Legal

Legal

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) shall not be held responsible or liable for any repairs or replacements to property, systems, components, or the contents made in association with the Current Conditions Report (CCR), FORTIFIED Home™ designation, FORTIFIED Multifamily™ designation, or FORTIFIED Commercial™ designation. IBHS assumes no responsibility or liability for any advice or services rendered by any individual or firm.

Applicants considering a FORTIFIED Home™ designation, FORTIFIED Multifamily™ designation, or FORTIFIED Commercial™ designation are solely responsible for determining whether to pursue designation and should obtain any additional information necessary to make an informed decision. FORTIFIED Evaluators are independent, third-party entities that, for a fee, can provide a Current Conditions Report or Consultation Services to the applicant. The CCR is an assessment of the home and will include recommendations of FORTIFIED eligibility. Not all home homes will be eligible for FORTIFIED Home designation, nor will all buildings be eligible for FORTIFIED Multifamily™ designation or FORTIFIED Commercial designation.

The purpose of the CCR evaluation is to identify visually observable components or systems that do not meet the FORTIFIED Home™ program requirements at the time of the evaluation. Detached structures or buildings are not included. There are limitations to the FORTIFIED evaluation. Many components of the property are not visible during the evaluation and often, very little historical information is provided in advance of the evaluation. Even the most comprehensive evaluation cannot be expected to reveal every condition that may be considered significant to hurricane resistance.

Evaluations, Current Condition Reports, or Consultation Services do not address and, are not intended to address, code and/or regulation compliance, mold, mildew, indoor air quality, asbestos, radon gas, lead paint, urea formaldehyde, soils contamination and any other indoor or outdoor substances. The property owner is urged to contact a competent specialist if information, identification or testing of the above is desired.

If the Applicant is dissatisfied with any aspect of the FORTIFIED Home™, FORTIFIED Multifamily™ designation, or FORTIFIED Commercial™ program, the sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue activities relating to this program. No refunds of any fees paid will be provided by IBHS to applicants who fail to obtain any designation under the FORTIFIED Home™ program.

While participation in the FORTIFIED Home™ program can identify and help reduce the risk of damage to your home in the event of a hurricane, IBHS cannot eliminate it, nor can we assume it. IBHS does not provide any type of warranty or guarantee related to the FORTIFIED Home™ designation, FORTIFIED Multifamily™ designation, or FORTIFIED Commercial designation. IBHS shall not be held responsible or liable for damage to any property, systems, components, or contents in a FORTIFIED designated structure.

Copyright

All materials, including graphic images, buttons, layout and text posted on the Site are subject to copyrights owned by IBHS and other individuals or entities. Any reproduction, retransmission, or republication of all or part of any graphic images, materials or documents found on the Site is allowed with proper attribution to IBHS. Other use is prohibited unless the copyright owner of the material has expressly granted its prior written consent to so reproduce, retransmit, or republish the material. All other rights are reserved.

The names, trademarks, service marks and logos appearing on this site may not be used in any advertising or publicity, or otherwise to indicate IBHS’s sponsorship of or affiliation with any product or service, without IBHS’s prior express written permission. Any insurance company or financial institution logos are the exclusive property of the respective insurance entities, and are used with their permission.

This Website

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s website (the Site) has been prepared for informational purposes only. By utilizing the Site, and/or its services, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this notice regarding the use of the Site. If you do not agree with the terms and conditions of this notice, you are instructed to leave the web site and refrain from the use of any content.

All materials and services on the Site and any third-party sites are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Changes are periodically made to the information in the Site, and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) may make improvements and/or changes in the Site at any time. With respect to the materials and services contained on this site and in linked sites directly or indirectly accessible from the Site, IBHS and its member companies make no representations and disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to: warranties of title, noninfringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose regarding the suitability of the information; the accuracy, reliability, completeness or timeliness of the content, services, products, text, graphics, links, or other items contained within the Site; or the results obtained from accessing and using the Site and/or the content contained herein. IBHS does not warrant that the functions contained in the materials will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Site, including the server that makes it available, are free of viruses or other harmful components. The user assumes the entire cost of all necessary maintenance, repair or correction.

