CRJ 200 FLT CREW RECEIVES A FLAP FAIL CAS MESSAGE ON APCH.

Narrative

DURING VISUAL APCH WE RECEIVED AN AMBER CAS MESSAGE 'FLAPS FAIL' WHEN SELECTING FLAPS 30 DEGS. WE WERE APPROX 8 MI OUT OF ZZZ DSNDING THROUGH 3800 FT MSL IN VMC. THE FO WAS THE PF; AND HAD JUST CONFIGURED FLAPS 8 DEGS -- FLAPS 20 DEGS OBSERVING THE NEW OPERATING SPD LIMIT OF 200 KTS THAT COMPLIES WITH CHANGES TO THE BOMBARDIER AFM. WHEN THE FLAPS FAIL MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED; WE ASKED ATC FOR TURN-OFF OF VISUAL APCH DUE TO MALFUNCTION. APCH PROVIDED US WITH DELAYING VECTORS WHILE I COMPLETED QRH ITEMS; NOTIFIED THE FLT ATTENDANT TO PREPARE THE CABIN; ADVISED COMPANY AND BRIEFED THE PAX. I THEN FULLY ADVISED APCH OF OUR SITUATION 'DECLARING AN EMER;' AND ASKED FOR EQUIP TO BE STANDING BY FOR OUR ARR. I THEN XFERRED CTLS WITH THE FO BECOMING THE PF. THE APCH WAS FLOWN AT VREF FLAPS 20 DEGS FOR A 42000 LB ACFT AS PER POH AND QRH. TOUCHDOWN WAS NEAR NORMAL WITH MINIMUM BRAKE HEATING. WE TAXIED CLR OF RWY; AND THEN TO GATE WITH NO ASSISTANCE. THE EVENT OCCURRED DUE TO FLAP SYS MALFUNCTION. CRJ200'S HAVE A HISTORY OF FLAP FAILURES; PLEASE REF AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE 2007-17-07.