Guides
Wind mitigation inspections and discounts
What a wind mitigation inspection checks, who may sign Florida's OIR-B1-1802 form, how long it lasts, and how to turn the report into a lower wind premium.
A wind mitigation inspection is a signed record of the features that help your house resist hurricane-force wind: how the roof deck is nailed, how the roof is tied to the walls, whether openings are protected, and similar details. In Florida it is done on the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802. Your insurer uses the form to apply discounts to the wind portion of your premium, so a house with strong features and no report is probably paying more than it needs to.
Florida's process is the most formal, so this guide centers on it, then covers what other hurricane states do. Credit amounts are set in each insurer's filing and cannot be generalized, so use the steps below to find your own.
What the inspection is, and what it isn't
It is not a home inspection, and it is not a four-point inspection, which looks at the roof's condition, electrical, plumbing and HVAC for underwriting. A wind mitigation inspection does not grade condition. It records construction details, and most of them cannot be seen from the ground.
Florida's My Safe Florida Home program runs a separate inspection that is free to eligible homeowners and does not require a grant application; the program has income and homestead rules (state home hardening grant programs). The IBHS FORTIFIED program uses its own evaluator and certificate (The FORTIFIED Home standard and insurance discounts).
What the inspector checks
The form names these features. The table follows the 2012 edition (Rev. 01/12); the April 2026 edition covers the same ground in more detail, as described below.
| Feature | What the form asks | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Building code | Was the home built to the Florida Building Code (2001 or later), or in Miami-Dade or Broward to the 1994 South Florida code? Homes from 2002 and 2003 need a permit application dated after March 1, 2002 | Records the age of the construction standard |
| Roof covering | Product approval number, permit date or installation year for each covering | Shows whether the roof covering was approved for the code in force when installed |
| Roof deck attachment | The weakest nailing of the sheathing: 6d nails at 6 inches at the edge and 12 inches in the field, 8d nails at 12 inches, 8d nails at 6 inches, or a reinforced concrete deck | Decks nailed more densely resist uplift better |
| Roof-to-wall attachment | The weakest connection: toe nails, clips, single wraps, double wraps, or structural anchor bolts | Roofs that lift off take the rest of the house with them |
| Roof shape | Hip roof, flat roof or other | The form separates hip roofs with no other shapes over 10% of the roof perimeter, flat roofs and all others |
| Secondary water resistance | A self-adhering underlayment or foam adhesive barrier over the deck seams; ordinary felt does not count | Limits water entry if shingles blow off |
| Opening protection | The weakest protection on any window, entry door, garage door or skylight, from impact-rated products or shutters down to none | One unprotected opening can set the answer for the whole house |
Three things make this form tricky. First, it scores the weakest link, not the average: a single old garage door or a few unreinforced connections determine the answer for that feature. Second, an answer of "unknown" or "no attic access" earns the lowest credit, so make the attic reachable. Third, each answer needs proof: the form requires at least one photograph for each attribute marked in the construction questions, plus any permits or product approvals.
The revised form, OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26), is required for inspections on or after April 1, 2026. Citizens told agents it adds categories and documentation rules, accepts FORTIFIED Roof, Silver and Gold certificates for certain features, determines region by design wind speed, and requires multi-slope roofs to be itemized (Citizens, March 2026). Citizens also said it will accept the older form for an unchanged home if the inspection was completed within five years before April 1, 2026.
Who can sign it
Under Fla. Stat. 627.711, qualified signers are home inspectors with the required hurricane mitigation training, certified building code inspectors, licensed general, building or residential contractors, professional engineers and architects, and anyone else the insurer recognizes (Fla. Stat. 627.711). Insurers must accept a form from a listed signer. They can require independent verification at their own expense. The signer must inspect personally, though engineers and contractors may use a direct employee.
The statute also draws guardrails you can use as a checklist. Signing a form that falsely claims a personal inspection, or that shows a discount feature the inspector knows is missing, is misconduct. Offering or taking referral fees from agents is prohibited. Knowingly submitting a false form to obtain a discount you are not entitled to is a first-degree misdemeanor. Hire the inspector yourself, check the license, and do not agree to "guaranteed" results.
