FES &FICE Successfully Protect Engineers Performing Uniform Mitigation
Verification Inspections
By: Young van Assenderp, P.A.
B
eginning in 2009, the Office of Insurance Regulation initiated the rule-making
process in order to amend rule 69O-170.0155 by revising the Uniform
Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (Form OIR-B1-1802).
In the initial promulgated draft of Form OIR-B1-1802, the signature block provided
that an engineer, by signing the form, had to certify that the engineer physically
performed the wind-mitigation inspection.
Florida law makes clear that employees under the responsible charge and
supervision of a licensed engineer may carry out many tasks on behalf of engineers,
including wind-mitigation inspections.
Due to the inconsistency between the initial draft of Form OIR-B1-1802 and Florida
law, the Florida Engineering Society (FES) and the Florida Institute of Consulting
Engineers (FICE) participated in the rule-making process in order to make sure that
Form OIR-B1-1802 did not harm Florida’s engineers by prohibiting employees
under the responsible charge and supervision of a licensed engineer from
performing wind-mitigation inspections.
After several workshops, FES and FICE successfully protected their members in
order to make sure that Form OIR-B1-1802was consistent with law.
The new Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (Form OIR-B1-1802) has
been revised and adopted and will be effective on February 1, 2012. The signature
block of the revised form provides that employees of engineers may perform windmitigation inspections.