Use of the Site is at your own risk. The Site may contain advice, opinions, and statements of various information providers and content providers. IBHS and its member companies do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided by any information provider or content provider, or any user of the Site or other person or entity. Reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, or other information shall also be at your own risk. Neither IBHS, its member companies, nor its information providers or content providers shall be liable to any user or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error, omission, interruption, use of any content herein, regardless of cause, for any damages resulting there from. Transmission and/or receipt of the information contained in the Site does not constitute a professional-client relationship of any kind. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any opinions, advice, services or other information provided. All information contained on any page is distributed with the understanding that the authors, publishers and distributors are not rendering professional advice or opinions on specific facts or matters, and accordingly assume no liability whatsoever in connection with its use.

COPYRIGHT

All materials, including graphic images, buttons, layout and text posted on the Site are subject to copyrights owned by IBHS and other individuals or entities. Any reproduction, retransmission, or republication of all or part of any graphic images, materials or documents found on the Site is allowed with proper attribution to IBHS. Other use is prohibited unless the copyright owner of the material has expressly granted its prior written consent to so reproduce, retransmit, or republish the material. All other rights are reserved.

The names, trademarks, service marks and logos appearing on this site may not be used in any advertising or publicity, or otherwise to indicate IBHS’s sponsorship of or affiliation with any product or service, without IBHS’s prior express written permission. Any insurance company or financial institution logos are the exclusive property of the respective insurance entities, and are used with their permission.

LINKS TO THIRD PARTIES’ WEBSITES

The Site may contain links to other sites maintained by third parties. IBHS does not operate or control in any respect any information, products or services on such third-party sites and does not guarantee that the links or any information contained thereon will be accurate at the time of your access. Third party links are included solely for the convenience of users, and do not constitute any endorsement, approval or certification by IBHS of the content of any site referenced by a link or otherwise. IBHS believes that links to publicly accessible web pages are legally permissible and consistent with the common and customary expectations of those who make use of the Internet. User assumes sole responsibility for use of third party links and pointers and disclaimers set forth herein are equally applicable to such third party sites.

THIRD PARTY CONTENT

Any opinions, advice, services, or other information made available by third parties, including information providers and users are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of IBHS.

MODIFICATION

IBHS shall have the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove terms of this agreement or the Site at any time. Notification of any such changes may be made herein, but is not guaranteed. Changes shall be effective immediately, and subsequent use by you of the Site shall constitute your acceptance of them.

INDEMNITY/LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall IBHS or its member companies be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages, including but not limited to loss of data or lost profits, that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the materials in the Site.

As a condition of use of the Site, the user agrees to indemnify IBHS and its suppliers from and against any and all liabilities, expenses and damages arising out of claims resulting from user’s use of this Web site, including without limitation any claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach by user of these terms and conditions. If you are dissatisfied with any material on the Site, or with any of terms and conditions for using the Site, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Site.

INFORMATION AUTOMATICALLY LOGGED

We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our Website.

COOKIES

The Site uses cookies to enhance your on-line experience with IBHS Online. A ‘cookie’ is nothing more than a small file that your Web browser will place on your hard drive. It allows us to remember you and keep track of preferences and passwords. Use of cookies allows us to deliver content specific to your interests, and to save your password so you don’t have to re-enter it each time you visit our site. You can, of course, set your browser to reject cookies – but keep in mind that this may affect the experience you have on the Site.

REGISTRATION FORMS

The Site’s various registration forms require users to give us contact information (like their name, email, and postal address), financial information (like their credit card numbers), and demographic information (like their zip code).

We will not release or disclose specific information about you, including information about your individual visits to the Site or personal information that you provide, such as your name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, credit card number, insurance policy number, etc. to any outside parties, unless required to do so by law or court order, or upon your prior written consent. Outside parties include IBHS-member insurance companies. An exception is if you are an employee of an IBHS member company, your name and the fact that you are a registered user may be reported, upon request, to an authorized representative of that company.

IBHS retains the right to collect information about general use of its products for the purpose of improving them and helping to facilitate their use.

EXTERNAL LINKS

This site contains links to other sites. IBHS is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Websites.

SECURITY

The Site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control.

CONTACTING THE WEBSITE

Any changes to our privacy commitment and policy will be posted here. While we do not anticipate changes to this policy frequently, we do suggest you review our policy and commitment from time to time. This will ensure that you will have complete knowledge of our information practices as they might affect you and your use of the Site. If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with the Site, you can contact: info@ibhs.org.

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!

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