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FIRM Flood Note

Fills the flood-zone note from live FEMA NFHL data: the zone(s) intersecting the property, the F.I.R.M. panel number + suffix , and the panel effective date, swapping only those three spans so the standard wording (including the AS SCALED disclaimer) never moves.

Command VDCFIRM · VDC Plans tab › Plans panel
Fills the flood-zone note from live FEMA NFHL data: the zone(s) intersecting the property, the F.I.R.M. panel number + suffix, and the panel effective date, swapping only those three spans so the standard wording (including the AS SCALED disclaimer) never moves.
Zone, panel, and date pulled live from FEMA NFHL; only those spans are swapped in the note. BEFORE (template placeholders) THIS PROPERTY IS LOCATED IN FLOOD ZONE "X" AS SCALED FROM F.I.R.M. No. 45051C07?? H, DATED DEC. 16, 2021, THIS PLAT IS NOT THE BASIS FOR FLOOD ZONE DETERMINATION OR FLOOD ZONE RELATED ISSUES. FEMA NFHL (live) zones layer 28: FLD_ZONE panels layer 3: FIRM_PAN, SUFFIX, EFF_DATE queried in the drawing's WKID AFTER (FEMA's current answers) THIS PROPERTY IS LOCATED IN FLOOD ZONE "AE" AS SCALED FROM F.I.R.M. No. 45051C0707 H, DATED DEC. 16, 2021, THIS PLAT IS NOT THE BASIS FOR FLOOD ZONE DETERMINATION OR FLOOD ZONE RELATED ISSUES.

What it does

  • Two live queries: the NFHL zones layer (all zones, not just SFHA, a Zone X note is the common case) and the FIRM panels layer, both in the drawing's State Plane WKID.
  • Finds every note: matched by its FLOOD ZONE "..." + F.I.R.M. wording, cover sheet, plat sheet, block definitions, wherever it lives in the drawing.
  • Surgical swap: zone inside the quotes, panel between No. and the comma, date after DATED, the note's formatting and line breaks survive.
  • Preview first: the dialog shows FEMA's answers plus each note's before/after; nothing is written on cancel.
  • Multiple zones or panels join with & ("X & AE"); the newest panel effective date is used.

Notes & settings

  • Shares VDCFLOODQC's settings: WKID (the drawing's zone) and both service URLs; set the WKID once in the Flood QC dialog.
  • Window the property tight, the envelope query includes every zone it touches, so a loose window can pull in a neighbor's AE.
  • The answer is by map intersection; the note's AS SCALED wording is kept on purpose, this is not a flood determination.
  • Needs internet; FEMA is public but sometimes slow, the timeout message says to just try again.
  • Effective dates print as DEC. 16, 2021.

Dialog

FIRM Flood Note dialog
FIRM Flood Note, VDCFIRM
FIRM Flood Note dialog
FIRM Flood Note, VDCFIRM
Settings file: %APPDATA%\VDC\FloodQc\settings.json

When to use it

  • The cover or plat note still reads panel 45051C07?? or an old effective date.
  • Confirming the note matches FEMA's current mapping before a submittal.

How to run it

  1. Run VDCFIRM; at the [Window/Extents] prompt pick the property with a Window (two corners) - the default and the safe choice. Extents is available but runs the FEMA query over the whole envelope, slow on a large drawing (an empty or absurdly large extent is refused).
  2. The tool queries the NFHL zones + FIRM panels layers in the drawing's State Plane WKID.
  3. Read the preview: FEMA's answers plus each note's before/after text.
  4. Click OK - update note(s).

Options

  • Area: defaults to a picked Window - keep it tight so neighboring zones don't join the list; Extents is available but queries FEMA over the whole drawing envelope.
  • WKID / service URLs: shared with VDCFLOODQC's settings (any NAD83 State Plane zone).

Watch out for

  • Needs internet - FEMA's service is public but sometimes slow; try again if it times out.
  • An envelope query includes every zone touching the checked area - a loose Window (or Extents) can pull in a neighbor's AE.
  • Multiple panels or zones are joined with '&'; reword by hand if the note needs prose instead.
  • The zone answer is by map intersection - the note's AS SCALED wording (this is not a flood determination) is kept on purpose.

Related: Flood QC · Cover Sheet Fill · Plat QC