Home Structure Rating Systems Report

The Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has announced the release of its report on the Home Structure Rating System (HSRS), which was recently adopted by the Advisory Board. The report was prepared pursuant to Section 39 of SB 1980, which required the Office to consult with representatives from various agencies and organizations to develop a program that will provide an objective rating system that would allow homeowners to enhance the relative ability of Florida properties to withstand the wind load from a severe tropical storm or hurricane.

The HSRS was designed to be easy for the property owners to understand and operates on a 100-point scale, with room at the top of its scale to accommodate future building code improvements and implementation of code-plus mitigation techniques. The scale produces the greatest relative change in score for code and code-plus construction. As required by Section 39 of SB 1980, the HSRS is based on proven verifiable mitigation techniques and devices and can be implemented based on a visual inspection program. The HSRS was designed to be consistently interpreted throughout Florida and within each of the eight wind zones in the State.

HSRS scores calculations are based primarily on four objective measures. These measures include:

1. The home’s basic construction and wind damage mitigation features;
2. The home’s location, as determined by its Florida Building Code wind zone location;
3. The home’s wind resistance structural features in relation to a Florida Building Code home that is built in the home’s specific wind zone location; and
4. The home’s terrain exposure – i.e., Terrain C for coastal locations and Terrain B for inland suburban locations.

Scores within each of Florida’s Building Code wind zones are based on eight primary and eleven secondary factors derived from the objective measures. The primary factors include (1) roof shape (hip or other); (2) secondary water resistance (yes or no); (3) roof cover (post-Florida Building Code or not); (4) roof deck attachment; (5) roof-to-wall connection; (6) opening protection; (7) number of stories; and (8) roof covering type (tile or non-tile). The secondary factors include (1) dimensional lumber deck; (2) masonry walls; (3) reinforced masonry walls; (4) opening coverage; (5) un-braced gable end; (6) foundation restraints; (7) reinforced concrete roof deck integral with reinforced concrete walls or masonry walls; (8) enhanced roof deck; (9) soffits; (10) vinyl siding; and (11) window, door and skylight water leaking potential.

The HSRS was subjected to extensive tests, including basic, unit and system testing, and used 1088 test cases. More information about the HSRS can be found at www.floir.com/HomeStructureRatingSystem.htm.

The report on the HSRS is attached for your review. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact this office.