The average Tampa Bay homeowner is paying $4,000 to $6,500 a year for a standard HO-3 policy in 2026, and roughly 65 to 70 percent of that number is the wind portion. Florida law caps how much of that wind premium the carrier can charge you if your home is verifiably hardened against hurricanes. The document that unlocks the discount is called an OIR-B1-1802, or a wind mitigation inspection, and most Tampa Bay homes are leaving thousands of dollars on the table because nobody has ever filed one.
The good news is that the form has exactly seven credit factors, the math is not subjective, and a single re-roof plus one or two opening upgrades typically flips three of the seven at once. Here is the entire form line by line, what each answer is worth in real Tampa Bay dollars, and how to make sure you actually collect the credit.
1. WHAT THE OIR-B1-1802 FORM ACTUALLY IS
The Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802) is a two-page Florida state document. A licensed inspector, a licensed general contractor, a licensed building contractor, a licensed roofing contractor, a Florida professional engineer, or a Florida-registered architect fills it out with photo evidence. Under Florida statute 627.0629 every admitted carrier and Citizens Property Insurance must apply the corresponding premium credits when the form is submitted. The form is valid for five years from the inspection date.
Cost in Tampa Bay: $75 to $150 for a standalone inspection through a home inspection firm, or often free from your roofer when it is bundled with a re-roof or a repair. The math almost never fails to justify the fee.
2. THE 7 CREDIT FACTORS, RANKED BY DOLLAR IMPACT
Not every factor is equal. Roof cover and roof-to-wall attachment together drive the majority of the total credit. Here is the ranking based on what we see across hundreds of Tampa Bay policies.
Factor 1: Roof Cover (highest impact)
The inspector marks one of three boxes: FBC (Florida Building Code) compliant, non-FBC compliant, or reinforced concrete roof deck (rare). Any roof permitted and installed in Tampa Bay after March 1, 2002 is FBC compliant by default and earns the credit. Roofs older than that need documentation to prove the cover meets or exceeds the 2001 Florida Building Code wind requirements, which most 1990s roofs do not.
Dollar impact in Tampa Bay: $400 to $1,100 a year, depending on your carrier and roof geometry. This is the single biggest reason a re-roof pays back part of its cost through insurance savings.
Factor 2: Roof Deck Attachment
How the plywood or OSB is nailed to the trusses. The inspector rates it A through D. Option A is 6d smooth-shank nails at 6 inch by 12 inch spacing (worst, common on pre-1990 homes). Option D is 8d ring-shank nails at 6 inch by 6 inch spacing on a minimum 7/16 inch deck (best, standard on any modern FL re-roof).
Dollar impact: $150 to $500 a year. A re-roof in Tampa Bay is required to bring deck attachment up to the current code, so this credit almost always upgrades one to three levels after a new roof. Ask your roofer to photograph the nailing pattern before the underlayment goes down. The photo is proof for the inspector.
Factor 3: Roof-to-Wall Attachment
How the trusses are tied to the top plate of the wall. The inspector chooses one of six options: toe nail, clips, single wraps, double wraps, structural, or other. Toe nail is the pre-1990s default and gets no credit. Clips, single wraps, and double wraps each represent a bigger metal connector that a roofer or framer added. Double wraps is the highest common credit for wood-framed Tampa Bay homes.
Dollar impact: $200 to $900 a year. This is the second-biggest single line item on the form. If you are re-roofing and your original construction is toe-nail, ask your contractor to quote adding hurricane clips or straps at the same time. The roofer already has the deck open, and the labor to install clips at every truss is a fraction of what it would cost as a separate job later.
Factor 4: Secondary Water Resistance (SWR)
Either a self-adhered (peel and stick) polymer underlayment across 100 percent of the deck, or foam applied along every deck seam under standard underlayment. Standard synthetic or felt underlayment does not qualify. The inspector needs to see either the product label or, more often, in-progress photos taken during tear-off.
Dollar impact: $150 to $600 a year. This is the credit Tampa Bay roofs are most often silently forfeiting because the roofer did not take mid-install photos. If you are re-roofing, tell your contractor in writing that you want peel-and-stick underlayment as the base course and full deck photo documentation before shingles go on. See our underlayment guide for the specific SBS peel-and-stick products we install on Tampa Bay homes.
Factor 5: Opening Protection
All exterior openings (windows, doors, garage doors, skylights) get rated by their level of impact protection. The choices are None, Basic (Miami-Dade or FBC-approved shutters, non-glazed openings only), Hurricane (impact-rated glass or shutters on 100 percent of openings, including skylights and garage), or Not Verified.
Dollar impact: $300 to $1,200 a year for Hurricane rating. The catch: the credit is all-or-nothing. Nine impact-rated windows and one standard sliding glass door earns zero credit. This is why grant programs like My Safe Florida Home pay for full-home opening upgrades, not partial. If you are within one or two openings of complete coverage, finishing the job usually pays for itself in three to five years of insurance savings.
Factor 6: Roof Geometry
The inspector calculates the ratio of hip roof perimeter to total roof perimeter. Three categories: Hip (90 percent or more hip perimeter, best), Other (mix of hip and gable), and Flat (low-slope, no credit). Hip roofs shed wind pressure better than gables and take much less lift force in a hurricane.
