Wind mitigation, explained

If you own a home in Florida, one short inspection can change how your insurer looks at the wind part of your policy. It’s called a wind mitigation inspection, and a surprising number of homeowners have never had one.

Here’s what it is, what the inspector checks, and what to do with the form afterwards.

What it is

A qualified inspector looks at how well your home is built to stand up to hurricane winds. They record what they find on the state’s own form, the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (you’ll see it called OIR-B1-1802), with photos to back up each answer.

You then give that form to your insurance company. It’s how they know what your home actually has, instead of guessing from its age.

Why it matters

Florida law requires home insurers to offer discounts for building features that reduce hurricane damage, and to tell you which discounts are available. But the insurer can only apply what it can verify. Without the form, a home with a strong roof and impact windows can look, on paper, like any other house on the street.

What the inspector looks at

The main things on the form:

• Roof covering. What your roof is made of and whether it met the building code when it was installed.
• Roof deck attachment. How the roof boards are fastened to the frame, down to the nails.
• Roof-to-wall attachment. How the roof is tied to the walls: clips, straps or wraps hold it on in high winds.
• Roof shape. Hip roofs, which slope down on all sides, tend to handle wind better than gable roofs.
• Secondary water resistance. An extra barrier under the roof covering that helps keep water out if shingles or tiles blow off.
• Opening protection. Impact-rated windows and doors, or approved shutters, on the openings of the house.

The state updated the form on April 1, 2026, and the new version asks for more detail and more documentation. If your last inspection is on the old form, ask whether it’s still being accepted.

Good to know

1. It lasts up to five years, as long as nothing important about the house changes. Replace the roof or add shutters, and it’s worth a new inspection.
2. Use a qualified inspector. Licensed home inspectors with hurricane mitigation training, building code inspectors, contractors, engineers and architects can all sign the form.
3. Accuracy matters. A false form is a crime in Florida. Be wary of anyone who promises a particular result before they’ve looked at your house.
4. Keep a copy. If you change insurers, the same form can usually go with you.

Want me to check yours?

Send me your wind mitigation form, or just tell me roughly when your roof was replaced, and I’ll check that every credit your home has earned actually shows up on your policy.

Talk to Elona