Mike Silvers, CPRC, Owner, Silvers Systems Inc. and FRSA Technical Director
Since the implementation of the Florida Building Code (FBC) in 2002, the resilience of Florida’s buildings has been at the forefront of the code’s requirements. Subsequent changes sought to promote roof deck and roof-to-wall enhancements to strengthen structures
built before FBC took effect and to require secondary water barriers for most roofs. While the roof deck and water barrier initiatives have been largely successful, roof-to-wall enhancements continue to languish. Let’s look at how we might apply past successes to address this important issue.
The code’s mitigation requirements, adopted as part of the 2007 Existing Building subcode and the 2009 supplements, included provisions for enhanced roof decking attachment and secondary water barriers. These enhancements were to be performed during
subsequent roof replacement of single-family site-built residential structures that were permitted for construction prior to the FBC implementation in March of 2002. The preclusion of FBC built residential structures was done through an exception.
The 2007 change additionally provided requirements that roof-to-wall connection enhancement be considered during roof replacement on homes located in a wind-borne debris region that have an insured value for the structure of $300,000 or more. The
same exceptions for FBC built single-family residential structures apply here.
The primary trigger to implement these provisions occurs during roof replacement. In Florida, in nearly all cases, roofing contractors are the only contractors that can replace roofs. In order to facilitate the enhanced roof decking attachment provisions, the licensing statute definition of a “roofing contractor” was expanded as indicated by the underlined portion of the definition shown below.
Fla. Stat. §489.105(e) “Roofing contractor” means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the roofing trade and who has the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, alter, extend, or design, when not prohibited by law, and use materials and items used in the installation, maintenance, extension, and alteration of all kinds of roofing, waterproofing, and coating, except when coating is not represented to protect, repair, waterproof, stop leaks, or extend the life of the roof. The scope of work of a roofing contractor also includes required roof-deck attachments and any repair or replacement of wood roof sheathing or fascia as needed during roof repair or replacement.
This change in the definition (license scope) led to thousands of Florida homes having roof decking attachment enhancements completed during roof replacement. When combined with secondary water barriers, the positive results of these deck enhancements
have been obvious during post hurricane mitigation assessments.
Unfortunately, the attempt to implement improved roof-to-wall connections has not been as effective. Because roof-to-wall connections are structural in nature, roofing contractors in most jurisdictions have been precluded from performing this work. Often, an engineer or division one (general, building or residential) contractor had to be brought in to assess and perform the scope of work. This process causes interruptions during roof replacement, which causes these improvements, when made, to be very burdensome and expensive. As a result, many owners forgo roof-to-wall connection enhancement, which is often not required when deemed by the owner to be too expensive. The need to expand these mitigation requirements and make them more effective was clear.
In the 2020 FBC, these important mitigation code requirements were extended from the inclusion of single-family site-built residential structures to all existing structures with sawn lumber, wood plank or wood structural panel roof decks. This change was
made to reduce the cost of property insurance claims and to limit the displacement of the inhabitants of these type of structures. When one considers the number of families affected by a roof failure on a multi-story apartment building like the ones shown or an essential commercial or industrial building that serves the community, this change was prudent and will return untold benefits.
The recent re-implementation of the My Safe Florida Home program (which has again exhausted available funding) has brought enhanced roof-to-wall connections to the attention of those charged with administering the program. These enhancements are one of the most effective ways of reducing catastrophic property damage during hurricanes. However, most division one contractors have little interest in getting involved in the middle of a roof replacement project. To allow these code requirements to be effectively
performed during roof replacement, the need to allow roofing contractors to perform this work and to be properly trained to follow the prescriptive sections in the code has become apparent. Much like the expansion of the roofing contractor’s licensure scope that allowed the enhanced roof decking attachment to be effective, a change is also needed that will allow licensed roofing contractors to address the code’s prescriptive roof-to-wall connection requirements as well.
This change could possibly be accomplished through an interpretation of the existing language or by appending the following phrase (or something similar) to the existing definition (see above):
and the evaluation and enhancement of the roof-to-wall connections as described in Section 706 of the FBC Existing Building as needed during roof replacement.
To emphasize the importance of roof-to-wall connections, I point to the recent exhaustive study titled “2024 Residential Wind Loss Mitigation Study” (June 28, 2024) prepared by Applied Research Associates Inc. (ARA) for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
(OIR) where roof-to-wall was mentioned forty-eight times.
It is interesting to note that the code requirements for enhancing roof-to-wall connections in the FBC Existing subcode are under Section 706 Existing Roofing, not in the next Section 707 Structural, which may be an indication of when and by whom this work is
best performed.
Roof-to-wall connection enhancements will only improve the resilience of buildings when they are performed. Nothing in the code’s prescriptive methods will weaken the structural capacity of these connections. The proper design and installation of modern code compliant roof systems requires an understanding of many complex technical issues. Florida’s licensed roofing contractors have the ability to carry out this mitigation work when provided with proper information and training. It would provide many benefits to the citizens of Florida to allow them to do so.
Mike Silvers, CPRC, is owner of Silvers Systems Inc. and is consulting with FRSA as Director of Technical Services. Mike is an FRSA Past President, Life Member, and Campanella Award recipient and brings over 50 years of industry knowledge and experience to FRSA’s team.
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