Wind Mitigation Inspections in Southwest Florida

A wind mitigation inspection documents your home's wind-resistant features on Florida's Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802. Florida law requires insurers to discount the windstorm portion of your premium based on what the form shows. The form is valid for up to five years.

What the inspection actually does

Wind mitigation is the rare inspection that exists to save you money rather than to find problems. It does not assess condition or identify defects. It records which wind-resistant features your home already has, so your insurer can apply the credits Florida law requires them to offer.

The document is the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, known almost universally as the 1802. It is published by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and every licensed insurer in the state accepts it. Under Florida Statute 627.0629, insurers must discount the windstorm portion of your premium based on the features it verifies.

What the form looks at

The 1802 works from the roof down, because in Florida the roof is where most of the credit sits.

• Building code compliance — when the home was permitted, and therefore which code it was built to.
• Roof covering — material, and whether it meets current code requirements.
• Roof deck attachment — how the sheathing is fastened. Nail type and spacing matter here more than homeowners expect.
• Roof-to-wall connection — toe nails, clips, single or double wraps. This is often the largest single credit on the form.
• Roof geometry — hip roofs earn a credit that gable roofs do not, because of how they behave under uplift.
• Secondary water resistance — a sealed underlayment beneath the roof covering.
• Opening protection — impact windows, doors, and shutters, and critically whether every opening is protected.

Why so many Southwest Florida homes are under-credited

Two patterns come up repeatedly here.

You replaced the roof and never re-inspected

A roof replaced after a storm is almost always installed to current code, frequently with better deck attachment and often with secondary water resistance. Those are credits. If the last 1802 on file predates the new roof, the carrier is pricing your policy against the old one.

Opening protection is close but not complete

Opening protection is generally credited on an all-or-nothing basis. A home with impact windows throughout but one unprotected sliding door or a bare entry door can lose the credit entirely. It is worth knowing which opening is costing you, because it is often a single inexpensive fix.

How long the form lasts

An 1802 is valid for up to five years from the inspection date, provided no material changes are made to the structure and no inaccuracies are found on the form. Your insurer is not obliged to remind you when it lapses, so it is worth putting the expiry in your calendar.

Re-inspect sooner than five years if you replace the roof, add hurricane straps, install impact windows or shutters, or make any other qualifying improvement. There is no reason to wait out the clock on a credit you have already earned.

Who is allowed to complete the form

Not everyone can sign an 1802. Under Florida Statute 627.711, the form must be certified by a qualified inspector: a licensed home inspector who has completed the required hurricane mitigation training and proficiency exam, a licensed general, building, or residential contractor, a professional engineer, or a licensed architect.

This matters practically, not just procedurally. Citizens Property Insurance reserves the right to order its own independent inspection to verify a form, and will not accept one where the inspector's Florida licence cannot be verified as active. A form completed by someone unqualified can cost you the credits entirely.

Ordering it with a four-point

Wind mitigation is frequently ordered alongside a four-point inspection, and the two answer different questions. The four-point decides whether a carrier will insure the home. The 1802 decides how much of a discount you get. If a carrier has asked for a four-point, it is almost always worth doing both in one visit.

Service area

We perform wind mitigation inspections throughout Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties, including Cape Coral, Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Lehigh Acres, Punta Gorda, and Marco Island. See our full service areas.