Community Rating System

A Local Official’s Guide to Saving Lives, Preventing Property 

Damage, and Reducing the Cost of Flood Insurance

FEMA B 573 / 2023

March 2023
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1 

The Community Rating System Works

Every year, flooding causes hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage to homes and 

businesses around the country. Standard homeowners and commercial property insurance policies 

do not cover flood losses. To meet the need for this vital coverage, the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The NFIP offers reasonably priced flood insurance to all properties in participating communities. To 

participate, communities must implement the NFIP’s minimum floodplain management standards.

The NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS) credits community efforts beyond those minimum 

standards by providing discounts on flood insurance premiums for the community’s property owners.

CRS discounts on flood insurance premiums range from 5% up to 45% (see Table 1), based on the 

participating community’s CRS class. A community’s CRS class is determined by credit points that 

are awarded to communities. The discounts provide an incentive for communities to implement 

additional flood protection activities that can help save lives and property when a flood occurs.

The CRS provides credit under 19 public information and floodplain management activities 

described in the CRS Coordinator’s Manual.

You’re probably already doing many of these activities. To get credit, community officials will need to 

prepare documentation that verifies these efforts.

The CRS assigns credit points for each activity. Table 2 lists the activities and the possible number of 

credit points for each one. The table also shows the average number of credit points communities 

earn for each activity. These averages may give you a better indication than the maximums of what 

your community can expect.

To be eligible for a CRS discount, your community must do Activity 310 (Elevation Certificates). If 

you’re a designated repetitive loss community, you must also take the steps described in Section 

502, Repetitive Loss Category. All other activities are optional.
National Flood Insurance Program / Community Rating System

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The total number of points your community earns determined your CRS class. Your discount on flood 

insurance premiums is based on your CRS class.

For example, if your community earns 4,500 points or more, it qualifies for Class 1, and property 

owners get a 45% discount on their insurance

premiums. If your community earns as little as 500 points, it’s in Class 9, and property owners get a 

5% discount. If a community does not apply or fails to receive at least 500 points, it’s in Class 10, 

and property owners get no discount.

Table 1, below, shows the number of points required for each class and the corresponding discount.

Table 1. How Much Discount Property Owners in Your Community Can Get

CRS Class CRS Discount Credit Points Required

1 45% 4,500+

2 40% 4,000–4,499

3 35% 3,500–3,999

4 30% 3,000–3,499

5 25% 2,500–2,999

6 20% 2,000–2,499

7 15% 1,500–1,999

8 10% 1,000–1,499

9 5% 500–999 

10 0% 0–499
National Flood Insurance Program / Community Rating System

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Table 2. What You Can Do to Get Credit

* Maximum and average points are subject to change. See the CRS Coordinator’s Manual for current information.

Series 

300 

Public Information Maximum 

Points*

Average 

Points*

This series credits programs that advise people about the flood 

hazard, flood insurance, and ways to reduce flood damage. The 

activities also provide data insurance agents need for accurate 

flood insurance rating.

310 Elevation Certificates 

 Have written procedures for managing floodplain-related 

certificates for new construction in the floodplain. (At a 

minimum, a community must maintain certificates for buildings 

built after the date of its CRS application.)

 Maintain a rate of 90% accuracy of all certificates. 

116 36

320 Map Information Service 

 Provide Flood Insurance Rate Map information to those who 

inquire, and publicize this service. 

90 78

330 Outreach Projects 

 Distribute outreach projects with messages about flood hazards, 

flood insurance, flood protection measures, and/or the natural 

and beneficial functions of floodplains. 

350 87

340 Hazard Disclosure 

 Real estate agents advise potential purchasers of flood-prone 

property about the flood hazard.

 Regulations require notice of the hazard.

80 15

350 Flood Protection Information 

 The public library and/or community’s website maintains 

references on flood insurance and flood protection.

125 48

360 Flood Protection Assistance 

 Give inquiring property owners technical advice on protecting their 

buildings from flooding, and publicize this service.

110 59

370 Flood Insurance Promotion 

 Assess flood insurance coverage in the community; promote 

flood insurance through meetings, technical assistance, 

brochures, or other means. 

220 40

Series 300 Total 1,091 392
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Series 

400

Mapping & Regulations Maximum 

Points*

Average 

Points*

This series credits programs that limit floodplain development or 

provide increased protection to new and existing development. 

410 Floodplain Mapping 

 Develop new flood elevations, floodway delineations, wave 

heights, or other regulatory flood hazard data for an area not 

mapped in detail by the flood insurance study.

 Have a more restrictive mapping standard.

850 78

420 Open Space Preservation 

 Guarantee that currently open public or private floodplain 

parcels will be kept free from development.

 Incentivize keeping the floodplain open with zoning 

restrictions, lot size requirements, or other regulations.

2,870 471

430 Higher Regulatory Standards 

 Limit new buildings and/or fill in the floodplain.

 Require freeboard.

 Require soil tests or engineered foundations.

 Require compensatory storage.

 Require coastal construction standards in AE Zones.

