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Questions and
Answers on ARA Wind Certification Service
1. Why are
insurance companies offering discounts?
2. What construction features qualify
for discounts?
3. What is the value of the Insurance
Discounts?
4. What is ARA's Wind Certification
Service?
5. How is a Wind Certification Survey
Conducted?
6. How much is a Wind Certification
Survey?
7. How to order a Wind Certification
Survey?
The state legislation
adopted provisions for a new statewide building code (the 2001 Florida
Building Code), which became effective on March 1, 2002. The same
legislation included a requirement for insurance companies to provide
property insurance discounts for homes that have construction features
that reduce the losses in windstorms. Each insurance company was
required to submit new rates by February 28, 2003 and include
discounts for wind damage reduction (mitigation) construction
features.
The discounts are justified
because stronger, more wind-resistive houses have lower windstorm
losses, and lower windstorm losses means reduced costs to insurance
companies. The insurance discounts provide some financial incentives
for homeowners to strengthen their existing homes and for new
construction to be built to the strongest options in the Florida
Building Code.
These new insurance rate discounts in Florida begin to take place in
2003. They apply to both existing construction (houses built prior to
2002) and new construction built to the new statewide Florida Building
Code (FBC).
To qualify for these
discounts, most insurance companies require a certification of the key
construction features.
The following figure shows
typical features that reduce wind damage. Over 90% of existing houses
have one or more of these wind resistive construction features and may
qualify for some insurance discounts. In addition, houses built after
1994 in Miami-Dade or Broward Counties and houses built after 2002 in
the rest of the state generally have many wind resistive construction
features and will likely qualify for significant credits.
The following items are building features that
reduce wind damage for which many insurance companies offer wind
premium discounts. To learn more about each of these categories, click
on the highlighted portion of the text.
1. Roof coverings, such as
shingles that meet the FBC Requirements.
2. Roof decks that have been installed with large nails and close
spacing.
3. Hurricane clips/straps that hold the roof structure to the walls.
4. Protection of Openings such as windows and glass doors with impact
resistant glazing or other protection systems.
5. Secondary Water Resistance that prevents the roof from leaking if
the roof covering is blown off in a windstorm.
6. Newly Constructed Homes built to the Florida Building Code since
March 1, 2002
7. Homes built to the South Florida Building Code in Miami-Dade and
Broward Counties after 1994.
Please note that insurance
companies may have more features that qualify for credits such as
doors and gable end bracing.
See our
Retrofit Options document for more information on how to add these
features to your home.
The dollar value of the
discounts depends on three primary factors.
- The number of wind resistive construction
features present on your home - Some individual features may
qualify for 10% discount and others only a few percent. The more
wind resistive features you have, the higher total discount will be.
The discounts can be as high as 30% or more of the wind portion of
the insurance premium. (The portion of your premium that is for wind
losses is provided on your policy declaration page).
- The location of your home-Wind
insurance rates vary by location within the state. If your wind
insurance rates are high, then the percentage discounts will result
in more dollars for a house in a high rate area versus the same
house in a lower rate area.
- The value of your home- Discounts are
calculated as a percentage of the wind premium for your specific
home. High value homes have higher premiums, hence, the dollar value
of the discounts will increase as the value of the home increases.
Contact your insurance agent
or company to determine the potential value of the discounts for your
house.
Applied Research Associates
(ARA) has established a service to perform the detailed surveys to
qualify a home for wind insurance discounts. ARA has a network of
trained property surveyors that perform these detailed surveys
throughout the state of Florida. Upon receiving a request for a Wind
Certification, ARA assigns the request to one of our local trained
surveyors. The surveyor will contact the homeowner to arrange a time
to perform the wind certification survey. (The homeowner needs to be
present at the time of the survey since attic access is required for
part of the survey.) The survey generally takes less than 1 hour. The
survey will be completed and you will receive a detailed report of the
results to provide to your insurance company. Your insurance company
can then determine the amount of discount for your home.
ARA is the leader in
performing detailed evaluations of buildings for wind mitigation
construction features. ARA has developed detailed inspection methods
for the State of Florida's Residential Construction Mitigation Program
and has performed insurance wind mitigation inspections since 2000.
After you submit an order,
we will assign the order to one of our local property surveyors. The
local surveyor will call you to set up a convenient appointment time.
At the scheduled time, the
surveyor will arrive on site and complete the survey. As part of the
survey, the surveyor will also conduct a survey of the attic and use a
device to identify the roof deck attachment pattern, framing details,
and roof-wall connection.
The results of the survey
are forwarded to our main office for processing, where two items are
produced:
- A report for the home owner summarizing the
results of the survey.
- Completed forms for you to submit to your
insurance company to qualify your home for insurance discounts for
any of the wind resistance features that are on your home.
Typically, it is the
homeowner responsibility to forward these papers to their agent or
company (unless you sign a release allowing us to transmit the results
directly to your company - Note that this service is not available for
all insurance companies.)
For houses with less than
5000 square feet (under roof), the cost of a survey is $150. The cost
increases for larger houses.
| Living Space of Building
|
Cost |
| 0- 4999 square feet |
$150 |
| 5000 - 9999 square feet |
$255 |
| 10000 square feet and more |
$300 |
The surveyor will verify
square footage to confirm fee. Please note our
cancellation policy.
There are three ways to
order a Wind Certification Survey.
1. Internet request with
credit card payment,
click here.
2. Download a request form and
mail or fax it in, using either a check payment (via mail only) or a
credit card payment,
click
here.
3. Call 1-888-936-4272 to place an order and pay by credit card.
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