A wind mitigation inspection is the single largest premium-saving move available to a Florida homeowner. One $100 to $200 inspection, valid for five years, can take 25% to 45% off the windstorm portion of your homeowners premium. In a state where wind is the single biggest line item on most policies, that often works out to several hundred to a few thousand dollars a year in savings on the same coverage.
The discounts are not optional for the insurer. Florida Statute § 627.0629 requires every homeowners carrier writing in the state to apply credits for verified wind-resistant construction features. If you have the features and you have the paperwork to prove them, the carrier has to give you the credit. This guide walks through what the inspection actually checks, what the savings look like, what the major OIR-B1-1802 form update that took effect April 1, 2026 means for you, and the steps to make sure every credit you have earned actually shows up on your declarations page.
What a Wind Mitigation Inspection Actually Is
A wind mitigation inspection is a focused on-site evaluation of the construction features that affect how your home performs in high winds. A qualified inspector walks the roof, the attic, and every opening (windows, doors, garage door, skylights), documents what is there with photos, and fills out a standardized state form. The form is the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, more commonly called the OIR-B1-1802. Every homeowners carrier in Florida accepts this form, and every carrier is required to honor the credits the form documents.
The statutory backbone is § 627.0629. The section requires the Office of Insurance Regulation to identify construction features that reduce hurricane losses, and it requires every authorized homeowners insurer to file a rate plan that gives discounts, credits, or rate reductions reflecting the loss-reduction value of those features. The same section now requires OIR, by January 1, 2025 and every five years after, to review and update both the features on the list and the discount levels attached to them. The 2025 cycle produced the form revision that took effect in April 2026.
The carrier cannot pick and choose which credits to apply. Once the form documents a qualifying feature, the corresponding discount is mandatory. If you submit a current OIR-B1-1802 and the renewal premium does not change, ask the carrier in writing which credits were applied. The answer should match the form.
What the Inspector Checks
The OIR-B1-1802 evaluates seven specific construction features, in the order shown below. Each one has its own discount weight, and at least one color photo per feature is required for the form to be valid.
| # | Feature | What It Documents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building code compliance | Year the home was permitted for new construction, which determines which Florida Building Code edition it was built under. Homes permitted on or after March 1, 2002 are presumed to meet the post-Andrew code; 2007 and 2012 editions add stronger credit tiers. |
| 2 | Roof covering | Whether shingles, tile, metal, or other covering meets the Florida Building Code product-approval standard in effect when installed. A permitted re-roof under the current code typically requalifies the home for the credit. |
| 3 | Roof deck attachment | How the plywood or OSB sheathing is nailed to the rafters or trusses. Larger nails (8d) at tighter spacing (6 inches in the field) earn a stronger credit than older 6d nails at 6/12 spacing. |
| 4 | Roof-to-wall attachment | Whether rafters or trusses are toe-nailed, clipped, single-wrapped, or double-wrapped to the top plate. Hurricane straps and clips are the single largest roof-side credit on most homes. |
| 5 | Roof geometry | Hip (sloping on all four sides) versus gable or other shapes. A hip roof has measurably better wind performance and carries one of the largest single credits on the form. |
| 6 | Secondary water resistance (SWR) | Whether a self-adhering peel-and-stick membrane or equivalent was installed over the seams of the roof deck when the covering was last replaced. SWR keeps water out if the primary covering blows off. |
| 7 | Opening protection | Whether every window, door, garage door, and skylight is protected against windborne debris by impact-rated glazing or approved shutters. The form rates the protection at the level of the weakest opening on the home. |
The opening-protection section is the one that costs most homeowners the largest available credit. The form scores the entire house at the level of the weakest opening. A home with full impact windows, impact doors, and impact-rated garage door but one unprotected skylight gets opening-protection credit at the unprotected-skylight level, not at the impact-window level. If you are within a year or two of a renovation, fixing that single weakest opening before the next inspection often pays for itself in one renewal cycle.
How Much You Can Actually Save
The discount applies only to the windstorm (hurricane) portion of your premium, not to the whole premium. On most Florida homeowners policies, wind is roughly 30% to 60% of the total. A home where wind is 50% of premium and the mitigation credits cut wind by 40% sees a 20% total-premium reduction. The exact split shows up on your declarations page or in the windstorm rating worksheet your carrier will provide on request.
Industry data on what each feature is worth varies by carrier and territory, but the rough order of magnitude is well established. The table below gives the typical savings range on the wind portion of premium for each feature. A home that earns credits across all seven features can stack discounts that, on the wind portion alone, run to the high end of the published range.
| Feature | Typical Wind-Premium Credit |
|---|---|
| Hip roof (vs gable) | Roughly 8% to 20% |
| Hurricane straps or clips (roof-to-wall) | Roughly 10% to 30% |
| Stronger nailing pattern (roof deck) | Roughly 2% to 10% |
| Secondary water resistance | Roughly 2% to 5% |
| Impact glazing or shutters on every opening | Roughly 20% to 40% |
| FBC-compliant roof covering | Roughly 2% to 6% |
| Post-2002 (or stronger) code construction year | Roughly 3% to 10% |
Numbers above are typical credit ranges on the wind portion of premium, not on the total premium. A stacked report that documents every feature is what produces the headline 25% to 45% total-premium reductions that show up in case studies. Your actual savings depend on your carrier, your county, and your dwelling limit.
