FORTIFIED Roof Program

Alabama homeowners replacing a roof have a special route in the FORTIFIED Roof standard: state law requires insurers to give premium discounts on homes with an IBHS FORTIFIED designation, and the state's Strengthen Alabama Homes program offers grants of up to $10,000, as of 2026, to build one. The benefits come only with a certified FORTIFIED designation, not with any new roof.

What FORTIFIED means for your Alabama roof

FORTIFIED is a construction standard created by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). A FORTIFIED Roof starts with a sealed roof deck, so that if wind strips off the shingles, rain cannot pour through the seams in the wood beneath. The roofer fastens the deck with ring-shank nails, not smooth nails, in an enhanced pattern, then adds a wider drip edge and a fully adhered starter strip along the edges. Finally, the roofer installs shingles that meet the highest wind ratings, or a metal or tile roof tested for the site's wind pressures.

That adds up to a sealed, anchored roof that resists blow-off and water intrusion in Alabama hurricane and severe-storm winds. FORTIFIED has three levels. FORTIFIED Roof covers the roof alone; FORTIFIED Silver adds protection for windows, doors and other openings; FORTIFIED Gold adds a continuous load path that ties the roof to the walls and foundation.

FORTIFIED roofs mean mandatory insurance discounts

Alabama has tied home insurance to wind mitigation since a 2009 law that made premium discounts for qualifying construction mandatory in Baldwin and Mobile counties. A 2015 law extended the requirement statewide, so every insurer writing homeowners coverage in Alabama must discount the wind or hurricane portion of the premium on a FORTIFIED home. The size of the discount depends on the designation level, the part of the state and the insurer; ask your company for its filed rates, and send it a copy of the FORTIFIED certificate.

A separate 2019 law requires insurers to offer a FORTIFIED Roof endorsement. If the home is otherwise eligible and a covered loss requires the roof to be replaced, the endorsement, bought for an extra premium, pays the added cost of building the new roof to the FORTIFIED standard, including certification.

Strengthen Alabama Homes grants and hiring a roofer

Strengthen Alabama Homes is run by the Alabama Department of Insurance and funded by the insurance industry. Its grants pay for retrofitting existing, owner-occupied, single-family homes to the FORTIFIED Roof standard, up to $10,000 as of 2026. The home must be the owner's primary residence in an eligible county, in good repair, and not a condominium, townhouse, mobile home or a house listed for sale. Funds cannot be used for ordinary maintenance or repairs. Applicants must show an in-force wind insurance policy, and flood insurance if the home is in a special flood hazard area.

Grant rounds open by county on set dates and close as soon as the money for that round is committed, first come, first served; in 2026 the rounds were scheduled for Mobile and Baldwin counties. The homeowner pays for the FORTIFIED evaluation, which is not refunded, and the work must be finished within 90 days of the grant award. Check strengthenalabamahomes.com for the current schedule, eligible counties and approved contractors before signing anything.

Before hiring a roofer, ask whether the company has built FORTIFIED roofs, whether it will seal the deck, use ring-shank nails in the FORTIFIED pattern, install the drip edge and starter strip, and use wind-rated shingles, and whether it will submit the photos and paperwork a certified FORTIFIED evaluator needs. The evaluator documents the work, and IBHS issues the FORTIFIED designation certificate. That certificate is what your insurer needs for the discount, so keep a copy with your policy papers.