An owner of a site-built, single-family, residential property may apply for and receive an inspection without any further obligation to apply for a grant.

For a homeowner to be eligible for a grant, the following criteria must be met: The homeowner must have been granted a homestead exemption on the home (If you do not know your status, please confer with your local Property Appraiser or Tax Collector's Office; The home must be a dwelling with an insured value of $500,000 or less. (Homeowners who are low-income persons may be exempt from this requirement. Look for additional details in the application process);
The home must have undergone the program's hurricane mitigation inspection;
The home must be located in the "wind-borne debris region" as that term is defined in the State Building Code;
The building permit application for initial construction of the home must have been made before March 1, 2002 (If you do not know when your home was built, please contact your local building department); and
The homeowner must agree to make his or her home available for inspection once a mitigation project is completed.

The application process is available now and can be accessed through the Sign Up & Apply button above.

Once your inspection is complete and you are determined to be elibile, you will be notified that you may apply for a grant.

The Legislature has authorized homeowners to receive up to $10,000 for the actual cost of the mitigation project. The program will provide $2 in grant funds for every $1 the homeowner provides. In order to receive the maximum grant amount, homeowners must be able to provide $5,000 of their own funds toward the project.

When recommended by a hurricane mitigation inspection, grants may be used for the following improvements:

• Opening protection;
• Exterior doors, including garage doors;
• Brace gable ends;
• Reinforcing roof-to wall connections;
• Improving the strength of roof-deck attachments;
• Upgrading roof covering from code to code plus; and
• Secondary water barrier for roof.

The Department will provide an approved list of inspectors. Homeowners must utilize an inspector from this list.

Hurricane inspectors, at a minimum, must meet the following criteria:

• Are certified as a building inspector under State Statutes;
• Are licensed as a general or residential contractor under State Statutes;
• Are licensed as a professional engineer under State Statutes and who have passed the appropriate equivalency test of the building code training program as required by State Statutes; or
• Are licensed as a professional architect under State Statutes

The Department will provide a list of contractors that have agreed to participate in the program. Applicants will be required to use a contractor from that list.