A wind-mitigation report is two pages of checkboxes that can move your annual premium by several thousand dollars in South Florida. The form has been the same since 2012 — but most homeowners never look at it, and many roofers do not understand which boxes drive the biggest discounts.
Here is the field guide, by line item.
The eight that matter
Building code. When the home was permitted. Anything 2002 or later starts from a stronger baseline. Pre-2002 homes get less default credit but stand to gain the most from upgrades.
Roof covering. Whether the covering itself is rated as windstorm-compliant under FBC or as Miami-Dade compliant. Tile, slate, and metal that meet the standards earn the highest credit. Older asphalt without product approval earns the least.
Roof deck attachment. This is often the largest single line item. 8d nails at 6"/6" or better (deck to truss) versus older patterns can shift the discount substantially.
Roof-to-wall attachment. Toe-nails, clips, single wraps, double wraps. Wraps move the needle. Most homes built before the mid-1990s have less than full wraps.
Roof geometry. Hip versus gable versus flat. Hip roofs earn the highest geometry credit; gables earn the lowest because the gable end is the failure mode.
Secondary water resistance. Whether there is a self-adhered membrane over the deck under the underlayment. This is verifiable only when the covering is off — meaning the report depends on documentation from your re-roof.
Opening protection. Hurricane-rated windows and doors, or qualifying shutters. Roof projects do not affect this, but a full report addresses all openings together.
Year of construction and renovation. Substantial updates can update the rating year on the report. A current-code re-roof typically counts.
What does not move the needle
Many roof features that sound consequential are not on the form. Color, decorative tile, ridge ventilation, gutters, attic insulation, and skylights all matter for many reasons — but not on the wind-mitigation report. Save your money there if the only goal is the discount.
A note on inspectors
Wind-mitigation reports are written by licensed Florida inspectors, not roofers. We recommend three independent ones in our service area; we do not write reports ourselves. Conflict of interest matters, and a clean report from a known third party survives carrier scrutiny better than a bundled one.
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