FORTIFIED Home™ is a set of engineering and building standards designed to help strengthen new and existing homes through system-specific building upgrades to minimum building code requirements that will reduce damage from specific natural hazards.In other words, Fortified Home is a certification program designed to strengthen your home in preparation for certain natural disasters (hurricanes, tropical storms, hailstorms, high winds and wind-driven rain associated with thunderstorms), which thereby helps you to get discounts on your home insurance. This is done by a certified evaluator coming to your home or a home that's being built to review the construction, making recommendations and then you or your contractor implementing them. Your house then gets a designation which you give to your insurance provider.
FORTIFIED Home™ is a third-party certification program specifying design and construction standards to increase a home’s resilience and deliver superior performance during tropical storms and hurricanes. The FORTIFIED Home™ program has three levels of designation – Bronze, Silver and Gold – that build upon each other.
I have not been involved in this program, nor am I aware if any of our customers have gone through this certification process.
What I can tell you from a quick look is that the Fortified Home standards appear to include things that are in building codes and are therefore included in our plans. For example, the “continuous load path” – tying your roof to the walls, which are tied to the floor, which is tied to the foundation – is included in our house plans because it is a building code requirement.
I took a more in-depth look at one Fortified Home requirement that I think will help give a better explanation of what the Fortified Home standards appear to do. The “sealed roof deck” Fortified Home standard specifies how the roof underlayment is installed to seal the roof deck against moisture. Part of this standard explains how to layer and overlap the underlayment, which appears to match what is in the building code. However, this next part is what makes a difference between meeting the minimum requirements of the building code and meeting the minimum requirements of the Fortified Home standard. This explanation involves a lot of ASTM numbers, but bear with me. (ASTM is the American Society for Testing and Materials, which sets international technical standards for a wide range of materials and products). I will color code the different ASTM numbers to help make the comparisons easier to see. Pay attention to the “Type” numbers.
The 2012 North Carolina Residential Building Code* says, “Unless otherwise noted, required underlayment shall conform to ASTM D226 Type I, ASTM D4869 Type I, or ASTM D6757.”
The Fortified Home standard says “… ASTM D226 Type II or ASTM D4869 Type III or Type IV underlayment shall be installed… ASTM D4869 Type I or Type II will NOT be accepted.”
Upon first glance this appears to be in conflict with the
Residential Building Code. So here is
the explanation: ASTM D226 Type I and ASTM D4869 Type I are
for #15 felt, which is the minimum standard needed to comply with the building
code. ASTM D226 Type II and ASTM D4869 Type III or Type IV are for
#30 felt, which is thicker than #15 and will give more protection.
After reviewing this information I have come to two conclusions. One, it appears that at least some of the Fortified Home standards provide more than the minimum building code requirements. Two, since a certified evaluator is coming to the house to see how things were installed, it appears that the Fortified Home program verifies if your contractor is building and installing certain things the way they should in order to meet with the program requirements.
The Fortified Home program is split up into three standards: Hurricane Standards, High Wind & Hail Standards, and High Wind Standards. If you live in an area subject to these natural disasters, you’re willing to pay for the Fortified Home evaluator and fix things based on the recommendations so you can to save money on your home insurance, then the Fortified Home program is for you.
To wrap up and answer the customer question asked, our Southern Cottages House Plans have not been designed to meet Fortified Home standards. But that doesn't mean they won't. We have specified products that we have found to be of good quality through years of experience. With our construction plans and specification manual it would be easy for your contractor to look over what has been designed and specified and “upgrade” something if needed.
Southern Cottages house plans were designed to meet coastal conditions and codes in the state of North Carolina at the time they were designed. Houses on piling foundations were designed to meet coastal and flood plain and high wind zone construction in the State of North Carolina at the time they were designed. Because codes and requirements can change and may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, we cannot warrant compliance with any specific code or regulation. Your plans may need to be modified to comply with local building conditions, energy codes, seismic and soil conditions, snow loads, zoning regulations and other ordinances or requirements. We recommend the use of the services of a local architect or residential design professional to verify compliance with local codes and requirements in your area.
One final thought - if you would like an example of the strength that our plans are designed for, please read this blog post about one of our Island Cottage plans that survived hurricane Sandy - and weathered it well. It includes a letter from the owner of that home.
Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitect.com.
After reviewing this information I have come to two conclusions. One, it appears that at least some of the Fortified Home standards provide more than the minimum building code requirements. Two, since a certified evaluator is coming to the house to see how things were installed, it appears that the Fortified Home program verifies if your contractor is building and installing certain things the way they should in order to meet with the program requirements.
The Fortified Home program is split up into three standards: Hurricane Standards, High Wind & Hail Standards, and High Wind Standards. If you live in an area subject to these natural disasters, you’re willing to pay for the Fortified Home evaluator and fix things based on the recommendations so you can to save money on your home insurance, then the Fortified Home program is for you.
To wrap up and answer the customer question asked, our Southern Cottages House Plans have not been designed to meet Fortified Home standards. But that doesn't mean they won't. We have specified products that we have found to be of good quality through years of experience. With our construction plans and specification manual it would be easy for your contractor to look over what has been designed and specified and “upgrade” something if needed.
Southern Cottages house plans were designed to meet coastal conditions and codes in the state of North Carolina at the time they were designed. Houses on piling foundations were designed to meet coastal and flood plain and high wind zone construction in the State of North Carolina at the time they were designed. Because codes and requirements can change and may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, we cannot warrant compliance with any specific code or regulation. Your plans may need to be modified to comply with local building conditions, energy codes, seismic and soil conditions, snow loads, zoning regulations and other ordinances or requirements. We recommend the use of the services of a local architect or residential design professional to verify compliance with local codes and requirements in your area.
One final thought - if you would like an example of the strength that our plans are designed for, please read this blog post about one of our Island Cottage plans that survived hurricane Sandy - and weathered it well. It includes a letter from the owner of that home.
Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitect.com.
View our architect designed house plans at www.southerncottages.com.
* The current code at the time this was written.
* The current code at the time this was written.
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