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Inspections · Sarasota

Roof inspections in Sarasota, FL

Of Sarasota's 32,324 homes, 75.9% were built before 2000. Citizens Property Insurance wants a 4-point inspection on homes more than 20 years old, so a roof inspection in Sarasota is often insurance paperwork as much as a roof check. Each of those forms asks something different about the roof.

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Updated October 2026

Gulf of Mexico waves at sunset under dark clouds, with a wet sand beach in the foreground.
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.Our work
Photo: Gulf of Mexico - Sarasota, Florida 2023-01-22 by Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

Sarasota figures this page uses

Housing units (ACS 5-year)
32,324
Share of homes built before 2000
75.9%
Median year homes were built
1976
Mobile homes, share of housing units
3.9%

Local know-how

An old house can carry a young roof

House age and roof age are separate lines on every form. With a median build year of 1976, most Sarasota houses are past the insurers' age lines, yet the roof on top may be only a few years old. Under Fla. Stat. 627.7011(5)(d), the clock restarts on the last date the whole roof was built or replaced.

  • 4-point inspection: electrical, plumbing, HVAC and roof. Citizens requires one for homes more than 20 years old.
  • Roof inspection form (Citizens RCF-1): photos of each slope and the roof's remaining useful life.
  • Wind mitigation form (OIR-B1-1802, Rev. 04/26): deck nailing, roof-to-wall connections, the sealed roof deck and more.

Florida law

The 15-year rule and Citizens' 25/50 line

An insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowner's policy solely because the roof is under 15 years old. Once a roof reaches 15, the insurer must let you have it inspected, at your own expense, before requiring a replacement. If that inspection shows 5 or more years of useful life left, age alone cannot be the reason to refuse or non-renew (Fla. Stat. 627.7011(5)).

Citizens draws a second line. Shingle and other soft roofs older than 25 years, and tile, metal and other hard roofs older than 50, need documents showing at least five years of remaining useful life.

One exception touches the 3.9% of Sarasota homes that are mobile homes: Senate staff note the 15-year rule does not apply to mobile home policies.

On the roof

What the inspector writes down

The roof section of the Citizens 4-point form records the covering, its age and remaining useful life, the last roofing permit, any partial replacement and its percentage, and a damage list: cracking, curling, granule loss, exposed felt, missing tabs or tiles, soft decking and visible leaks.

A wind mitigation form stays valid for up to five years, but only while the structure has no material changes and the form has no inaccuracies (OIR-B1-1802). If Helene, or Milton's landfall on Siesta Key, changed your roof in 2024, an older form may no longer describe it.

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Questions

Roof inspections in Sarasota: questions

Do I need a 4-point inspection for my Sarasota home?

If Citizens writes your policy and the house is more than 20 years old, yes. Citizens requires a 4-point inspection covering electrical, plumbing, HVAC and roof on owner, dwelling and mobile home applications for properties of that age. That reaches most of Sarasota, where 75.9% of homes were built before 2000. Other insurers set their own rules, so ask your agent which forms your policy needs before you book anything.

Source: Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, inspections page, read October 4, 2026; ACS 2020-2024 table B25034.

How long is a wind mitigation report good for in Sarasota?

Up to five years. The current form, OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26), took effect April 1, 2026, and stays valid for five years if the structure has no material changes and the form has no inaccuracies. It also places your home in a wind region from the ASCE 7-22 design wind speed for your address. A Sarasota roof replaced after Milton's 2024 landfall on Siesta Key is a material change, and a new form will describe the new roof.

Source: form OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26) under Rule 69O-170.0155, F.A.C., read October 4, 2026; NHC report on Milton.

When should a Sarasota roof be inspected?

Twice a year and after storms is the usual guidance. NRCA says biannual inspections often catch cracked or missing shingles, loose seams, worn flashing and granules collecting in gutters, and it points owners to fall and spring. In Sarasota, spring falls just before the Southwest Florida rainy season, which the National Weather Service dates May 15 to October 15, and about 60% of a normal year's rain comes June through September.

Source: NRCA roofing guidelines; National Weather Service Tampa Bay rainy-season page; NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals; read October 5, 2026.

Related

Nearby

Roof inspections near Sarasota

Sources for this page(23)
  1. 1.Housing units (ACS 5-year): 32,324. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), table B25001, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  2. 2.Share of homes built before 2000: 75.9%. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  3. 3.Median year homes were built: 1976. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  4. 4.Mobile homes, share of housing units: 3.9%. U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024), table B25024, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  5. 5.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Milton. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.Hurricane Helene (2024). NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Helene. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  7. 7.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, stations USW00012871 and USC00089176 VENICE. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  8. 8.Florida Statutes, section 627.7011 (2026). Read Oct 4, 2026.
  9. 9.Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  10. 10.Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  11. 11.Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26). Read Oct 4, 2026.
  12. 12.Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, inspections FAQ (updated 2026-03-17). Read Oct 4, 2026.
  13. 13.Insp4pt 03 25. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  14. 14.Citizens 4-Point Inspection Form, Sample Form Insp4pt 03 25. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  15. 15.OIR form. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  16. 16.National Roofing Contractors Association. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  17. 17.National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  18. 18.Florida Statutes, section 553.844 (2026). Read Oct 4, 2026.
  19. 19.FBC-B 2023 Ch. 1. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  20. 20.Florida Statutes, section 718.112 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  21. 21.ICC Building Safety Journal, Karl Fippinger, 2024-02-07. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  22. 22.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9 (Southeastern States) version 2, partial-duration series point estimates, via the HDSC PFDS endpoint (ops/research/v3/services/data/noaa-atlas14-florida-rainfall.tsv), NOAA Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  23. 23.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9 version 2, partial-duration point estimates at the City of Sarasota's 2020 Census internal point, via the HDSC PFDS endpoint, NOAA Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.

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Roof inspections in Sarasota

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