Hurricane protection

[coastal chic]

Originally Posted by missguided1

When I inquired about the NOA, his response was that he paid to have his product independently tested by HETI to EXCEED all of Broward/Miami-Dade standards for wind-load and large missile impact. Every engineer that has a diploma hanging on his/her wall and has seen this product agrees that the product is what he claims it to be and he doesn't feel like he needs to "pay that area of the state for the right to do business there". He claimed it is little more than a "money grab" that borders on extortion.

Here is a quote from the actual inspection form you must submit to your insurance company in order to apply for discounts (OIR 1802).

All exterior openings are fully protected at a minimum with impact
resistant coverings, impact resistant doors and/or impact resistant window units that are listed as wind borne debris protection
devices in the product approval system of the State of Florida or Miami-Dade County and meet the requirements of one of the following for “Cyclic Pressure and Large Missile Impact”. For the HVHZ, systems must have either a Miami-Dade NOA or FBC Approval marked “For Use in the HVHZ”.

Here's a link to the form. Maybe you could print it out and ask him which test his product went through in order to be accepted by Citizens.

LOOK AT QUESTION # 9, Section A or B.

http://www.floir.com/pdf/OIR-B1-1802.pdf (broken link)

Let us know which one it is.

[coastal chic]

Wanted to add; I'm not assuming anything about this company....but I'm just trying to educate consumers so that when you are looking to invest in hurricane protection, you go in with eyes wide open. There are so many products out there that it's hard to know what is accepted and what is not. Just because "it says so on the website" does not mean it is so. Unless there is actual testing that matches the requirements of the OIR, it is not accepted by Citizens.

[coastal chic]

This is a little dated, but a good resource video.


YouTube - How to Identify Code Approved Products

[coastal chic]

This is an excellent guide to the various "pros and cons" of shutter/ window options.

http://www.ibhs.org/content/data/file/shutter_matrix.pdf (broken link)

[missguided1]

I will wait until my meeting with the inventor at the end of the month. The pdf file that you sent me opens and says "this file has been corrupted and cannot be repaired" so I really can't comment. If Hughes can produce independent test documents that say his product meets or exceeds the Miami-Dade requirements, that should indicate the product's strength, right? I mean, if it's good enough for Marco Island and the barrier island of Sanibel, shouldn't it be good enough for my little place on an inland river in Manatee County? I saw the video of a 2x4 bouncing off of this thing without breaking (or even cracking). Maybe if I saw it "live" at a demonstration so I know that it wasn't rigged in someway. Coastal Chic, what kind of hurricane windows do you have?

[coastal chic]

Originally Posted by missguided1

If Hughes can produce independent test documents that say his product meets or exceeds the Miami-Dade requirements, that should indicate the product's strength, right?

ONLY if the tests are approved by the Florida Building Code. That's really important! I'm not saying his aren't; but they MUST have been tested using the listed testing facilities on the OIR form. If that's the PDF you can't pull up, just google "OIR 1802" and it will come up.

I have a mix of impact windows and soft hurricane screens on my model home; nothing on my personal home (we FL natives tend to be lazy about hurricane protection! ).

I responded because we have done thousands of wind mitigation inspections so I deal with this all the time--- people spending money on products that don't meet testing standards and get upset because they won't get a discount on their insurance. Just trying to give everyone the tools to do their homework before investing in hurricane protection.