Can an insurer refuse a wind mitigation report that is not on the official OIR-B1-1802?

Section 627.711, Florida Statutes, requires insurers to accept the uniform mitigation verification form adopted by the Financial Services Commission, and in practice reports produced by inspection software on its own template are accepted across Florida every day. The difference is narrower than it sounds: a reproduction has to be read as equivalent to the adopted document, where the adopted document does not.

Is a wind mitigation report from inspection software valid in Florida?

Yes, in the ordinary case. What decides whether a report holds up is whether the person who signed it was qualified to under section 627.711(2), Florida Statutes, whether every credited attribute carries its required photograph, and whether the answers reflect the weakest feature actually present — not which program printed the page.

What does it mean that the wind mitigation form is adopted by reference?

It means Rule 69O-170.0155, Florida Administrative Code, incorporates a specific file into the rule itself, and the Florida Administrative Code then publishes that file. For OIR-B1-1802 the reference is Ref-18852: FORM OIR-1802.docx, adopted 18 December 2025, with no modified documents filed since. “The form” is that file, not a description of content that any document can satisfy.

Does a wind mitigation report have to be the official OIR-B1-1802 document?

Published by Florida Wind Mit · Last verified 6 September 2026

The uniform mitigation verification inspection form is a specific document adopted by rule, and insurers are required to accept it. Rule 69O-170.0155, Florida Administrative Code, incorporates OIR-B1-1802 by reference. Software that rebuilds the form as its own branded report produces something that must be read as equivalent to that document rather than recognised as it — a difference that usually does not matter, and occasionally does.

What “adopted by reference” actually means

A Florida agency rule can incorporate an outside document, and when it does, that document becomes part of the rule. The Florida Administrative Code then publishes it. For the wind mitigation form, the chain is short and worth seeing in full:

Section 627.711, Florida Statutes requires that mitigation verification be made on the uniform form adopted by the Financial Services Commission, and requires insurers to accept it.
Rule 69O-170.0155, F.A.C. is the rule that adopts it, and names the reference it incorporates.
Reference Ref-18852 is the document itself — FORM OIR-1802.docx, adopted 12/18/2025, with no modified documents filed against it since.

So there is a single, identifiable file at the end of that chain. “The form” is not a description of some required content that any document can satisfy; it is that file.

Does that mean a rebuilt form gets rejected?

Usually not, and it would be dishonest to tell you otherwise. Reports produced by inspection software that lays the questions out in its own template are submitted and accepted across Florida every day, and the major packages keep their templates current. If your existing software works for you, this is not a reason to change it.

The narrower and more accurate claim is about what each document leaves open:

A reproduction can fall behind a revision. The form changed on 1 April 2026 for the first time in over a decade. Anything that re-implements the layout has to be re-implemented; the adopted PDF cannot be out of date with itself. This is the practical risk, not a theoretical one — see which 1802 form is current, and which state URLs still serve the old one.
A reproduction has to be read as equivalent. An underwriter comparing a branded report against the adopted form is doing a comparison. An underwriter looking at the adopted form is not. Removing that step removes one thing that can be argued about during a claim or a re-rate.
Nothing about the file settles the substance. A perfectly rendered form with a credited attribute and no supporting photograph still comes back. The document is the smaller half of the problem.

Not legal advice

This is a plain reading of published rules and statutes with the sources linked so you can read them yourself. It is not legal advice, and it is not guidance from any regulator. If a carrier has told you something different about what it will accept, the carrier is the one you have to satisfy.

Who is allowed to sign it?

Only the people section 627.711(2), Florida Statutes, lists: an authorised home inspector, a building code inspector, a licensed general, building, residential or roofing contractor, a professional engineer, or a registered architect. Contractors and professional engineers may delegate the inspection itself to a direct employee, and the form carries a fraud statement signed by the person who did the work.

Using the adopted document does not change any of that, and no software can. The signature is the inspector’s, and so is the judgement behind every answer above it.

Common questions

Can an insurer refuse a wind mitigation report that is not on the official OIR-B1-1802?: Section 627.711, Florida Statutes, requires insurers to accept the uniform mitigation verification form adopted by the Financial Services Commission, and in practice reports produced by inspection software on its own template are accepted across Florida every day. The difference is narrower than it sounds: a reproduction has to be read as equivalent to the adopted document, where the adopted document does not.
Is a wind mitigation report from inspection software valid in Florida?: Yes, in the ordinary case. What decides whether a report holds up is whether the person who signed it was qualified to under section 627.711(2), Florida Statutes, whether every credited attribute carries its required photograph, and whether the answers reflect the weakest feature actually present — not which program printed the page.
What does it mean that the wind mitigation form is adopted by reference?: It means Rule 69O-170.0155, Florida Administrative Code, incorporates a specific file into the rule itself, and the Florida Administrative Code then publishes that file. For OIR-B1-1802 the reference is Ref-18852: FORM OIR-1802.docx, adopted 18 December 2025, with no modified documents filed since. “The form” is that file, not a description of content that any document can satisfy.

Where this comes from

Florida Wind Mit completes the 1802 on a phone at the property and writes the answers onto the adopted OIR PDF rather than rebuilding it. That choice is the reason for the reading above, and it is the reason the rulemaking record gets checked on a schedule rather than assumed to have stayed still.