Insurers want a number: how many years does this roof have left. We inspect, certify, and where the answer is not the one you wanted, quote the repair or replacement.
The roof is the single most common reason a Florida property becomes difficult to insure. Carriers have tightened steadily, and a roof that would have been accepted without comment a decade ago now gets a policy declined.
A roof certification is a short report stating the covering type, its age, its condition and its estimated remaining useful life. Underwriters use that last figure to decide whether to write the risk at all.
The thresholds move between carriers, but the pattern is consistent. Asphalt shingle roofs become hard to insure somewhere around fifteen years. Tile, metal and concrete generally get to around twenty-five. Past those points many carriers will decline outright, and others will offer cover on an actual cash value basis for the roof rather than replacement cost — which on a total loss is a very different cheque.
Age is normally evidenced from the permit record rather than taken on trust. If a previous owner re-roofed without pulling a permit, that is a problem, because as far as the county is concerned the roof is still the age of the last permitted one.
Not every finding needs a replacement. Lifted or slipped tiles, failed flashing at a penetration, a cracked boot around a vent stack, sealant that has given up at a valley — all of these are repairs, and on an otherwise sound roof they are the right answer.
Where repairs stop making sense is when the covering has reached the end of its service life across the whole roof. Patching a twenty-year-old shingle roof buys a season and does nothing for the insurance position, because the certification will still state the age.
We will tell you which of the two you are looking at, and we will not quote a replacement on a roof that needs a repair.
A roof replacement in Florida is a permitted work. The permit matters beyond compliance: it is the document that resets the roof age on record, and it is what a future four-point inspection will rely on.
Re-roofing is also the best opportunity you will get to improve the wind mitigation position. Deck re-nailing to current standards and a sealed secondary water barrier are relatively small additions during a job that is already happening, and both are credited on the state mitigation form. Done at the same time, they can pay back a meaningful part of the cost through the premium.
We book the wind mitigation inspection after any re-roof as a matter of course, so the new features are documented and filed with your carrier rather than sitting unclaimed.
We cover the whole state. These are the metros we work in most often — each page covers the local housing stock, code position and insurance context.
Condition and insurability are different questions and a sound older roof can still be declined on age alone. Options are a carrier with a longer threshold, cover on actual cash value terms for the roof, or replacement. We will certify the true condition, which sometimes changes the answer, but we will not overstate remaining life to get a policy through.
Small repairs generally fall below the permit threshold, but the threshold varies by jurisdiction and replacements always require one. We work to what the local building department requires for the specific job and we do not skip permits, because an unpermitted roof causes real problems at the next inspection or sale.
Active leaks are treated as emergencies. We aim to contain the same day, make the roof watertight, then quote the permanent repair once we can see what caused it — which is often not directly above where the water appeared.
Usually, on two counts: the age resets, and the work is an opportunity to add mitigation features that attract statutory discounts. The saving depends on your carrier and what the roof gains, and it is worth having the mitigation inspection done straight after.
One number for the inspection and for whatever it turns up. Licensed, insured contractors across Florida.