Roof inspections in Melbourne Beach, FL

You can find the 15-year roof rule in Fla. Stat. 627.7011(5). Once a roof reaches 15 years, you may pay an authorized inspector yourself to examine it before your insurer acts. A report showing 5 or more years of remaining useful life bars the insurer from dropping or declining you over age alone. With 70.4 percent of local homes built before 1980, expect this rule to come up here more often than in newer parts of Brevard County.

The roof section of the 4-point form records the covering material, roof age, remaining useful life, date of the last roofing permit, and any damage found. Citizens asks for that 4-point inspection once a property passes 20 years. A median build year of 1974 suggests many homes here pass that line. Citizens also wants documentation of five years of remaining life on shingle roofs older than 25 years.

An authorized inspector can be a roofing contractor, a licensed home inspector, a building code inspector, an engineer or an architect, as long as your insurer accepts them. Your insurer or agent can tell you how any of this affects your own policy.

An inspector looks for cracking, curling, heavy granule loss, exposed asphalt or felt, missing or loose tabs, soft decking and leaks in the attic or on ceilings. For a wind mitigation form, the inspector also photographs attic items you cannot see, such as roof-deck nailing and roof-to-wall connectors.

• Buying a home: confirm roof age and remaining life before closing.
• Selling: have the findings ready for the buyer's insurer.
• Insurer letter: get an authorized inspector's report on a roof 15 years or older.
• After a storm: Irma damaged roofs in Indialantic, so check yours after a major wind event.

Roof permits in town go through the Melbourne Beach Building Department, so ask there about permit history on a house you are buying.