Wind Mitigation Inspections: How Your Roof Can Lower Your Florida Insurance Premium

What a wind mitigation inspection actually is

Florida requires insurers to give homeowners credit for construction features that reduce hurricane losses. The mechanism is a standardized inspection report — the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802 — completed by a qualified inspector (a licensed general, building or residential contractor, a licensed architect or engineer, a licensed home inspector, or other professionals the statute allows). You submit the completed form to your insurer, and the insurer applies the discounts its filed rates provide.

The report is generally accepted for five years. If you replace your roof during that window, a new inspection can capture the improvement immediately.

The seven things it scores

• Building code. Was the home built (or the roof permitted) under the Florida Building Code of 2001 or later, or in the HVHZ, the South Florida Building Code of 1994 or later? Broward County homes fall under the HVHZ line.
• Roof covering. Was the roof covering installed under a permit with FBC-compliant or Miami-Dade-approved products? A new roof from a licensed contractor with a closed permit usually satisfies this. An old roof with no permit record usually does not.
• Roof deck attachment. How is the plywood or plank deck nailed to the trusses? The best category is 8d nails (2.5 inches) spaced 6 inches on center along both the edges and the interior of each sheet. Older homes with 6d nails or wide spacing score lower. This can only be upgraded during a re-roof, when the deck is exposed.
• Roof-to-wall attachment. How are the trusses connected to the walls? Toe-nails are the weakest; metal clips are better; single wraps and double wraps (straps that go over the truss) are best. This is inspected from the attic.
• Roof geometry. A hip roof (slopes on all four sides) earns credit when hip features make up at least 90 percent of the roof perimeter. Gable roofs score lower because gable ends catch wind.
• Secondary water resistance (SWR). A self-adhering modified bitumen underlayment or a sealed-deck system applied directly to the decking, so that if the covering blows off, the deck still sheds water. This is one of the most cost-effective upgrades and can only be installed during a re-roof.
• Opening protection. Impact-rated windows, doors and shutters. Not a roofing item, but it is on the same form.

The upgrades a re-roof makes possible

Three of the seven categories are physically impossible to improve without removing the roof covering: deck attachment, secondary water resistance, and the roof covering credit itself. That is why we tell homeowners planning a replacement to think of wind mitigation as part of the project, not a separate one.

During a replacement in the HVHZ, current code already requires a strong deck attachment schedule and an approved underlayment system. The additional step is making sure the work is documented in a way an inspector can verify: permit closed, product approvals on file, photographs of the deck nailing before underlayment goes on. We photograph the deck on every job for exactly this reason.

What the discount is worth

The honest answer: it depends on your insurer, your policy, your home's construction and which features you qualify for. Discounts are set in each insurer's filed rates, not by the contractor. In our experience, homeowners who go from an older roof with no documentation to a new, documented, code-compliant roof with SWR often see a meaningful change — but the number is your insurer's to give. Get the inspection, submit the form, and ask your agent to show you the credits applied line by line.

A note on timing

If you already have a valid wind mitigation report and then replace your roof, do not assume the insurer will pick up the change. A new inspection after the roof is complete is the way to capture the credit.