 Have regulations tailored to protect critical facilities or areas 

subject to special flood hazards such as alluvial fans, ice 

jams, subsidence, coastal erosion.

2,462 272

440 Flood Data Maintenance 

 Keep flood and property data on computer records.

 Use better base maps.

 Maintain elevation reference marks.

222 127

450 Stormwater Management 

 Regulate new development throughout the water- shed to 

ensure that post-development runoff is no greater than predevelopment runoff.

 Regulate new construction to minimize soil erosion and 

protect or improve water quality.

755 110

 Series 400 Total 7,159 1,058
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Series 

500

Flood Damage Reduction Maximum 

Points*

Average 

Points*

This series credits programs that reduce the flood risk to existing 

development.

510 Floodplain Management Planning 

 Using a standard planning process, prepare, adopt, 

implement, and update

o a comprehensive flood hazard mitigation plan, and/or

o a plan to protect natural functions within the community’s 

floodplain, and/or

o a plan for managing substantial flood damage to 

properties in the community, and/or

o a plan to conserve and/or recover threatened and 

endangered species in the floodplain.

 Prepare an analysis of the repetitive flood loss areas within 

the community.

Note: Category C repetitive loss communities must receive 

credit for either the floodplain management plan or the 

repetitive loss area analysis, above.

762 197

520 Acquisition & Relocation 

 Acquire and/or relocate floodprone buildings so that they are 

out of the floodplain, and the floodplain remains open 

2,250 176

530 Flood Protection 

 Protect existing floodplain development by floodproofing, 

elevation, or minor flood control projects.

1,600 64

540 Drainage System Maintenance 

 Have a program for and conduct annual inspections of all 

channels and detention basins; remove debris as needed

470 203

Series 500 Total 5,082 640
National Flood Insurance Program / Community Rating System

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Series 

600

Flood Preparedness Maximum 

Points*

Average 

Points*

This series credits emergency services and flood warning and 

response programs that save lives and protect property

610 Flood Warning and Response 

 Provide early flood warnings to the public, and have a detailed 

flood response plan keyed to flood crest predictions.

 Incorporate substantial damage assessments into flood 

response operations.

365 266

620 Levees 

 Annually inspect and maintain existing levees; have a system 

for recognizing the threat of levee failure and/or overtopping, 

disseminating warnings, and providing emergency response; 

and coordinate with operators of critical facilities. 

235 111

630 Dams 

 Have a high-hazard-potential dam that could affect the 

community; have a system for recognizing the threat of dam 

failure, disseminating warnings, planning and practicing 

emergency responses; and coordinating with operators of 

critical facilities.

160 38

Series 600 Total 760 415

 Total for All Series 14,092 2,505 
National Flood Insurance Program / Community Rating System

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Additional Credit

Your community can get additional credit for regulating development outside the Special Flood 

Hazard Area (SFHA) to the same standards as development inside the SFHA. There is also credit for 

assessing future flood conditions, including the impacts of future development, urbanization, sea 

level rise, and changing weather patterns. See the CRS Coordinator’s Manual for full details.

Many communities can qualify for what the CRS calls “state-based credit,” based on the activities or 

regulations a state or regional agency implements within communities. For example, some states 

have disclosure laws eligible for credit under Activity 340 (Hazard Disclosure). Any community in 

those states can receive the state-based credit.

Your community may want to consider floodplain management activities not listed in the 

CRS Coordinator’s Manual. You should evaluate these activities for their ability to increase public 

safety, reduce property damage, avoid economic disruption and loss, and protect the environment. 

In addition, you can request a review of these activities to determine whether they could be eligible 

for CRS credit. FEMA welcomes innovative ways to prevent or reduce flood damage.
National Flood Insurance Program / Community Rating System

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How to Apply

Participation in the CRS is voluntary. If your community is in full compliance with the minimum 

floodplain management standards of the NFIP, you may apply. There’s no application fee, and all 

CRS publications are free.

Your community’s chief executive officer (your mayor, city manager, or other top official) must 

appoint a CRS Coordinator to serve as the liaison between the community and FEMA. The 

coordinator should know the operations of all departments that deal with floodplain management 

and public information. And the coordinator should be able to speak for the community’s chief 

executive officer.

To begin the application process, your community submits a letter of interest to your FEMA Regional 

Office and documents that you are implementing floodplain management activities that warrant at 

least 500 CRS credit points. On the CRS website (https://www.fema.gov/community-rating-system) 

you can find a sample letter; the CRS Quick Check, a tool that helps you assess your community’s 

possible credit points; and further instructions.

You may also want to download from that website a copy of the CRS Coordinator’s Manual, along 

with its Addendum. These two documents describe the program in full and provide specific 

information, including eligible activities, required documentation, and resources for assistance.

After your community applies for a CRS classification, the CRS will verify the information and arrange 

for flood insurance premium discounts.

Help is available through the contact information below.

 CRS-related materials and many more resources are available at

https:/www.fema.gov/community-rating-system. 

 For more information, email mailto:fema-crs@fema.dhs.gov or nfipcrs@iso.com.
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