elevation Certificates. To become CFS certified, licensed surveyors must successfully complete the three-day certification seminar and exam. PDH's are awarded for the seminar, however no PDH credit is given for the exam. The specific topics covered in the course are: National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), FIRM Maps, NFIP Regulations and Elevation Certificates, Letters of Map Correction and Letters of Map Correction Processing. There are currently over 200 CFS Certified Surveyors in the state as this certification has become more popluar with recent floodplain/form changes. NCSS offers annually for surveyors seeking to add this certification to their resume.

CFS Contacts

CFS Resources

• Elevation Certificate & Instructions - June 29, 2023 Note: If you receive a “Please Wait” error when trying to download the new Elevation Certificate form, this seems to be due to some incompatibility issues with the alternative PDF viewer used by certain browsers. As a workaround: Right-click on the Download File link and select “save link as,” Save it to your PC. You should then be able to open it. (This site has more details.)  
• National Flood Insurance Program Underwriting Forms
• CFS Fact Sheet
• Case File Summary
• Data Collection Table 
• Elevation Certificate & Instructions 
• MT-1 Forms - MT-1 Technical Guidance 
• FEMA National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP) Map Help
• Flood Risk Information System
• LOMC Tutorial
• MT-EZ Application
• FEMA LOMA/LOMR-F Tutorial
• LOMC Status Update
• 2017 Submission Cover Sheet 

CFS Certified Surveyors

Click HERE to view a list of CFS Certified Surveyors.

CFS Study Guide

If you are preparing for the CFS Certification Course and Exam, the following link will be helpful to you:
CFS Study Guide

Specifically, review and become familiar with the NFIP Regulations. The terms and guidelines outlined in those are woven throughout the course and this will help you to maximize the preparatory class time.

Renewal Policy

Certified Floodplain Surveyors (CFS) are required to complete a 4-hour biennial update course within two years of the initial certification date and every two years after that. If the certification expiration date passes prior to completion of the update course requirement, the CFS must attend the next available class. The grace period cannot extend more than one year from the expiration date. If the CFS fails to meet this requirement, their certification will be revoked, and they will need to attend the full course and pass the exam to be reinstated.