IBHS Celebrates Professionals Committed to Stronger Building

RICHBURG, S.C., June 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) today announced the recipients of its annual FORTIFIED Volume and Pioneer Awards, recognizing companies across the country who answer the call to build stronger. These organizations and building professionals have laid the foundation for FORTIFIED in their communities and met milestones in helping customers protect their homes from severe weather. Their dedication advanced the total number of FORTIFIED homes above 18,000 and helped cement FORTIFIED Home™ as the national standard for stronger, more resilient construction.

"The companies we salute today are committed to providing their customers with a home better prepared to face hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe weather," explains FORTIFIED Managing Director Fred Malik. "These industry leaders made a conscious decision to go beyond what building codes mandate and to make the series of incremental improvements required by FORTIFIED so families have the peace of mind that comes with extra protection from wind and rain."

The FORTIFIED Home program, developed by IBHS and based on decades of scientific research, is a set of voluntary, beyond-code construction upgrades that improve a building's resistance to the effects of severe weather. The most affordable level of protection, FORTIFIED Roof™, is a three-tiered system that strengthens the roof, which is a home's first line of defense against severe weather. At this foundational level of the program, more and stronger nails, locked down edges, and a sealed roof deck work in concert to keep the wind and rain out, as an estimated 70 to 90 percent of catastrophic homeowners' insurance claims include roof damage. For more comprehensive protection ideal for coastal areas, FORTIFIED Gold™ builds on the requirements of FORTIFIED Roof. A home achieving this designation must have a continuous load path, meaning the roof is anchored to the walls, which are then bolted to the foundation. At any level, verifying that each of the required upgrades is completed correctly is instrumental to validating a home's integrity and ability to perform better in severe weather. Independent certified FORTIFIED Home evaluators provide homeowners with confidence that the work on their home complies with each of the FORTIFIED requirements.

"No home is ever 100 percent hurricane-proof, but a FORTIFIED Home is significantly more resilient to severe weather and gives homeowners a better chance of returning home quickly after the next storm," continues Malik. "From pioneer builders who paved the way in their communities to the volume award winners who grow the demand for stronger building, our award recipients truly are helping their customers safeguard the things that make a house a home."

IBHS is proud to recognize the builders, roofers and certified FORTIFIED evaluators who put FORTIFIED into action for thousands of families nationwide:

FORTIFIED Pioneer Award Recipients

• Champion Builders (Baton Rouge, La.)
• J. Madden Homes (Tulsa, Okla.)
• Marina Bay (Tampa, Fla.)
• SBP (New Orleans, La.)
• Team Rubicon (Houston, Texas)
• Waggoner Contracting (Port Aransas, Texas)

FORTIFIED Volume Award Recipients (Roofers & Homebuilders)
D.R. Horton Inc. – Mobile/Baldwin County, Ala., Division: Crystal Award, 948 homes

• Truland Homes (Daphne, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 266 homes
• DSLD Homes (Daphne, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 200 homes
• Ben Murphy Company (Foley, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 190 homes
• JDL Homebuilders Inc. (Mobile, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 114 homes
• Foster Contracting (Mobile, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 111 homes
• All Weather Roofing (Mobile, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 100+ homes

FORTIFIED Volume Award Recipients (Certified Home Evaluators)

• Bethel Engineering Inc. (Mobile, Ala.): Crown Award, 1527 homes
• Knockout Home Inspections (Fairhope, Ala.): Crown Award, 1121 homes
• Inspections on Demand, Inc. (Raleigh, N.C.): Spotlight Award, 494 homes
• Golden Rule Home Services (Fairhope, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 243 homes
• Gulf Coast Home Inspections (Fairhope, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 233 homes
• Coastal Property Services (Wilmington, N.C.): Spotlight Award, 213 homes
• Disaster Smart Consulting, Inc. (Cantonment, Fla.): Spotlight Award, 168 homes
•  Coastal Design Group (Daphne, Ala.): Spotlight Award, 131 homes

About FORTIFIED Home
Please visit fortifiedhome.org to learn more about the IBHS FORTIFIED Home program, including the designation process, how to identify a certified FORTIFIED Evaluator and other valuable resources. Detailed information about FORTIFIED Roof can be found at fortifiedhome.org/homeowners-roof.

About the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) 
The IBHS mission is to conduct objective, scientific research to identify and promote effective actions that strengthen homes, businesses and communities against natural disasters and other causes of loss. Learn more about IBHS at DisasterSafety.org.

SOURCE Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)

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