The 2,400-square-foot clapboard-covered home overlooking Green Hill Pond in South Kingstown didn’t look particularly extraordinary among the other houses along Teal Drive when it was built in 2015.
But there was something special about it: The coastal house was the first in Rhode Island constructed to the disaster certification standard known as Fortified, a more rigorous building code that allows homes to better withstand high winds and water damage.
Since then, state agencies such as the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council have recommended that new homes along the Ocean State coast be constructed to that standard.
Now a legislative effort is underway to make it easier and cheaper for coastal homeowners to weather-proof their dwellings under the Fortified standard – either through retrofitting or new construction – and receive fairly priced insurance, or even receive coverage at all.
Companion bills introduced in both the House and Senate would direct the R.I. Department of Business Regulation to seek grants for homeowners to “home harden” their properties, making them more resistant to natural disasters through structural improvements.
The legislation specifically cites the Fortified building standard, developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety in 2010. The standard calls for building materials such as impact-resistant shingles and windows, stronger wall construction and foundation anchoring.
In Rhode Island, obtaining homeowners insurance for houses that have a greater risk of facing extreme weather has been nearly impossible – or at least very expensive – in recent years.
Rep. Brian Kennedy, D-Westerly, the lead sponsor of the House bill introduced on Feb. 26, cited the sheer amount of damage left by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 as the genesis behind the state’s efforts to fortify coastal homes.
“Rhode Island is not offering homeowners insurance so easily now, especially to coastal homes at risk of hurricane, water and wind damage,” Kennedy said. “But this bill will allow those folks to strengthen their home’s windows, the roofing, siding and doors through a state-funded home hardening program. When insurers see this, they will insure those properties.”
The House and Senate bills would also increase the coverage limits of the state’s guaranty fund, the entity that steps in when an insurance company becomes insolvent. Under the measure, residential and commercial policyholders would be covered for claims up to $1 million, up from $500,000 for commercial property and $300,000 for residences.
In the last several years, climate risks have forced two insurance companies to stop selling home insurance in Rhode Island, Ernie Shaghalian, an insurance agent at Butler & Messier Inc. in Pawtucket, testified in February before a House commission studying climate change effects and solutions.
A third company said it would no longer be renewing policies this year. And a fourth company that specializes in insuring coastal properties has canceled thousands of policies after going into receivership, Shaghalian said. As a result, more Rhode Islanders have been forced to get their homes insured under Rhode Island’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, or FAIR, where premiums can be up to 50% higher than voluntary homeowner insurance carriers, he said.
That problem is particularly evident for coastal homeowners, who statistically file more insurance claims due to weather-related damages, which a Fortified home would be more likely to withstand.
Building to that standard can be expensive, however.
Homes are certified Fortified at three levels: bronze, silver and gold, depending on the level of protection. A bronze package includes impact-resistant shingles, while the gold package offers pressure-rated windows and garage doors, chimney bracing, gable strengthening and more.
And once the construction is complete, a contractor must inspect the home every five years for certification, which can run upward of $1,500 depending on the package.
Pam Rubinoff, former senior coastal manager at the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center, was integral in getting Fortified homes to the state.
“This legislation may be a good approach to increasing the resiliency of building,” she said. “Besides the money for the construction though, a key element that we started to explore was homeowners insurance reduction based on code-plus construction using Fortified.”
In fact, Rubinoff said she, too, had a Fortified roof installed on her house but still faced high insurance premiums until she weather-hardened other aspects of the property.
Several obstacles may present issues in implementing a weather-hardening program in Rhode Island.
Rubinoff said that the university’s partnership had provided workshops for contractors to be certified for the Fortified standard, but not many went forward with it. There are currently only three companies that provide Fortified standardization and inspections in Rhode Island, according to the Fortified website.
The legislation would have the DBR seek grants to fund a “home-hardening” program like that in Alabama, where 82% of the country’s Fortified homes are located.
Alabama coastal property owners who benefitted from the program typically save up to 55% on their insurance premiums depending on the carrier and level of protection. Homeowners further inland can save up to 30% on premiums, according to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.
The Strengthen Alabama Homes grant provides up to $10,000 to owners of existing homes to upgrade to a Fortified standard. These grants are not based on income.
The Rhode Island legislation doesn’t specify a dollar amount.
It’s not clear how many homes have been built or retrofitted using the Fortified standard since the first one was constructed in South Kingstown.
John Rogue purchased that house on Teal Drive in 2020, and whenever hurricanes and windstorms threaten the area, he’s confident the structure can withstand it. The house is gold-level Fortified with living areas raised above the flood elevation, protecting vital parts of the house from water damage.
He said he’s had no problem getting insurance coverage, although he acknowledged it is “still not cheap.”
Rogue supports the legislation after hearing what the original owners of the property paid to have it hardened in 2015.
“It’s outrageously expensive,” Rogue said. “If you’re trying to retrofit [existing homes], it’s not practical, it just doesn’t make sense.”
