The Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule in Florida is a 1-to-10 rating that Verisk (formerly ISO) assigns to each local building department based on how strictly it adopts and enforces the Florida Building Code, and insurers use that grade to set premium credits for newly constructed buildings in the jurisdiction. A grade of 1 signals the strongest enforcement and earns the largest insurance credit; a grade of 10 earns none. Florida also has a rating found nowhere else in the country, Class 98, which triggers a 1 percent insurance surcharge for properties in communities that decline to participate in the program at all.1Verisk. BCEGS Classification
What the Grade Actually Measures
Verisk grades each community separately for residential and commercial construction, because staffing and technical demands differ between the two. The assessment falls into three areas: administration (which edition of the model code the community has adopted and how staff are trained), plan review procedures, and field inspection practices.2International Code Council. National Assessment, State-by-State Evaluation of Building Codes Released Verisk reassesses each community roughly every five years, and communities in disaster-prone areas may be evaluated more often.
One boundary matters up front. BCEGS grades and the insurance credits tied to them apply only to buildings constructed in the year the community received its classification or later. Existing structures built before that classification are not affected by the program. If your home predates your community’s current grade, the BCEGS credit does not flow to your policy, though other Florida wind-mitigation discounts still can.
Class 98: Florida’s Non-Participation Penalty
Florida is the only state that carries a Class 98 designation. It applies to building departments that decline to participate in BCEGS, and under Florida law, properties inside a Class 98 jurisdiction face a 1 percent insurance surcharge.1Verisk. BCEGS Classification That is worse than a grade of 10, which at least reflects a department that engaged with the evaluation. Class 98 tells insurers a community has opted out of accountability, and the surcharge reflects that added risk.
How the Grade Affects Your Property Insurance
Insurers use BCEGS classifications when pricing coverage for new construction. Buildings in communities graded 1 through 3 receive the highest premium credits, grades 4 through 9 receive intermediate credits, and a grade of 10 earns no credit.1Verisk. BCEGS Classification Because residential and commercial grades are separate, a community can be strong on one side and weak on the other, and the credit follows the grade that matches the property type.
BCEGS credits sit alongside a separate discount stream that Florida homeowners can pursue directly. Section 627.0629 of the Florida Statutes requires residential property insurers to include actuarially reasonable discounts for homes with wind-resistant features, including improved roof strength, opening protection, and roof-to-wall connections.3Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 627.0629 – Residential Property Insurance Rate Filings The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation oversees the filings that set those discounts.4Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. Premium Discounts for Hurricane Loss Mitigation To claim them, a homeowner hires a licensed inspector to complete the official Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form and sends it to their insurance agent. That path is worth pursuing whether or not your community holds a strong BCEGS grade.
The grade can also affect whether private carriers will write coverage in your area at all. Communities with weak enforcement records may see carriers pull back, pushing homeowners toward Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-backed insurer of last resort created by the Florida Legislature in 2002 for property owners unable to find coverage in the private market.5Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Who We Are Because mortgage lenders require adequate insurance, thin carrier availability in a poorly graded community can indirectly complicate loan approvals and drag on property values.
Flood Insurance and the Community Rating System
For many Florida homeowners the bigger dollar impact runs through flood insurance. FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) rewards communities that exceed minimum National Flood Insurance Program requirements with premium discounts, and BCEGS classification feeds directly into a community’s CRS score:
- BCEGS 5/5 earns 10 CRS credit points
- BCEGS 4/4 earns 20 points
- BCEGS 3/3 earns 30 points
- BCEGS 2/2 earns 40 points
- BCEGS 1/1 earns 50 points
A community must hold a BCEGS grade of 5/5 or better on both residential and commercial construction just to qualify as a CRS Class 6 or better community.6FEMA. CRS Coordinator’s Manual (2017 Edition) The CRS class in turn sets the flood premium discount:
- CRS Class 6: 20% discount
- CRS Class 5: 25%
- CRS Class 4: 30%
- CRS Class 3: 35%
- CRS Class 2: 40%
- CRS Class 1: 45%
A non-participating community (CRS Class 10) receives no discount.7FEMA. Community Rating System Discount Guide For a Florida homeowner in a flood zone carrying an NFIP policy, the gap between a CRS Class 6 community and a non-participating one can amount to hundreds of dollars a year, and BCEGS is one of the building blocks that moves a community up those tiers.
What Drives a Community’s Grade
Verisk weighs several factors when scoring a building department. The evaluation considers the edition of code being enforced, any local amendments, staff certification and training levels, staff workload, plan review methods, and inspection procedures.8ISO. Frequently Asked Questions: ISO’s Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) Communities that stay current with the latest International Codes and maintain fully staffed departments with active training programs score notably better than those running on older codes with overworked inspectors.
Florida updates its Building Code on a three-year cycle, building on the International Codes published by the International Code Council along with the National Electric Code.9Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 553.73 – Florida Building Code Because BCEGS heavily weighs which edition a jurisdiction has adopted, communities that stay current position themselves for better grades. Continuing education matters too. Florida Administrative Code Rule 61G19-6 requires building officials, inspectors, and plan reviewers to complete continuing education, and departments with fully certified staff earn more points than those relying on undertrained personnel.
Technology counts as well. Communities using digital permitting and electronic plan review demonstrate the kind of operational efficiency Verisk credits. Florida law also requires construction documents to be prepared and submitted by licensed architects and engineers before permits are approved, and the thoroughness with which a department enforces that pre-construction review shows up in its score.
Finding Your Community’s Grade
Verisk does not publish a public searchable database of BCEGS classifications. To find your community’s current grade, contact Verisk’s mitigation team at BCEGS_info@verisk.com or call 1-800-444-4554 (option 2).10Verisk. Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) Your local building department should also know its classification and when the last assessment took place. If your community has made significant improvements since its last review, or has not been evaluated in years, it is worth asking the building official to request a reassessment from Verisk. An improved grade benefits every new construction project in the jurisdiction, and in flood-prone areas it can move the whole community up the CRS ladder.