Florida Wind-Mitigation Inspections: The Uniform Form, Credits, and Limits

Who may sign the form, and how the inspection has to be done

Section 627.711(2) lists the authorized mitigation inspectors whose signed form an insurer shall accept as valid: a home inspector licensed under § 468.8314 who has completed at least three hours of CILB-approved hurricane-mitigation training that includes the uniform form and a proficiency exam; a building code inspector certified under § 468.607; a general, building, or residential contractor licensed under § 489.111; a professional engineer licensed under § 471.015; a professional architect licensed under § 481.213; or any other individual or entity the insurer recognizes as qualified. An insurer may, but is not required to, accept a form from someone else it finds acceptable.

The person authorized to sign must generally inspect the structures personally, not through employees, and must attest to that personal inspection. Licensees under § 471.015 or § 489.111 may authorize a direct employee — not an independent contractor — who has the requisite skill to conduct the inspection; the insurer may ask about that employee’s qualifications. DFS restates these rules on its mitigation-forms page. Signing a form that falsely claims a personal inspection, invents a feature, or is grossly negligent can be misconduct under the statute, and knowingly uttering a fraudulent form to obtain a discount is a first-degree misdemeanor under § 627.711(8).

What the form is for — and what it is not

The form is an input to wind-premium credits. It is not a bid, not a roof-condition warranty, and not automatically the “useful life” inspection described in § 627.7011(5) for the roof-age underwriting rule. It is also not the same thing as a My Safe Florida Home program inspection, although a program inspection may discuss similar features and, according to the program, can be shared with an insurer. See our My Safe Florida Home and roof-age guides.

The revised April 2026 form, OIR says, is more comprehensive, adds categories, and specifies documentation that must accompany entries. OIR’s wind-mitigation resources page also notes a 2024 Applied Research Associates residential wind-loss mitigation study and an ongoing review of related discount and notice forms. We will not paraphrase unpublished discount tables. Insurers may, at their expense, independently verify a form before accepting it, with a specific exception described in the statute for certain forms submitted to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.

Roof features that often appear in the conversation

Owners usually hear about roof shape (hip versus gable), roof covering, the nailing or attachment of the deck, roof-to-wall connectors, and a secondary water barrier. Those features are also the kinds of roof improvements the My Safe Florida Home statute lists when a grant is available: reinforcing roof-to-wall connections, improving deck attachments, and installing secondary water resistance with a covering replacement. Whether any of them exist on your house is a field question. Our hip and gable pages discuss shape and wind research; they are not a substitute for the form.

A reroof can be a chance to improve deck nailing and to add a documented secondary water barrier, if the approved assembly and the official allow it. That work has to be permitted and built as designed, then documented. A mitigation inspector who was not there for the reroof may still need photographs, permit records, or openings in the attic to verify what was done. Keep the paperwork.

How to use a report without overclaiming it

Give a completed, current form to your agent and ask the company to apply whatever credits it files. If the roof or openings change, the form can become stale before five years are up. Do not pay a solicitor who promises a specific premium cut as a condition of hiring them to inspect; § 627.711(6) forbids an authorized inspector from offering compensation to an insurance agent for referrals, and forbids agents from accepting it.

If you want quotes for work that might also improve documented features — a replacement, opening protection, or structural connectors — use roof replacement or the relevant service page, and confirm licenses. This site is a matching service, not an inspection company.

How to prepare for the inspector, and what to keep afterward

Make the attic reasonably accessible, if the house has one. Deck nailing and some roof-to-wall connectors are often verified from below, not only from the yard. Have permit records, product approvals, and any photographs taken during a reroof ready; the April 2026 form requires documentation for attributes, including at least one photograph or document for many of the features the inspector marks, according to the form itself as described by OIR. The inspector still has to make a personal inspection. Paperwork helps; it does not replace one.

After you receive the form, read it before you send it to the insurer. If a feature is marked that you do not believe exists, ask for a correction rather than submitting a form you know is wrong. Keep a copy with the policy and with the house file, and remember the five-year validity is not a reason to reuse a form after you have changed the roof or the openings. If a solicitor offers to “get you the discount” for a referral fee paid to your agent, that is the kind of arrangement § 627.711(6) forbids.

Credits are filed by insurers, not calculated on this website

Section 627.711 also requires that the prescribed notice of available discount ranges, and a list of ranges approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation for each licensed insurer that provides them, be available for electronic viewing and download from DFS or OIR. If you want to see a range, start with those official pages and with the notice your insurer already has to send at issuance and renewal. A neighborhood rumor about “20 percent off for a hip roof” is not a filed rate. The only number that matters is the one your company applies to your policy after it accepts a valid form.