To create a FEMA FIRMette, search the full address in the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, confirm the map is centered on the correct building, select the current effective FIRM product, and use Print Map/FIRMette. Save the PDF with the panel number and effective date visible. A FIRMette is a printable portion of the official FIRM; it is not a new survey, parcel boundary, lender determination, or map amendment.
Use the full panel when you need the original map context or a location outside digital coverage. Use a FIRMette when you need an at-scale, property-centered extract that still shows the legend, scale, north arrow, and title-block information needed to identify the map source.
Start with the right address and the right building
Enter the complete street address with city, state, and ZIP code. For rural or unrecognized addresses, the Map Service Center can also search a place or coordinates. Treat the search pin as an approximate navigation aid: zoom out, compare streets and building shapes, and recenter on the structure you actually intend to review.
- Confirm the street number, city, state, and ZIP in the result.
- Distinguish the insured or proposed building from detached garages and neighboring structures.
- For a large parcel, record the building coordinates or mark the exact footprint reviewed.
- Use a reliable assessor or survey source to orient yourself when necessary, but do not present that parcel layer as part of FEMA’s map.
If the pin or road match is wrong, return to the FEMA address-search workflow before making a PDF. A polished FIRMette centered on the wrong building is worse than no extract because it creates a convincing but unrelated record.
Choose the effective product before you print
| Product | Use it for | Do not treat it as |
|---|---|---|
| Effective FIRM or dynamic effective map | Current adopted NFIP mapping and the normal source for a FIRMette | A guarantee that flooding cannot occur outside mapped areas |
| Preliminary map | Proposed changes, community review, comments, and appeals | The current effective map merely because it is newer |
| Pending product | A future change approaching its effective date | Already effective before the stated date |
| Historic panel | Documenting what map applied in an earlier period | The current lender or permit map |
| LOMC record | A case-specific amendment or revision to effective mapping | A determination that automatically applies to another property |
The Map Service Center lists effective, preliminary, and historic products. Record the status instead of selecting the newest date without context. Use the preliminary-versus-effective map guide when a proposed panel appears alongside the adopted panel.
Create the FIRMette in the Map Service Center
FEMA’s FIRMette job aid describes two common paths: a dynamic Print Map/FIRMette option where digital data are available, and a FIRMette Web workflow for a downloaded panel or areas without the same dynamic coverage. Interface labels can change, but the evidence sequence stays the same.
- Search the address, place, or coordinates and open the correct community result.
- Identify the effective FIRM panel and confirm its panel number and effective or revised date.
- Select Print Map/FIRMette or open the panel in the FIRMette tool, depending on the available product.
- Move the print area so the exact building and enough surrounding map context are visible.
- Keep the north arrow, scale, legend information, and title block inside the output.
- Choose PDF when the printed scale matters; save the file before printing.
- Open the saved PDF and verify the building, panel identity, date, and map details before relying on it.
When using the older panel-based FIRMette Web interface, FEMA instructs users to zoom out fully before creating the print area. Reposition the title block, north arrow, or scale boxes only if the tool allows it and none of those elements are cropped from the final file.
Know what a complete FIRMette should show
| Element | Why it matters | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Property or building context | Connects the map extract to the location reviewed | Saving an adjacent street or wrong structure |
| Panel number and suffix | Identifies the FIRM sheet | Recording only a community number |
| Effective or revised date | Shows which adopted map version is being used | Using a download date as the map date |
| Legend and zone labels | Lets the reader interpret shading, hatching, and symbols | Guessing from color alone |
| Scale and north arrow | Preserves orientation and map scale | Cropping them or printing with Fit to Page |
| Title block | Provides community and panel identity | Submitting a screenshot with no source identity |
Name the file so it can be audited later—for example, property-address_panel-number_effective-date_checked-date.pdf. Keep a short note recording the address searched, the building selected, the map product status, and the date the Map Service Center was checked.
Print at actual size when scale matters
FEMA’s training materials caution that FIRMettes intended to preserve map scale should be printed at actual size rather than Shrink to Fit or Fit to Page. A browser screenshot, resized image, or office-document paste may be useful for discussion but should not be measured as if it retained the published map scale.