What the Inspection Costs and Who Can Do It
A standalone wind mitigation inspection in Florida runs roughly $100 to $200 in 2026, with most flat-fee inspectors quoting $125 to $150. If you are buying a home, your four-point inspection and wind mitigation inspection are often bundled at a small discount, since the inspector is on site anyway. The inspector spends about an hour at the property, takes the required photos, and emails the completed and signed PDF within a day or two.
Not every contractor or handyman can sign the form. Section 627.711, Florida Statutes, restricts the OIR-B1-1802 to a specific list of licensed professionals: general, building, or residential contractors licensed under § 489.111; professional engineers licensed under § 471.015; professional architects licensed under § 481.213; building code inspectors certified under § 468.607; and home inspectors licensed under § 468.8314 who have completed an approved wind mitigation course. The inspection has to be performed and signed by the licensee personally, not by an unlicensed assistant working under their license.
Carriers will reject a form signed by anyone outside that list, and Florida roofers are not on the list. If you call your roofer for a 'wind mit report,' the document they give you is not the form your carrier needs. Hire a licensed inspector, engineer, or qualifying contractor, and confirm the credential before you pay.
What Changed on April 1, 2026
The OIR-B1-1802 form was revised effective April 1, 2026. It is the first substantive change to the form in over a decade and reflects the 2024 Residential Wind-Loss Mitigation Study commissioned by the Office of Insurance Regulation. The revised form sharpens the documentation requirements (more photos, clearer attribute definitions), narrows ambiguous categories that had been producing inconsistent credits, and aligns the feature list with current Florida Building Code language.
Two practical effects for homeowners. First, any new inspection performed on or after April 1, 2026 must be done on the new form; carriers can refuse the old version. Second, insurers were given a runway to update their rate filings to match the new credit structure, and the OIR-published rollout calls for those updated credits to be applied to new business and renewals starting in July 2026. There is a brief window in which an inspection sits on the new form but the renewal is still rated against the old credit table. Once the new credits are filed, the savings should be at least as good and in some cases slightly better, particularly on opening protection.
If your existing OIR-B1-1802 report is from before April 2026 and is still inside its five-year validity window, it is still good. The new form is not retroactive. You only need a new inspection on the updated form if the old one is about to expire, your home has changed (new roof, new windows, new garage door), or you are buying or refinancing.
How Long the Report Is Good For
An OIR-B1-1802 report is valid for five years from the date of inspection, provided no material changes have been made to the structure and no inaccuracies are later discovered on the form. After five years, carriers can require a new inspection at renewal to keep the credits in force. The cleanest practice is to re-inspect a few months before the five-year mark so the report does not lapse between annual renewals.
Three other events should trigger a new inspection regardless of when the last one was completed: a roof replacement (the new covering, deck attachment, secondary water barrier, and underlayment all need to be re-documented to claim the upgraded credits), an opening upgrade (new impact windows, impact doors, hurricane shutters, or a hurricane-rated garage door), and a sale or refinance (lenders and new carriers want a recent report). The cost of a fresh inspection is almost always covered by the next renewal's premium reduction.
How to Maximize What the Report Saves You
Most homeowners leave money on the table at one of three steps: the inspection, the carrier filing, or the upgrade decision. The list below is the order of operations that consistently produces the largest stacked savings.
- check_circleApply for the My Safe Florida Home program before you pay for a private inspection. The state program funds a free wind mitigation inspection and, for qualifying homes, matching grants up to $10,000 toward approved upgrades (impact windows, impact garage doors, roof hardening). The 2026-2027 budget cycle increased program funding substantially, and the inspection alone is worth applying for even if you do not pursue the grant.
- check_circleHire a licensed inspector with carrier experience, not just the cheapest one. The form rewards careful documentation. An inspector who knows what photo angles, attic-access shots, and code documentation insurers ask for will not have credits stripped at the underwriter's desk for missing evidence.
- check_circleFix the weakest opening before the inspection if you are close. The form scores opening protection at the level of the weakest opening. Adding a single impact-rated skylight or fabric panel for one unprotected door before the inspector arrives can move you from no opening-protection credit to the full impact-rated credit on every other opening.
- check_circleSend the completed form to your carrier in writing and confirm in writing that each credit was applied. Re-quote the same form against the broader market through an independent agent. The credits are uniform; the windstorm base rates the credits apply to are not.
- check_circleRe-inspect after any major upgrade. A new roof installed under the current Florida Building Code or new impact windows on every opening can shift you into a noticeably better credit tier. The carrier will not requalify you on its own; you have to send a new form.
- check_circleKeep the original signed PDF. If you switch carriers, the new carrier accepts the same OIR-B1-1802 as long as it is within the five-year window. You do not need to repeat the inspection just because the policy changed.
The Bottom Line
A wind mitigation inspection is the lowest-effort, highest-return move available to a Florida homeowner on premium. The discounts are statutory under § 627.0629, the form is standardized as the OIR-B1-1802, the inspection runs $100 to $200, and the report is good for five years. The April 2026 form revision is the first material update in over a decade and should produce equal or slightly better credits as carriers fold the new structure into 2026 rate filings. If you have not had an inspection in the last five years, schedule one. If you have, pull the form out, line it up against your current declarations page, and confirm every credit you earned is actually on the policy. Both moves typically pay for themselves in a single renewal cycle, and the savings compound for as long as you own the home.