Inspections · Melbourne

Roof inspections in Melbourne, FL

In Melbourne, 39% of homes were built before 1980, so a big share of the city is far past the 20-year age at which Citizens requires a 4-point inspection. Roof inspections in Melbourne, FL mostly feed three documents: the 4-point form, the roof inspection form and the wind mitigation form.

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Updated October 2026

Empty downtown street with yellow center lines, palm trees and storefronts under a dusk sky. — Photo: Downtown Melbourne, Florida by Pokemonprime, CC BY 4.0, cropped

Top-down drone view of a gray-blend shingle roof with ridges, valleys and roof vents, lawn on both sides and a white fence at the left edge. — Photo: Downtown Melbourne, Florida by Pokemonprime, CC BY 4.0, cropped

Melbourne figures this page uses

Share of homes built before 1980: 39%
Median year homes were built: 1985
Owner-occupied share of occupied homes: 59.7%
Single-family detached share of housing units: 57.2%

Local know-how

The 4-point and the roof form on a Melbourne house

Citizens Property Insurance requires a 4-point inspection, covering electrical, plumbing, HVAC and roof, for owner, dwelling and mobile home applications on properties more than 20 years old. Melbourne's median home was built in 1985, so the rule reaches most of the city.

Citizens also uses a stand-alone Roof Inspection Form, RCF-1, which must carry photos of every slope and the signature of a general, residential, building or roofing contractor, a building code inspector or a Florida home inspector. A 4-point that includes the slope photos can stand in for it.

Then there is roof age. Citizens wants at least five years of remaining life documented for shingle roofs past 25 years and for tile, metal or concrete roofs past 50.

Rentals and roof age

Melbourne landlords, roof age and the 15-year line

Owners occupy 59.7% of Melbourne's occupied homes, so many inspections here are ordered by landlords and associations. The 15-year rule in Fla. Stat. 627.7011(5) is written for homeowner's policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022, and Senate staff note it does not reach mobile home policies. If you own a rental, ask your agent how your policy type is treated.

For the insurer, a roof's age runs from the last date 100% of it was built or replaced, or from the first partial replacement once later partial work reaches 100%. Keep the permit records; the 4-point asks for the date of the last roofing permit.

The wind mitigation form grades the deck, too. Its top residential grade, C, calls for 8d nails no more than 6 inches apart in the field, rated for at least 182 psf of uplift, against 55 psf for staples or 6d nails at 6 inches on the edges and 12 in the field. Florida insurers must offer discounts or credits for features shown to reduce windstorm loss, roof strength among them, and this grade is part of that judgment. On a coast where Matthew gusted to 70 mph at Melbourne International in 2016, an attic look that settles the grade is worth having.

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Questions

Roof inspections in Melbourne: questions

What does the roof part of a Melbourne 4-point inspection record?

The covering material, the roof's age and remaining useful life, the date of the last roofing permit and update, whether it was a full or partial replacement and what percentage, the overall condition, and a damage list: cracking, cupping or curling, granule loss, exposed felt, missing or loose tabs or tiles, soft decking, hail marks and leaks. For a 1985 Melbourne house, dig out the last roof permit before the inspector arrives.

Source: Citizens 4-point form, 03 25.

Related: Roof inspections

What does a wind mitigation inspection in Melbourne look at?

Nine items on the current form: the building code era, the wind region for the address from the ASCE 7-22 hazard tool, roof slope, roof covering and its product approval, deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections, roof geometry, a sealed roof deck, and opening protection. The state's consumer notice says the resulting discounts apply only to the hurricane-wind portion of the policy and are not added together. A house from 1985, Melbourne's median year, predates both code-era choices on the form.

Source: OIR-B1-1802, Rev. 04/26.

Related: Roof inspections

Does a hip roof count on a Melbourne wind mitigation form?

Yes, if it is mostly hip. The form treats a roof as hip when non-hip features make up no more than 10% of the total roof perimeter, so a gable end or a long straight run can take it out of that box. The form's 'flat roof' choice means buildings of five or more units with at least 90% of the main roof under 2:12; a single-family house with a flat section is graded 'Other'. With detached houses at 57.2% of Melbourne's housing, both cases turn up.

Source: OIR-B1-1802, question 7.

Related: Roof inspections

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