How a FORTIFIED roof gets certified

Why the evaluator is independent of the contractor

A FORTIFIED evaluator is a trained third party. The roofer does the work; the evaluator checks it and reports what they saw. Those two jobs sit with different people on purpose, and that separation is the entire reason the certificate carries weight. An installer grading their own installation would mean nothing to a company deciding whether to discount a wind premium, and nothing to the state deciding whether to pay out a grant.

It also sets what you should expect from each of them. Your contractor is accountable for the build: the sealed deck, the ring-shank nailing, the edge metal, the wind-rated covering. The evaluator is accountable for the record: being on site at the right moments, photographing what is about to be covered up, and putting a file in front of IBHS that IBHS is willing to sign off on. Neither one can do the other's half.

You end up engaging both. On a grant project the order is set for you: the evaluation comes first, then bids from at least 3 approved contractors you pick. Paying for the roof yourself leaves the order to you, and IBHS says either starting point works, since an evaluator can also point you toward contractors who build to the standard. The roofing half of that decision is covered on choosing a contractor.

The sequence, and who is doing what

1. Before anything comes off the roof, the evaluator looks at the house and establishes what the standard will require on it.
2. The certified contractor installs to the standard: sealed deck, enhanced ring-shank deck attachment, reinforced edge detailing, and a wind-rated covering.
3. The evaluator documents the work in progress with photographs, because most of what earns the designation is hidden by the time the job is finished.
4. IBHS reviews the file and issues the certificate. Anything the file does not settle is IBHS's call, not the roofer's and not yours.

Timing is where grant projects come apart. Approved contractors may not begin until you have been selected and the bid process is complete, and starting early voids your eligibility. Once you are cleared, the work has 90 days to be finished, which the grant page lays out step by step.

How to find an IBHS-approved evaluator

IBHS keeps the directory, so that is where to start. Its Find a Professional directory lists FORTIFIED-trained professionals, evaluators among them, and it can be searched by location. This guide does not run that directory, does not approve evaluators, and does not issue certificates. IBHS does all three.

For a grant project the credential is not the only requirement. An evaluation by an IBHS-certified evaluator is one of the things the Louisiana Department of Insurance asks for, and the application itself lives at ldi.la.gov/fortifyhomes, not here.

The form on this site does one thing: it puts you in touch with FORTIFIED-certified roofing contractors in your parish. It does not reach an evaluator, it does not reach IBHS, and it is not an application for anything.

What the evaluation costs

Budget for it separately. The evaluator's fee is its own line rather than part of the roofing price, and it is one of the costs the grant specifically does not cover: the grant pays construction cost only, and evaluator fees and permit fees sit outside it. That is a good part of why a grant-funded roof still leaves most homeowners writing a check.

The fee itself is the evaluator's to quote. This guide does not publish a number for it, because there is no current sourced Louisiana figure to stand behind. Ask for it in writing when you engage one, and count it on top of the roof price rather than inside it. The rest of that number is worked through on what a FORTIFIED roof costs.

Re-designation at the end of the term

The certificate runs 5 years and then has to be renewed. Re-designation means a certified FORTIFIED evaluator confirms the home still meets the standard, looking mainly at the roof covering and at any changes made to the FORTIFIED systems since the last inspection. Let it lapse for more than 5 years past expiry and you are back to a full evaluation rather than a renewal.

Because the designation belongs to the home, a buyer inherits both the certificate and the clock on it. Worth knowing on either side of a sale: ask when the current term ends.