Hurricane Mitigation Retrofits -Tallahassee Strikes Again. Hold onto Your Wallets Folks.

New rules on re-roofing and hurricane resistance will cost you dollars.

October 12, 2007 – Palm Coast, Florida – Effective October 1, 2007, Palm Coast will begin enforcing new provisions of a law passed recently in Tallahassee, CH 2007 – 126, innocuously titled “My Safe Florida Home Program.” Did you ever notice that the nicer the title of a new law, the more likely it was to cost you something? Under prescribed circumstances, the law requires hurricane mitigation retrofits for site built, single family homes built prior to March 1, 2002. (see update below)

There are two basic ways to re-roof your home. The first is to apply a second layer of shingles over the existing layer. Current code allows a total of two layers, so you can only do this one time. The second, and best, way is to remove the existing shingles and apply new shingles directly to the deck. If you choose to remove the existing roof covering, here is what will happen.

West of Belle Terre (not a wind borne debris region) – Regardless of the house value, roof decking attachments and fasteners must be strengthened to meet current building codes. The decking seams must be taped. A secondary water barrier must be installed,

East of Belle Terre (in the wind borne debris region) – If the assessed value exceeds $300,000, you will be required to enhance the roof to wall connections at a cost of a minimum of 15% of the re-roofing cost. The prescribed method requires removal and reattachment of some decking to allow access to the roof to wall area. If the assessed value is under $300,000, the requirements are the same as west of Belle Terre.

For the debris borne region only – For any building permit applied for after July 1, 2008, for a property assessed at above $750,000 and when $50,000 or more of work is being done, opening protections must be installed. Opening protections are hurricane resistant glass or hurricane shutters.

This is a stupid law. It will encourage people to elect to apply a second layer of shingles when removal of the old shingles is preferable. It will also result in lots of un-permitted weekend re-roofing.

The people who develop building codes for the state did not ask for this. The insurance industry did. Why were our legislators so conciliatory? The largest insurer in Florida is Citizens Insurance, the state operated insurance fund. The legislators are essentially Citizens board of directors. The inmates are running the asylum.

October 13, 2007 – UPDATE – To clarify this issue, hurricane mitigation is ONLY required IF you re-roof or if (after July 1, 2008) you live in a home in the debris borne region AND your property is assessed for more than $750,000 AND you are requesting a building permit of $50,000 in value or more. Retrofits will ot be required for all homes. Sorry if I confused some people.