Mitigation Inspection Firms Selected In Florida

Florida Chief Financial Officer Adelaide “Alex” Sink announced today that 11 new windstorm inspection firms have been selected for the state's program to strengthen homes against hurricane.

Under the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program, homeowners who redo their houses to make them better able to withstand storms after a free state inspection can apply for matching funds and receive 50 percent of the cost–up to $5,000–once the work is done.

Ms. Sink said the 11 firms were named after a two-month competitive bidding process based upon their scores, capacity to perform a minimum number of quality inspections each week, and in-house resources available to manage the large number of applicants to the program.

Each inspection firm must ensure that their inspectors pass Level 2 background checks, including fingerprinting and drug testing. Each inspector must also undergo the required education and training on mitigation techniques and the MSFH program.

“These inspection firms had to meet the strictest of criteria in order to be considered for this program,” said Ms. Sink. “We want homeowners to be highly satisfied with the services they receive from the My Safe Florida Home Program once it expands statewide.”

The firms have been selected to serve in specific state regions to ensure maximum statewide service. After a 60-day ramp-up period, each firm has agreed to conduct a minimum of 1,000 inspections a week, Ms. Sink said.

Since the mitigation pilot program was launched in late August 2006, more than 14,000 free wind inspections were conducted in 17 counties, leading to grant applications from more than 4,100 homeowners to date, according to Ms. Sink.

To date, more than $47,000 in grant money has been awarded to 19 Floridians in seven counties.