Occasionally, a property or building is shown in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) on the map, but the ground elevation of the property or building is higher than the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). This is often due to the limitations of the map scale or the topography (ground elevation data) that was available at the time the map was made. To determine whether a property or building is accurately depicted in the SFHA, a comparison between the lowest lot elevation (LLE) of the property or lowest adjacent grade (LAG) of the building and the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) should be performed.

If the lowest elevation of the property or the lowest grade adjacent to the building are below the BFE, then the property or building is confirmed as in the SFHA.

If a property or building is inadvertently shown within the SFHA, or if a property or building has been raised above the BFE by the placement of fill, an application can be submitted to request FEMA amend or revise the maps with a letter that states the property or building is not within the SFHA. These are called Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision based on Fill (LOMR-F) applications.