Relocation of a home to a new site above the design flood elevation (DFE) can offer the greatest security from future flooding. Relocation involves moving an entire structure to another location. Selection of the new site is usually conducted by the homeowner, often in consultation with a design professional to ensure that critical site selection factors such as floodplain location, accessibility, utility service, cost, and homeowner preference meet engineering and local regulatory concerns. Relocation as a retrofitting measure not only relieves anxiety about future flooding, but also offers the opportunity to reduce future flood insurance premiums. This information in this course could also be useful in relocation projects that do not involve flood protection. This course is based on the FEMA publication, Engineering Principles and Practices for Retrofitting Flood-Prone Residential Structures, Chapter 5R Relocation and a Case Study from Chapter 6 of the same. It is intended to provide knowledge that may be used to protect residential structures from flooding by relocating the home.

Learning Objectives

• Be introduced to the proper method to select the house moving contractor;
• Be introduced to the proper method to analyze the existing site and structure;
• Be introduced to the proper method to select, analyze, and design the new site;
• Be introduced to the proper method to prepare the existing site;
• Be introduced to the proper method to analyze and prepare the moving route;
• Be introduced to the proper method to prepare the structure;
• Be introduced to the proper method to prepare the new site;
• Be introduced to the proper method to move the structure; and
• Be introduced to the proper method to restore the old site.