Why You Should Get a Wind Mitigation Inspection

Scott Bell (Advantage Home Inspections USA)

4-minute read

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It is no astonishment to any Florida resident that wind and rain present dangerous and costly issues for each of us. Each year the hurricane season gives many of us the jitters, leaving us wondering if our homes are up to the increasingly frequent and powerful storms. But our busy lives allow us little time to research what constitutes a secure wind-ready home. Florida building codes are constantly evolving. Staying informed with them is part of my job; helping you to understand and implement them is another. A Wind Mitigation Inspection will give you insight into the present allowable insurance discounts and where you can improve your home’s quality and achieve additional future discounts. For example, I recently reviewed my current insurance policy and found that the roof was incorrectly designated as being a gable roof. When in fact it should have been designated as a hip roof. This change reduced my annual insurance policy by over $300 a year. Let’s say that this went unnoticed for 5 years. That adds up to $1500 or more.

Wind Mitigation Inspections can provide you with several benefits.

1.    Get possible discounts on your home insurance.

2.    Become aware of needed improvements or home repairs.

3.    Catching errors or undocumented / missing insurance discounts.

What is a Wind Mitigation Inspection?

These are inspections where I investigate your property (permanent construction not mobile homes) using the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form. Chiefly, your roof, windows and doors are the items most susceptible to wind damage and water incursion. I show up, take pictures of the exterior walls, roof, windows, and doors. I go into the attic to investigate if you have hurricane straps on your trusses and check for the roof deck nail length and spacing. Also, I will check to see if you have a secondary water resistance (SWR) barrier on your roof. While doing this, I determine the quality of each. Finally, as the homeowner, I give you’re the report. It is at this point that you can submit this report for possible discounts on your insurance.

Why get one?

These inspections are voluntary, but usually new, prospective, or existing homeowners would like to know how well their house is prepared to survive the high winds in Florida. And if their houses are suitably prepared or have been upgraded to higher levels of integrity, they can get a discount on their insurance. The more upgrades to your home’s wind resistance, the more kinds of discounts you can entertain. But the inspection does more than this.

1.    Ensures the contractors that have installed your new roof, windows, or doors and your insurance provider gets the correct documentation for the discount.

2.    Create a sense of awareness as to your current or future home’s current Mitigation features and how to employ additional Mitigation Strategies.

3.    You were unaware that insurance discounts were even possible for such things and want to see if your home qualifies.

4.    What would it take to retrofit your home to improve its quality and qualify for discounts?

Note: Even if you have had a Wind Mitigation Inspection, they are only good for 5 years. Any significant changes to the structure may require a new Wind Mitigation Inspection for your insurance carrier.

What do I look for?

In the hour or so that I am there, I will examine the documentation you may have about your windows, doors, and roof to see what they have to offer. Then we go look. I say “we” because when you, the client, are with me during the inspection, I can explain and illustrate specific points. Everything will be in your final report, but with you by my side during the inspection, all your questions can be answered personally and completely. We will look for these sorts of things.

       Building Code: Depending on the year the structure was built, it may already receive discounts for being Florida building code compliant. Typically, a structure built on March 1, 2002 and later usually receives insurance discounts.

1.    Roof geometry: Hipped roof vs gabled roof shape? Hipped roof architecture can potentially give you insurance discounts.

2.    Straps: Do you have straps to keep your roof trusses attached to your house? Having proper straps or clips could mean insurance discounts.

3.    Nail spacing: Are the nails used to secure the roofing decking the correct size, closely spaced or, as with older buildings, spaced far apart? Proper nail spacing could mean discounts on insurance.

4.    Opening Protection: Do you have the correct fasteners needed and are the shutters or covers readily available? Being prepared could mean insurance discounts. Permanently installed shutters should have placard listing the appropriate Florida product approval numbers to qualify.

5.    Doors: Do they have TAS (Testing Application Standards) ratings attached to the doors? Do they need upgrading?

6.    Windows: How are they rated? Do they have TAS (Testing Application Standards) ratings?

Your roof, doors, and windows often have documentation enumerating their ability to withstand impacts (TAS 201), cyclic wind pressure loading (TAS 202), and static air pressure (TAS 203). I will contact you before the actual inspection so that you can gather as much of this documentation as you have. These, along with my inspection report, will be what the insurance company uses to assess your possible discounts.

Importantly, I need someone 18 or over present to sign the report and allow me access to the property and the attic.