How the discount works
Florida requires residential rate filings to include actuarially reasonable discounts, credits or deductible reductions for wind-resistant features (Fla. Stat. 627.0629). Hurricane and non-hurricane premiums must be shown separately, and the credits apply to the hurricane portion. Insurers must notify you of available discounts at issuance and each renewal, and since October 1, 2023 they must post their hurricane mitigation discount information on their websites. The Office of Insurance Regulation reevaluates the qualifying features and discount amounts every five years.
Say the hurricane portion of your premium is $3,000 and your insurer's credits for your features total 30% (hypothetical numbers). The saving is $900 a year. If the inspection costs $150, it pays back in about two months. If your house has few qualifying features and the credit comes to $100 a year, the same inspection pays back in about a year and a half. Ask your agent for the insurer's credit table before you book, then compare with the roof and mitigation upgrade payback calculator.
How long the report lasts
The form is valid for up to five years provided no material changes have been made to the structure. The new edition adds that the form is valid only if no inaccuracies are found. Replace the roof, add shutters or impact windows, or retrofit straps, and the old report understates your home. Get a new inspection after any upgrade. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and private insurers also set their own submission requirements, so confirm the form version before you pay.
Getting the credit: steps
- Collect what you have. Year built, roofing permit and product approval numbers, window and door labels, and any receipts for shutters or retrofits.
- Ask your agent for the insurer's mitigation credit table and for the form version the insurer will accept.
- Hire a qualified signer and confirm what they will photograph. Ask them to open the attic and to check the weakest points on purpose; they are the ones that set the answer.
- Be there. You can confirm what the inspector saw and supply permits.
- Read the finished form for entries marked "unknown" or "no attic access" and ask whether any can be resolved with documents or access.
- Send it to your agent or insurer in writing and ask for a re-rate. Ask whether the credit applies from the policy's inception or only from the next renewal.
- Check the premium notice, specifically the hurricane premium line, to confirm the credit appears.
- Keep a copy. The form itself says to keep it with the policy documents. Re-inspect after upgrades or in five years.
Why some homes get little
Older houses built before the 2001 Florida Building Code often score low on several features at once: toe-nailed roof connections, an older nailing pattern and no secondary water resistance. That is not a reason to skip the inspection, since it reveals what a retrofit would buy, but expect a modest credit. Upgrades that change the form include re-roofing with a sealed roof deck and a stronger nailing pattern (secondary water resistance and roof-deck attachment) and installing shutters or impact windows (hurricane shutters and impact windows: protection and savings). My Safe Florida Home grants can pay up to $10,000 of the state share for such work, but under the 2026 law they are limited to low- and moderate-income homeowners with homestead exemptions and homes insured for $700,000 or less and built before 2008.
Other states
The form is a Florida creation, but other hurricane states reward the same features. Alabama requires insurers to include discounts, with benchmark amounts set by the Department of Insurance for FORTIFIED levels; Louisiana requires insurers to provide discounts for FORTIFIED homes; South Carolina requires coastal rating plans to include credits for shutters, roof tie-downs and similar features, plus a duty to tell policyholders about available discounts at new business and renewal; and North Carolina's rate bureau manual provides credits in its coastal territories. See Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida for details, and use home insurance rules by state for other states.
Key takeaways
- A wind mitigation inspection documents roof deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections, roof shape, secondary water resistance, opening protection and the building code era so insurers can discount the wind part of your premium.
- Florida's OIR-B1-1802 form is signed by a qualified inspector, backed by photographs, valid for up to five years and, since April 1, 2026, issued in a revised edition.
- The form scores your weakest point in each category, and "unknown" or "no attic access" earns the lowest credit.
- Credit sizes come from your insurer's filing, so ask for the table before you book and verify the credit on your premium notice afterward.
- Re-inspect after a new roof, shutters or impact windows, and never pay for a report that promises a particular result.