Illustrative: a Venice-area roof replacement, start to finish

A fictional scenario

An imagined owner of an imagined 2001 house in the Venice area has an 18-year-old asphalt shingle roof and a renewal notice asking about it. Nothing in this scenario is a real household, property, business, policy, quote or outcome.

The renewal letter

The owner reads s. 627.7011(5), which states that an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew solely because a roof is less than 15 years old, and that for a roof at least 15 years old the owner may obtain an inspection at their own expense before replacement is required, with five or more years of remaining useful life barring refusal on age alone. At 18 years the first clause does not help; the second gives the owner an inspection to arrange. This draft does not say what any insurer will accept.

Three quotes, two of them incomparable

The quotes name different coverings and state their numbers differently. One cites a 160 mph figure, which on the manufacturer's own page is a warranty that requires that brand's starter and hip and ridge. Another cites UL 2218 Class 4, which is an impact classification rather than a wind figure. A third cites a metal panel with a Florida Product Approval number printed on the manufacturer's own approvals page. The owner uses the checklist to ask all three for the covering, the underlayment, the deck attachment, the fastening pattern and the approval number the assembly relies on.

What happens while the roof is open

Section 553.844 requires the replacement to incorporate the secondary water barrier and roof-deck attachment techniques it specifies, and in the wind-borne debris region requires roof-to-wall connections at gable ends or corners for buildings insured or valued at $300,000 or more where that can be done for 15 percent of the replacement cost. The owner also reads the state's mitigation inspection form, notices that deck attachment, roof-to-wall connection and a sealed roof deck are each credited attributes, and that standard underlayment or hot-mopped felt does not qualify as secondary water resistance. Those are decisions made on the day the old covering comes off, so the owner asks for them as line items in advance.

The permit question

This is where the published material stops. The City of Venice building department page answered HTTP 403 to this draft's research, and the Sarasota County page did the same, so this draft states nothing about either one's reroof permit requirements, submittal package or inspection sequence. In the scenario the owner contacts whichever jurisdiction the address falls in and asks directly. The state reroofing requirements in s. 553.844 apply either way, and the section states that local governments may not amend the 25 percent provision.

A knock at the door

Mid-process someone offers a free roof inspection and help with a claim. The owner reads s. 489.147, which bars offering anything of value for a roof inspection or claim, bars interpreting a policy or adjusting a claim without a public adjuster licence, and requires a roof contract to carry a notice of the inducement ban, a 10-day cancellation right after a declared emergency within 180 days and a bold notice to consult the insurer first. The owner declines and keeps the three quotes. This scenario makes no compliance finding about anyone.