Impact windows and insurance: what a wind mitigation inspection does

A wind mitigation inspection records how your home is protected against wind on a state form that you give to your insurance company. Impact windows and doors are one part of that form. With the right protection on your openings, you may qualify for a discount on your insurance, and savings vary by insurer and inspection.

One detail on that form changes how you should plan a project, so here is how it works.

The form itself

Florida's form is the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802. A revised version (Rev. 04/26) took effect April 1, 2026. You can find background on the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation wind mitigation page.

The form is valid for up to five years if the structure does not change materially and the form has no errors. Those two conditions are why you should read yours rather than file it. If yours was done on an older version, ask your insurance agent whether it still works for your policy.

Who can do the inspection

You choose the inspector. Qualified inspectors include:

• Licensed home inspectors with the required training
• Building code inspectors
• General, building and residential contractors
• Professional engineers and architects

Ask what they charge and whether they use the current form before you book. My Safe Florida Home, a state program, lists free wind mitigation inspections on its site, so see what to check before you apply to My Safe Florida Home first. It may save you a fee.

The weakest opening sets the rating

Opening protection is one section of the form, and this is the line to remember: the final rating reflects the weakest protection found across the openings.

In plain terms, the form does not reward your best window. Say a house has new impact windows all around and one old, unprotected door. The rating follows the door. The windows are still good windows, but on this form, that one door is doing the talking.

That changes how you plan a project if insurance is part of the reason:

• List every opening before you buy anything: windows, entry doors, sliding glass doors, French doors and the garage door.
• Write down what protects each one today.
• Ask your inspector how the openings you are not replacing would be treated.
• If you are doing the work in stages, expect that the rating may not improve until the last weak opening is done. Plan the budget with that in mind, and ask your agent before you count on a discount.

Two inspections that get mixed up

Your permit ends with a final inspection from the building department. That checks the installation. The wind mitigation inspection is separate. It produces a form for your insurer, and you arrange it yourself.

We measure, permit and install every opening, and Max L. wrote that we "walked it all the way through inspection." That means the building inspection. Do not assume that the second one has happened just because the first one passed.

How to get ready

1. If you are installing new openings, schedule the wind mitigation inspection after the final building inspection, so the form shows the finished work.
2. Put your paperwork in one folder: the permit, the final inspection result and an invoice that lists each opening. Ask your installer for copies of anything missing.
3. Add the Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) for each product, which shows what it was approved for and when that expires. Our guide on how to check a Miami-Dade NOA shows you where to look.
4. Walk the inspector around every opening, including the ones you think do not matter.
5. Ask the inspector to walk you through each section of the form, not only opening protection.
6. Read the finished form. Check your address and the details of your openings, and ask for a correction if anything is wrong.
7. Send it to your agent and ask what changed on your policy. Get the answer in writing if you can.

Should you buy windows for the discount?

Not for that alone. You may qualify for a discount, and savings vary by insurer and inspection, so nobody can tell you the figure in advance without your policy in front of them. Before you spend anything, ask your agent to compare your current premium with what it would be at a better opening protection rating. Now you have a real number to weigh.

Then look at everything else the windows do and do not do for you. We lay that out in whether impact windows are worth it in Miami. If the answer is yes and you are choosing products, our impact window buying guide goes through the choices.

One last habit worth keeping: put a copy of the form with your house papers and note the date on your calendar. If you change the structure of the house, ask your inspector whether you need a new one.