Wind Mitigation Inspections in Florida: What Earns a Discount

What the inspection is, and why insurers ask for it

Florida law requires insurers to offer premium discounts, credits or deductible reductions for construction features that reduce windstorm losses, and to tell policyholders those discounts exist. The wind mitigation inspection is how a home proves which of those features it actually has. An inspector visits, checks the roof, attic and openings, photographs what they find, and completes the state's Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802. Your agent submits it, and the insurer rates the policy from it.

It is not a pass-or-fail inspection and it is not a condition report. Nobody is grading whether your roof is in good shape; the form records how the house is built. Two identical-looking homes on the same Coconut Creek street can earn very different credits because one has a hip roof with strapped trusses and a sealed deck and the other has a gable roof held down by toe-nails.

That is also why the inspection is worth doing even on an older home. A feature you already own — clips installed when the house was built, or a secondary water barrier added during a past re-roof — earns nothing until it is documented on the form.

The roof features the form documents

Most of the form is about the roof, because that is where most wind losses begin. In broad terms, the inspector records:

• Building code: the code the home was built or permitted under, which the form uses as a baseline for newer construction.
• Roof covering: the type of covering on each slope and whether it is documented as meeting the Florida Building Code, typically through product-approval information or a roofing permit date. Your roof's permit history matters here.
• Roof-deck attachment: how the plywood or other sheathing is fastened to the trusses — nail size and spacing, or a different deck type such as concrete. Tighter nailing with larger nails resists uplift better and earns more credit.
• Roof-to-wall attachment: how the roof framing is tied to the walls, ranging from toe-nails to metal clips to single or double wraps. Uplift that tears a roof off its walls is one of the most expensive failures a house can have.
• Roof geometry: whether the roof is hip, flat or 'other' (gable and mixed shapes). Hip roofs, which slope on all sides, generally perform better in high wind.
• Secondary water resistance: whether a self-adhering membrane or similar barrier covers the deck seams, so the house stays drier if the covering is torn off.
• Opening protection: impact-rated windows, doors and garage doors, or approved shutters, at every opening. Not a roof item, but often one of the largest credits on the form.

What changed with the April 2026 form

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation revised the form after a 2024 research study of wind-resistant building features. The new version, OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26), became mandatory for inspections performed on or after April 1, 2026.

According to Citizens Property Insurance's bulletin on the change, the revision updates the building code, roof covering, roof-deck attachment, roof-to-wall attachment, secondary water resistance and opening protection sections, and adds FORTIFIED Home designations (Roof, Silver and Gold), a region designation based on design wind speed, and roof-slope tracking for homes with multiple slopes.

If you already have a report on the previous form (Rev. 01/12), it does not simply expire because the form changed. Citizens has said it will continue to accept a prior-version form completed within five years before April 1, 2026. Other insurers set their own practices, so ask your agent whether your existing report is still being honored before paying for a new one.

Who can sign the form

Section 627.711, Florida Statutes, limits who may sign a mitigation verification form. The list includes home inspectors licensed in Florida who have completed approved hurricane-mitigation training, certified building code inspectors, licensed general, building and residential contractors, licensed professional engineers and licensed architects — plus anyone else the insurer accepts as qualified. The person who signs generally must personally inspect the home, although engineers and contractors may use their own direct employees.

A roofing-only contractor license is not one of the categories the statute names. In practice that means the roofer who installed your roof is usually not the person who signs your wind mitigation form, even though their work is what the form records. If you are unsure whether an inspector qualifies, ask your insurer before the appointment.

The statute also carries real penalties for false or misleading forms, which is one reason insurers sometimes re-inspect homes that report unusually strong features. A form should only claim what the inspector can verify.

What it costs and when to get one

A standalone wind mitigation inspection in South Florida commonly runs about $75–$175, depending on the inspector, the size of the home and whether attic access is easy. Many inspectors bundle it with a 4-point inspection for roughly $150–$275. Those are typical market prices, not fixed fees, so get a quote.

The My Safe Florida Home program has offered free wind mitigation inspections to eligible homeowners, along with matching grants of up to $10,000 for qualifying hardening work such as roof improvements, secondary water barriers and opening protection. Funding, eligibility and application windows change from year to year, so check the program's current status before planning around it.

The right moments to get a new inspection are predictable:

• Right after a roof replacement passes its final inspection. A new HVHZ roof usually changes several answers on the form.
• When you buy a home, so your first policy is rated on the house you actually bought.
• When your current form is approaching five years old.
• After adding impact windows, shutters or roof-to-wall reinforcement.
• When your insurer or agent asks for one at renewal.

Getting full credit from a re-roof

In Broward County, a re-roof is the single best opportunity to improve your wind mitigation results, because the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements already call for the features the form rewards: a deck re-nailed to current fastener schedules and a self-adhering underlayment that acts as a secondary water barrier, installed with Miami-Dade NOA-approved products.

The catch is verification. Once the new covering is on, nobody can see the nailing pattern or the underlayment from the attic or the roof surface. Keep the permit and final inspection approval, the product approval documentation, the contractor's written scope describing the deck fastening and underlayment, and dated photos taken during installation. Inspectors can generally only credit what they can see or document.

Our crews are fully licensed and insured and build Broward roofs to the HVHZ requirements, and we provide that documentation at the end of the job so your wind mitigation inspector has what they need. The inspection itself is performed by an independent inspector your insurer accepts.

What the inspection won't do

It does not guarantee a particular discount. Each insurer files its own rating plan, and the Office of Insurance Regulation publishes the ranges of wind credits for existing construction on separate disclosure forms. Two carriers can price the same form differently.

It also does not replace a 4-point inspection or a roof condition report. Those answer a different question — what condition the home's systems are in — and many insurers ask for them on older homes regardless of how good the wind mitigation results are. This guide is general information; confirm how your policy applies credits with your agent or insurer.