Section 627.711 obliges insurers to discount premiums for wind-resistant construction. The discounts are real. They are also not applied unless you file the form.
After the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, Florida decided that owners who build or retrofit for wind resistance should pay less than owners who do not. Section 627.711 of the Florida Statutes requires property insurers to offer premium discounts for specified construction features.
The mechanism is a standard document: the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802. Every inspector completes the same seven items, which is what makes the discount predictable once you know what the building has.
The catch is that nothing is automatic. Your carrier does not send anyone to look. If the form has never been completed and filed, you pay the undiscounted premium regardless of what the house is actually built like.
1. Building code compliance. The permit date. Homes built to the 2002 Florida Building Code or later start in a stronger category. In Miami-Dade and Broward, anything built to the 1994 South Florida Building Code counts.
2. Roof covering. Whether each covering meets current code, evidenced by permit and product approval.
3. Roof deck attachment. What holds the deck down. Staples score worst; 8d ring-shank nails at close spacing score best. Verified from inside the attic.
4. Roof-to-wall attachment. The big one. Toe nails, then clips, then single wraps, then double wraps, in ascending order of credit. On an older house, moving from toe nails to clips is often the largest single discount available.
5. Roof geometry. A hip roof — sloping on all four sides — earns a credit a gable does not, because it sheds wind rather than catching it.
6. Secondary water resistance. A sealed underlayment beneath the covering, so a roof stripped of tiles still keeps water out.
7. Opening protection. Impact-rated glazing or shutters across every opening. Partial protection scores far lower than full, and a single unprotected opening can cost the credit for the whole property.
Items 3 and 4 — deck attachment and roof-to-wall connection — carry the most value and are the only two that require an inspector to enter the attic. An inspection that does not include opening the hatch cannot complete them properly, and is worth considerably less.
A great many Florida homes were re-roofed after the 2004 season, after Wilma, after Irma, after Ian, or after Milton. Modern re-roofing standards mean the deck was usually re-nailed to a current specification during that work, and clips or straps were frequently added.
None of that gets explained to the owner. It appears as a line on a roofer's invoice, if at all. The upgrade sits in the attic, unclaimed, sometimes for a decade, while the owner pays a premium calculated as though the house still had a stapled deck and toe-nailed trusses.
This is why a mitigation inspection frequently pays for itself in the first year on a house that has been re-roofed at any point in the last twenty years.
The statute is specific. The form must be completed by a licensed home inspector, general contractor, building code inspector, registered architect or professional engineer. A report signed by anyone else will be rejected by the carrier, and you will have paid for nothing.
Ask which category your inspector falls into before booking. It is a reasonable question and any legitimate inspector will answer it without hesitation.
A wind mitigation report is generally accepted for five years. Redo it sooner whenever anything on the form changes: a new roof, new impact windows, new shutters, or a replacement garage door.
Re-roofing is the obvious trigger and the most commonly missed. If you have just spent money on a roof, the new deck attachment and any added straps are worth documenting immediately rather than waiting for the next renewal — the credit applies from when the carrier has the form, not from when the work was done.
Being straight about this matters. If the house has a gable roof, a stapled deck, toe-nailed trusses and no shutters, there may be nothing to claim, and a mitigation inspection will tell you that and no more.
That is still useful information, because it tells you what to change. Adding clips during a future re-roof, or fitting full opening protection, become quantifiable decisions rather than guesses. But it is worth going in with realistic expectations rather than assuming a discount is waiting.
It varies enormously with the property and the carrier, which is why any specific figure quoted to you should be treated with suspicion. What is consistent is that the credits are largest on properties built to the 2002 code or later, on hip roofs, and where opening protection is complete across every opening.
Often the newer houses benefit most, because they were built to a stronger code and qualify for the better categories from the outset. A modern build with a hip roof and impact glazing can carry a substantial credit and frequently is not claiming it.
Yes, for a report worth having. Deck attachment and roof-to-wall connection are the two highest-value items and neither can be verified from the ground.
If it is under five years old and nothing has changed, usually. If you have re-roofed or fitted impact glazing since, a new one will be worth more.
Yes, and on an older rental it usually makes sense — one visit, two reports, and one less disruption for the tenant.
One call for the inspection, the repair, or just a straight answer about what applies to your property.