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Why did my wind mitigation inspection not give me any discounts?
I had a wind mitigation inspection and did not receive one or all of the credits on the form. What does the form mean and how can I get the discounts?
In November of 2007, while the My Safe Florida Home program was still in place, the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form OIR-B1-1802 was created by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the State run Citizens Insurance Corporation. The State now requires that this form be the only accepted wind mitigation report submitted for discounts and eliminated all other wind mitigation forms insurance carriers were using. The form was revised in February of 2010 and went into effect April that year. The revised form is stricter than its predecessor. All items in the report receiving a credit MUST have an accompanying photo and must follow or meet the exact verbiage as stated on the form. If a photo is not available or obtainable, photos of roofing contracts, engineered blueprints, building permits or receipts can be substituted. Please be aware that this form is going through changes again. Going through the document item by item,we will try to explain it and hopefully clear up any confusion: (1) Building Code: As stated, this is the year that the structure or home was built and not when the roof was last replaced. The homeowner has no control over this attribute. (2) Predominant Roof Covering: This is one of the best discounts and pertains to a new or newer roof installed in March 2002 or later. As stated on the form, it must meet the 2001 Florida Building Code or the 1994 South Florida Building Code. The S.F.B.C. only pertains to homes in the Miami-Dade area. If you received a (B), this does not mean that there is a problem, however the form only gives credit for either fiberglass shingles or a metal roof products that have been tested for hurricane wind speeds and uplift. So if you have a tile roof or some other material, it has not been included on the form at this time, but are under review through the Office of Insurance Regulation and may be added at a later date. If you received a (C), this means that your roof has or had no permit listed with the building department at the time of the replacement, there was no copy of a contract available from a licensed roofing contractor or there was no product data or packaging left from the shingle product in place. Even if the roof was replaced one year ago and there is nothing to show the inspector, we must mark it as "unknown or undetermined". (3) Roof Deck Attachment: This section refers to how many staples or nails are holding your plywood roof deck to the top of your truss system. The nail pattern used will depend again on when the roof was last replaced. The three common options are listed on the form with (A) being the weakest and (D) the strongest. The inspector must have unobstructed access to the attic to obtain and photograph this information. As of October 1, 2007 Florida requires that roofing contractors re-nail the roof deck for homes built before the Florida Building Code (March 1. 2002) with 8d ring-shank nails 6" along the edge and 6" in the field and install a peel and stick type secondary water barrier (S.W.R.) product. The insurance carrier wants to see proof of the installation of the S.W.R. with paperwork or the receipt from the roofing contractor and a photo, if possible. (4) Roof to Wall Attachment: This is how the roof trusses are connected to the walls of the house. The most commonly found items for homes in this region are (A) toenails which are the weakest, (B) clips or (C) single wraps which are the strongest of these three. The best credit given is for the single wrap. When referring to this section, please read the heading very carefully. It asks “What is the weakest roof to wall connection?" What this means is if you have single wraps on all but one (or possibly a few) of your connections, it must be downgraded to clips. The same thing applies to clips, if one truss or more have no clip installed, it must be downgraded to toe nails. The other problem that can occur is that if by chance your single wraps are offset from the truss (meaning when they come out of the concrete tie beam and are not set following the manufacturer's or industry specifications), the form must be marked as “other”. Please see the photo included for further explanation. (5) Roof Geometry: In the insurance industry, there are only three roof shapes: hip, non-hip or flat. A hip is a shape that resembles a pyramid (sloped on all 4 sides) and gives the best credit. If any other roof shape interferes with this shape that is longer than 10% of all the added edges of the roof line, it must be called out as non-hip. If you have a flat roof deck portion that is attached and tied into the main roof structure and its is greater than 100 square feet or larger than 10% of the entire roof, the roof must then be marked as a flat roof structure. (6) Gable End Bracing: This section only applies to gable style roof structures. Gable roofs are sloped on only two sides from the ridge all the way down to the eaves. Bracing is a method of placing additional lumber inside the attic area at the gable end to brace it against high wind loads. it must be installed following the 2001 Florida Building Code. If the added lumber is not in place or installed correctly, we must mark (B) “Does not meet the above minimum requirements”. If the home has vaulted ceilings or there is no access to that area, we must mark (C) "Not applicable, unknown or unidentified". (7) Wall Construction Type: This is your exterior wall type listed from weakest to strongest: wood frame, un-reinforced masonry, reinforced masonry or poured concrete. Many homes have a combination of the first three. If you live in a home with a gable style roof or one that is not solid poured concrete with steel mesh, readings are taken with a rebar locater device. If the readings do not indicate that there is rebar down the entire length of the walls, we must figure out the percentage of reinforced masonry and unreinforced masonry and figure in the wood for the gable ends of the roof that the insurance carriers consider part of the structure of the home. (8) Secondary Water Resistance (SWR): This is a self-adhering waterproof product used when the old roofing material is torn off down to the plywood roof deck. This product differs from 30# felt as it does not use nails to hold it in place. If the roof covering is torn off, this product can protect the interior of the home from water damage. We can try to determine if a S.W.R. was installed by viewing the bottom side of the roof deck where the plywood sheets come together or around roof vents. The product has a shiny appearance and the adhesive substance can be detected. Please visit www.talgov.com/growth/pdf/forms/re-roofing.pdf for more information. The insurance carriers now are requiring additional proof of the S.W.R. by having photographs of the product information and/or the receipt from the roofing contractor showing it was installed and paid for. (9) Opening Protection: When referring to this section, again please read it very carefully. “What is the weakest form of wind borne debris protection installed on the structure?" This section of the report is very specific on the requirements. The hurricane protection products installed on the structure or located on site must meet one or more of the requirements listed in section A. Additionally, a garage door must also must meet the ANSI/DASMA115 (for large missiles). All of the products must have either stickers, stamps, imprints or etchings in window glazing showing its rating or product approval code. If you have paperwork from the installer showing the product approval codes that can be photographed, that is also helpful if the stickers, etc. can't be viewed or have deteriorated. Skylights, non-impact windows located on hurricane rated garage doors, front entrance doors with ½ moon glazing, glass block without mortar between the blocks and doggy doors can cause the report to be marked as (J) "At least one glazed opening does not have wind-borne debris protection." This will cause you not to get any discount for this section of this report. We hope that going through the form and addressing the most frequently asked questions that homeowners have has helped you to understand your report. If you have not had this inspection yet, we hope that it helps prepare you and may allow you to improve your home to maximize the amount of credits you can receive. Commercial Building InspectionsCommercial Building Inspections - We provide commercial building inspections for the southeartern United States including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisana.Brevard County Insurance InspectionsBrevard County Insurance Inspections - Contact us for insurance inspections in Brevard County.
Brevard County Infrared InspectionsBrevard County Infrared Inspections - Located in Brevard County on Florida's Space Coast, we provide all types of infrared roof inspections.Advanced Engineering, Contracting & Inspections PE 42865, CGC051962, CGC1516780, CBC1257690, CCC057173 Email: info@advancedimagingservices.com |
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