Substantial Damage (SD) Estimation Process

The FEMA Substantial Damage Estimator Tool v3.0

What a Substantial Damage Determination Means for Property Owners If local officials determine a building in the SFHA to be substantially damaged, it must be brought into compliance with current local floodplain regulations and building codes. This may involve: • Elevating or modifying a substantially damaged structure to meet floodplain and building code regulations. • Floodproofing non-residential or historic buildings. • Other building code compliance and mitigation measures. The SDE process is critical for disaster recovery. Through the collaborative efforts of FEMA, local governments, service providers, and property owners, it facilitates efficient recovery and rebuilding activities while upholding floodplain management regulations. Contracted service providers like engineering and disaster consulting firms offer significant support to local communities by providing trained estimators, data workflow management, rigorous quality assurance checks, and administrative support to ensure compliance with Public Assistance and NFIP program requirements.

The SDE tool assists state and local officials in estimating substantial damage caused by flood, wind, wildfire, seismic, and other events to structures within the floodplain per the National Flood Insurance Program requirements adopted by the communities. The tool utilizes estimates of damage to individual building elements to determine whether the building has incurred Substantial Damage.

Depending on the type of structure and specific

attributes, the tool calculates the percentage of damage to each building element as a percentage of the total building. Using the calculated element percentages, the user can apply a “percent damaged” or “percent improved” value to each building element to establish a Substantial Damage determination for the building.

For more information on our program support, visit our website.

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If your organization faces disaster recovery or compliance concerns under FEMA’s NFIP guidelines, contact us for further insights. Together, we can build a safer, more resilient tomorrow.