Dollar impact: $200 to $700 a year for Hip rating. This factor is fixed by the original architecture of the home. You are not going to convert a gable roof to hip during a re-roof for insurance reasons, but if you already have a hip roof, make sure the inspector actually walks the perimeter and marks it correctly. We have seen forms mislabel hip roofs as Other and cost the homeowner $500 a year for the next five renewal cycles.
Factor 7: Roof Age (implicit)
Not one of the seven numbered boxes, but functionally the eighth data point on the form. Most Tampa Bay carriers assign a surcharge on roofs older than 15 years for shingle, 25 years for tile, and 40 years for metal. Some carriers non-renew altogether at these thresholds. The wind mit form documents the roof cover install date, and that date is the trigger for the surcharge or renewal decision.
Dollar impact: variable, but often the difference between being insurable at market rates and being pushed to Citizens or forced into a non-renewal. See our roof replacement signs guide for how to time a re-roof around the surcharge cutoff.
3. HOW TO STACK THE CREDITS FOR A TAMPA BAY RE-ROOF
Every re-roof is a chance to move three factors at once for essentially no marginal cost. Here is the play we recommend to Tampa Bay homeowners planning a replacement in the next 24 months.
- Spec 8d ring-shank nails at 6 by 6 spacing. This is the top rating on Factor 2. Adds under $100 in nails per roof, worth $150 to $500 a year.
- Add peel-and-stick underlayment as the base course across 100 percent of the deck. Locks in the Factor 4 SWR credit. Roughly $400 to $900 more than synthetic-only, worth $150 to $600 a year.
- Have your roofer photograph nailing pattern and underlayment coverage before the shingles go on. The photos are the inspector's only proof after the roof is closed up.
- If your home is toe-nail construction, get a hurricane clip quote at the same time. Adding clips at every truss during a re-roof is typically $1,200 to $2,800 for a Tampa Bay home. Worth $200 to $900 a year, and it flips Factor 3 to Clips (or higher with straps).
- Order the wind mit inspection within 30 days of final building department sign-off. Submit it to your carrier immediately. Some carriers backdate credits, some do not, so speed matters.
Stacking all four of those moves on a Tampa Bay home currently paying $4,500 a year in premium typically saves $1,100 to $2,200 in year one. Over the five-year life of the inspection, that is $5,500 to $11,000 in real cash. The re-roof does not pay for itself, but a meaningful chunk of it does.
4. COMMON REASONS TAMPA BAY HOMEOWNERS GET UNDER-CREDITED
We audit wind mitigation forms on request as part of our re-roof consultations. The four errors we see over and over:
- The inspector cannot verify SWR without tear-off photos. Roof is closed up, no proof exists, credit gets marked "Not Verified" or "Standard Underlayment." $150 to $600 a year lost. Fix: photo documentation during the re-roof.
- Opening protection marked Basic instead of Hurricane because one opening was missed. Usually a small transom, a pet door, or a garage-side entry door. $300 to $900 a year lost. Fix: audit every exterior opening including skylights and unusual doors before the inspection.
- Roof cover marked Non-FBC because the inspector could not find the permit record. Especially on 2002 to 2005 roofs where paperwork got lost in the county system. $400 to $1,100 a year lost. Fix: pull the permit history yourself from the Hillsborough County Accela portal or the Pinellas equivalent and hand it to the inspector.
- Roof-to-wall marked Toe Nail when clips actually exist. Common on 1990s Tampa Bay homes where the inspector did not open enough soffit hatches. $200 to $900 a year lost. Fix: ask the inspector to open at least three soffit access panels before marking Toe Nail.
Every one of these errors is fixable. Some are fixable during the inspection by pushing back on the inspector's initial finding. Some require re-work on the roof itself. Either way, catching them before you sign the form is worth an hour of your afternoon.
5. WHEN TO RE-INSPECT
The OIR-B1-1802 is valid for five years, or until you make a change that would improve any credit factor. The three triggers that reset the clock:
- Any roof replacement or partial re-roof. Even a partial usually upgrades cover, deck, and SWR. Re-inspect within 30 days.
- Any opening protection upgrade that reaches Hurricane rating (100 percent of openings). Impact windows on the last two openings, or shutters added to a previously naked garage door. Re-inspect immediately.
- Any structural retrofit that adds hurricane clips, straps, or wraps. Re-inspect after final permit sign-off.
Do not wait five years to renew a valid form. If your last inspection was three years old and your roof still qualifies for every credit, resubmit anyway. Some carriers give small additional discounts for recent inspection dates, and it locks in the credits for another five years so you do not accidentally lose them at renewal.
6. THE $2,000 HOMEOWNER MISTAKE
The single biggest mistake we see: paying for a re-roof, not getting a wind mit inspection, and continuing to pay the pre-re-roof premium for two or three years before someone finally mentions it. On a $5,000 policy that is $2,000 to $4,000 in avoidable premium. The carrier does not owe you a refund for the missed months. The credit only applies from the date the new form hits their file.
If you have re-roofed in the last two years and never re-filed, order a new inspection this week. If you are re-roofing this year, put the wind mit inspection on the calendar for the week after final inspection.
Happy Roof includes wind mitigation documentation with every re-roof under Florida license CCC1337380. Call (813) 595-7663 or book a free roof evaluation and we will walk your home for missed credits before you spend a dollar.