General information, not legal, engineering or insurance advice.
Alabama has put more effort than most states into stronger roofs. A voluntary building standard called FORTIFIED, a state grant program that helps pay for FORTIFIED Roofs, and a state law on insurance discounts all work together. Here is how each piece works and where to check the current rules.
What FORTIFIED is
FORTIFIED is a voluntary construction and re-roofing standard created by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), a research organization funded by the insurance industry. It is designed to help homes resist high winds and wind-driven rain. FORTIFIED Home has three levels:
- FORTIFIED Roof: the first level, focused on the roof, the most common point of failure in a windstorm.
- FORTIFIED Silver: starts with the roof, then adds protection for other vulnerable parts of the house, such as bracing gable ends and chimneys, pressure-rated garage doors and, in hurricane-prone areas, impact-protected windows and doors.
- FORTIFIED Gold: includes everything in Silver and adds an engineered continuous load path connecting the roof, walls and foundation.
Sources: FORTIFIED Home (IBHS),FORTIFIED Silver,FORTIFIED Gold.
How a home gets a FORTIFIED designation
A FORTIFIED designation is not something a contractor can simply claim. According to IBHS, the process works like this:
- You hire a contractor to do the work and an independent, certified FORTIFIED Evaluator.
- During the re-roof or construction, the evaluator collects documentation (such as photos of materials and installation) showing that the standard's requirements were met.
- The evaluator submits the documentation to IBHS for review.
- If it passes, IBHS issues a FORTIFIED designation certificate, which the evaluator delivers to you.
Because the evaluator has to document work as it happens, plan for FORTIFIED before the old roof comes off. Source:FORTIFIED: Getting started.
The Strengthen Alabama Homes grant program
Strengthen Alabama Homes (SAH) is run by the Alabama Department of Insurance. It offers grants to help homeowners upgrade an existing roof to the FORTIFIED Roof standard. The program says it is funded by the insurance industry, not the state general budget. As described on the program's official website at the time of writing:
- Grant amount: grants pay 100% of the cost of mitigation up to $10,000. Costs above the award are the homeowner's responsibility.
- Eligible homes: existing, owner-occupied, single-family homes that are the applicant's primary residence. Rentals, townhomes, condominiums and mobile homes don't qualify.
- Where and when: grants are offered to residents of specific counties at set times, listed on the program's grant award schedule.
- Insurance: applicants need in-force homeowners and wind coverage, and flood insurance if the home is in a special flood hazard area.
- Evaluator and contractors: the homeowner chooses a certified FORTIFIED evaluator from the program's approved list and gets bids from contractors on the program's list of qualified contractors.
- Payment: the program pays the contractor after the FORTIFIED certificate is issued.
Program rules, eligible counties and opening dates change, so always check the current details before you apply. Source:Strengthen Alabama Homes (Alabama Department of Insurance).
Insurance discounts for FORTIFIED homes
Alabama law requires insurers to give discounts to residential and commercial policyholders whose buildings are built or retrofitted to IBHS FORTIFIED standards. The Alabama Department of Insurance announced the discount requirement under Act 2015-313. Source:Alabama Department of Insurance announcement.
How much you save depends on your insurer, your policy and your designation level. Ask your agent how the discount is applied to your policy and what documentation they need, and check that it appears on your declarations page after you send your certificate.
The FORTIFIED Roof endorsement
A separate Alabama law (Act 2019-240, Code of Alabama § 27-31D-2.1) requires insurers that write homeowners insurance in Alabama to offer an optional endorsement that, for an additional premium, pays to upgrade a roof to the FORTIFIED standard when a covered loss requires a full roof replacement. It only applies to homes that meet the FORTIFIED program's eligibility standards. Ask your agent whether your policy includes it. Source:IBHS: Alabama FORTIFIED Roof Endorsement.
Questions to ask a roofer
- Have you completed FORTIFIED Roof projects, and which evaluators have you worked with?
- Are you on the Strengthen Alabama Homes contractor list (if you plan to use the grant)?
- What is your state license number, and which board issued it? See hiring a licensed contractor in Alabama.
- How will the roof deck be fastened and sealed, and what roof covering and edge details will you use?
- Is the FORTIFIED evaluation fee included in your price, or paid separately?
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