01
Assemble Your Team
Select a contractor and an evaluator from our network of trusted professionals. In addition to completing FORTIFIED training, each one listed meets minimum requirements for experience, insurance and licenses (where required).
02
Build or Reroof to the Standard
Leave it to the pros. A certified FORTIFIED provider will know the standard and will include the required upgrades as your home is built or reroofed.
03
Verification and Review
Your contractor will coordinate with a FORTIFIED Evaluator, who verifies key elements of the standard have been met and will provide documentation to IBHS for review.
04
Designation Issued
A team at IBHS will review the documentation of key upgrades and provide a FORTIFIED designation certificate to your evaluator, who will deliver it to you. Then you can enjoy peace of mind and ask your agent about insurance discounts.
Assemble Your Team
Choose a Contractor
Leave it to the pros.
A certified FORTIFIED provider will know the standard and will include the required upgrades as your home is built or reroofed.
FORTIFIED Evaluators
FORTIFIED Evaluators are independent, third-party contractors who have been trained in the FORTIFIED program requirements. They will work with all parties involved—you, your roofer, builder or contractor, and IBHS—to ensure the process goes smoothly.
Some contractors have evaluators with whom they prefer to work, but you should always be free to make your own selection.
Choose an Evaluator
Optional: Choose an Engineer
Working with Engineers
When building a new home, it’s easier and more cost-effective to incorporate the FORTIFIED standard directly into your home’s design. Working with engineers familiar with the FORTIFIED program can make the process much simpler.
If your architect, engineer or home designer is not trained in FORTIFIED, it’s critical to connect them with your evaluator as early in the process as possible.
Build or Reroof to the Standard
To protect against severe weather risks common in your area, FORTIFIED includes specific requirements beyond what is required by most building codes—and each upgrade is based on decades of scientific research by IBHS.
Once you’ve selected your contractor and evaluator, work begins and your home is on its way to being more prepared for storms. Your contractor will include all the upgrades required by FORTIFIED and will coordinate with your evaluator to ensure key elements of the standard are inspected and documented.
Verification and Review
Evaluator Verification
Throughout the construction or reroofing process, your evaluator will be collecting documentation that key elements of the FORTIFIED standard are being met. This may mean that the evaluator is taking photos of specific material labels (like shingles, windows, or garage doors) or of the installation of certain requirements (like roof underlayment, hurricane straps, or soffit bracing). Other documentation may include proof that material upgrades (like rain-resistant vents or pressure-rated doors) meet the testing requirements outlined in the FORTIFIED standard. Once compiled, the evaluator submits all documentation to IBHS for review.
A team of FORTIFIED experts at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety reviews the documentation provided and determines if the standard has been met. The team of specially-trained auditors is looking at each project to ensure all critical elements meet the standard and that documentation of each required upgrade has been completed and submitted. When everything is in order, they issue a FORTIFIED designation certificate and send it to the evaluator.
IBHS Review
Designation Issued
Certified!
Get the Certificate
When IBHS completes its review and determines a home meets the FORTIFIED standard it will send a designation certificate to the evaluator, who will then deliver it to you. With that in hand, you can rest assured your home is better protected from severe weather.
Get the Discounts
A FORTIFIED designation may also make you eligible for financial incentives like insurance discounts, reduced deductibles and tax credits.
Incentives
Stay In The Know
Do you want to keep up with the latest resiliency research? Would you like timely tips and reminders to keep your home safe from Mother Nature? Are you interested in the science behind the FORTIFIED standard? Then sign up for the FORTIFIED Update, today!