Florida insurance regulators have begun a once-every-five-year process to update the windstorm mitigation credits given to homeowners who harden their homes against storms. Part of the process includes updating the inspection form used to evaluate and certify the construction features of the home, especially the roof.

Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller sits down with a disaster consultant and a roofing products manufacturer who suggest further enhancing the inspection form to recognize more specialized, effective techniques that will maximize credits, increase resilience, and reduce costly damage from hurricanes.

Show Notes (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-65-pushing-floridas-building-envelope/ )

Joining Host Miller are Darius Grimes, President and CEO of Disaster-Smart Consulting, which provides inspection and consulting services, specializing in coastal risk, FORTIFIED Evaluations, and property-specific mitigation strategies; and James “Jimmy” Akins, Vice President of Technical Services, Warranty and Support for Polyglass, a large manufacturer of roofing products. The discussion focuses on updating Florida's wind mitigation inspection standards and improving roof resiliency through better underlayment technology.

“Loss of roof covering is responsible for about 70% of all hurricane claims,” said Grimes, quoting data from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). “It’s not that the houses get blown away like they did in Hurricane Andrew. It's that you lose 20% to 50% of your roof covering, and water pours into the structure. And then all of a sudden, you've got $40,000 or $50,000 worth of water damage to the interior of the home. You can't live in it. There's no power to dry it out, and you end up displaced from your home or displaced from your community.” Grimes, with more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry, noted that when that happens, there can be a cascading effect on small businesses closing and loss of local tax revenue.

Regulatory Changes

Host Miller and her guests discussed the updates to Form 1802, an inspection form used by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) to certify home construction features for insurance discounts. The updated form, effective April 1, 2026, now includes specific references to the IBHS FORTIFIED Standard, “which is considered the national gold standard of wind mitigation materials and construction techniques,” said host Miller. She noted the updates generated concern among some stakeholders about whether the FORTIFIED Standard or the Florida Building Code should be the primary benchmark for mitigation.

Grimes said the only real difference on roofing between the Florida Building Code and the FORTIFIED Program is the requirement for re-nailing the deck. IBHS requires the deck to be re-nailed four inches on center with ring shank nails, and the Florida Building Code is six inches on center, he said. “As a test engineer, we discovered that if we reduce... (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-65-pushing-floridas-building-envelope/ )