Wind Mitigation-Opening Protection discounts

One aspect of the Wind Mitigation Inspection is the “Opening Protections” credit and it is probably the most frustrating and difficult to understand discount feature provided to homeowners from their insurance carriers; but also, it’s the feature with the highest discount rating for homeowners. The word “glazed opening protection” refers to any opening in the house that has glass. This includes all windows, glass block, skylights, glass doors, etc. The term “non-glazed openings” means anything solid without glass such as metal doors, wooden doors, garage doors, etc. Doors with half moon glass or any other glass is considered a glazed opening and must be protected or impact rated. Every opening, whether glazed or unglazed needs to be either impact rated or protected by impact-rated protection devices.

These products must be verified by the home inspector performing a Wind Mitigation Inspection. All hurricane products and devices such as accordion shutters, hurricane panels, impact windows, impact doors, skylights, hurricane mesh, etc., must satisfy a laboratory test of 9-lb large missile impact and cyclic pressure test according to the guidelines of Miami-Dade county.

In order to verify if these protection products meet this criteria, the inspector will look for and document the presence of labels or etching marks on doors or windows, garage doors, skylights, hurricane panels, and accordion shutters, etc. Additional documentation such as invoices that may contain relevant information for compliance is also acceptable, such as “Notice of Compliance” ( NOA’s) issued by Miami Dade County, etc. Please note that building permits often will not show the required impact information required for eligibility, therefore they are not an acceptable form of verification.

We recommend not painting over labels and etchings and to save any documentation because often, they are the only way to verify and document the impact resistance of those products. If installing hurricane protection on your property, retain all documentation for future use. Additionally, take photographs of all labels/stickers on new windows and doors before removing them. Wind Mitigation reports are valid for five years and must be renewed in order to continue receiving these discount credits. Remember, if they cannot be verified by these means, insurance underwriters most often will not grant discounts.

Often times clients tell us they have hurricane protection, but the mere fact the property has hurricane devices alone, will not warrant discounts. Everything has to be proven, verified and documented for your insurance carriers, they have the final say.

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