Fla. Rating System Scores Homes’ Ability to Withstand Wind Damage

Florida officials have developed a system to rate homes on their ability to withstand wind damage.

The rating system — created in response to recent legislation and named the Home Structure Rating System — scores homes on a scale of 1 to 100 to measure a home’s relative ability to withstand severe windstorm damage.

The primary factors used to calculate the HSRS score include roof shape, secondary water resistance, roof cover, roof deck attachment, roof-to-wall connection, opening protection, number of stories, and roof covering type in addition to general geographic features of wind zone location and local terrain.

“The adoption of a uniform scoring system for home safety is long overdue,” Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said. “For many Floridians, buying a home is the most important decision a family can make. Having this additional information will allow families to know how a house will endure hurricanes, and how mitigation measures affect insurance costs.”

The OIR worked with the University of Florida’s Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing and Applied Research Associates Inc. to complete the study and issue the report.

The HSRS Advisory Board included mitigation experts, home builders, insurance experts and representatives from academia.

A copy of the report is available at: http://www.floir.com/HomeStructureRatingSystem.htm

Source: www.floir.com