Even an at-scale FIRMette is not a boundary survey. Flood lines and base-map features are published at the map’s stated scale, while legal lot lines and building locations may come from other records. Use a surveyor, engineer, floodplain administrator, lender, or determination provider when the decision requires professional location evidence.
Read the panel number, suffix, and date together
A FIRM panel identifier combines the community or countywide map series with a panel number and suffix. The suffix helps distinguish map editions, and the effective or revised date tells you when the panel became the adopted NFIP product. Do not compare two panels by number alone when their suffixes or dates differ.
- Community name and NFIP community number, when shown.
- Full map or panel number, including the suffix.
- FIRM index date when the index is used.
- Panel effective or revised date printed in the title block.
- Date you accessed and saved the product.
The date you downloaded the PDF is not the panel’s effective date. Put both in your notes. A lender, insurer, permit office, or FEMA application may need to know which official map was effective for a specific decision date.
Use the legend before interpreting zone or elevation
Locate the building first, then read the exact zone label and the legend used by that panel. Zone AE, Zone A, Zone VE, shaded Zone X, and unshaded Zone X do not carry the same mapped information. A Base Flood Elevation may be printed as a line or label in detailed study areas; approximate Zone A often does not show a site-specific BFE.
Do not copy a nearby elevation label to the building without confirming how the line or study applies. The BFE and Flood Insurance Study guide explains when to move from the panel to the FIS profile, floodway data table, datum, or local administrator.
Check changes issued after the panel
A static full-size panel shows the FIRM as published on its effective or revised date. FEMA’s dynamic map can incorporate certain effective map changes in the current NFHL display. In either case, open the Map Service Center’s available amendments, revisions, and revalidation records rather than assuming the original panel is the complete current case history.
Use the LOMA and LOMR-F lookup guide for property-level determinations and the LOMR and CLOMR guide for project-level map revisions. Match the case number, property description, determination date, and current status before applying a letter to the building.
If digital data or an address result is unavailable
Some locations use paper FIRM panels or have limited digital coverage. Search by community or panel, download the available map image, and use the panel-based FIRMette workflow when offered. If no FIRM coverage appears, contact the local floodplain administrator and FEMA’s Map Information eXchange for help identifying the official source.
- Search by community, county, or known panel number.
- Use the FIRM index to identify the panel covering the location.
- Download the full panel and preserve the ZIP or TIFF source when provided.
- Create a FIRMette without cropping the title block, legend, scale, or north arrow.
- Record the limitation when no digital address pin or NFHL layer was available.
What a FIRMette does not decide
A FIRMette does not establish a surveyed property line, certify a building elevation, set an NFIP premium, issue a permit, determine coverage for a claim, amend a flood map, or automatically decide whether a lender must require insurance. It is a source-preserving map extract. Formal decisions may require an SFHDF, survey, Elevation Certificate, Letter of Map Change, local permit review, or insurer evaluation.
Related official record checks
Use the guide that matches the exact agency, jurisdiction, tool, product, program, or record type; verify the live official source before acting.
Questions about FEMA FIRM panels and FIRMettes
Is a FIRMette an official FEMA map?
It is a printable portion of FEMA FIRM data created through the Map Service Center tools. Its usefulness depends on preserving the correct effective product, location, scale, legend, and title information.
Should I use the dynamic map or full panel image?
Use the dynamic Print Map/FIRMette path when available for a current property-centered extract. Use the full panel when you need the original published map context, historic record, or coverage not available in the dynamic tool.
Can I create a FIRMette from a preliminary panel?
Do not present a preliminary-map extract as an official effective FIRMette. FEMA’s training distinguishes effective FIRMette products from preliminary comparison tools. Label any preliminary exhibit clearly and keep it separate from the effective map.
Why does my lender’s result differ from my FIRMette?
The lender may have used a formal determination provider, different building placement, later map-change record, or another effective-date context. Compare the SFHDF, building footprint, panel, date, and LOMC fields using the SFHDF guide.
The FEMA Map Service Center, FIRMette job aid, National Flood Hazard Layer guidance, and FEMA’s flood maps source page were rechecked August 1, 2026. Interface labels can change; preserve the same map identity and evidence fields even when the screen layout changes.