An agent wants me to put “100% Brick Veneer” in “E. Other” for item #7, Wall Construction Type.
The home is brick over wood frame. I put 100% wood frame. IMO, the wall structure is wood frame and the finish is brick.
Have any of you ran into this problem? What is your standard for item #7 on a home that is brick over wood frame?
You are absolutely correct. I would not change a thing. The brick is decorative. 
I’ve found a statement on it in the my safe FL home manual, which is no longer the standard. Have you got anything else to back it up?
Some guys put both 100% frame and 100% brick veneer
That is exactly what I did. When they wanted me to put brick veneer, I ammended the report to be 100% frame and 100% brick veneer.
The agent is saying that if it says anything about frame construction, the underwriter will have to change a lot of things with the policy.
I’m not oppossed to stating that it is 100% brick veneer and not mentioning the wood frame, if that is the norm or standard. But, I really doubt it is the standard and that is not how I read the question.
Appearantly I’m missing something in the translation between the insurance world and reality. Brick veneer is a type of wall finish, not a wall structure.
100% Wood frame. Im pretty sure Citizens released a technical bulletin clarifying this recently.
Whatever the roof attaches to is the wall construction type.
Dennis is correct so is Richard. The problem is people do not understand it, including agents. You can not say the home is 100% brick. Brick over brick is 100% brick.
It is simple they want you do do them a favor and save them all the extra time and effort of changing the petty little things with the quote. Can’t you just be a team player? We just need you to say this right here on this email. :roll: The Only correct answer is 100% frame the veneer is only a decoration. you could have Chickie hut grass and swamp mud cover it and it would still be wood frame.
After all it is your name on the bottom of the form not the Agent:roll:
Don’t let the agent bully you into changing it… If the home is rated frame… the premium goes up… the agent gets an earful from the client.
Not your problem. You got it right the first time and should be proud to provide accurate reports. IMHO
This happens a lot in Brevard County… Property appraisers do a quick drive by inspection… rate the home as “masonry” when indeed it is brick veneer… then, a “REAL” inspector goes out and does his job… only to determine that the property appraiser is wrong.
Anything less than a double wythe of brick is brick veneer. One caution to you folks that really don’t know about masonry is that even a double wythe stretcher bond wall is not a structural brick wall without headers and so can still be considered brick veneer.
Bruce Gregory, InterNACHI Certified HI# 10120503
Florida Home Inspector 1167, Florida Mold Assessor 450
http://HomeandBuildingInspectors.com
Lifetime member (46 yrs) B.A.C. (Bricklayers and Affiliated Crafts)
“Age is a state of mind, however not yet a state of mine”
Something I uttered after sailing solo to Bermuda in 2002 at age 60
Thanks guys and Michelle.
This is what can sometimes happen when information contained in an inspection report that is designed for one specific purpose is used for something totally unplanned, unintended and unrelated.
This is the biggest reason I no longer do Wind Mitigation inspections. Too much vague and arbitrary information being sought with one intent and that is to deny the homeowner any deduction. The OIR came out with a form that seems to change often with confusing and ambiguous terms that is left up to the insurance carriers and their underwriters to interpret and make their own rules up as they go along. It is tough to hit a moving target and for the prices being offered by some of those doing these, it isn’t worth all the hassles, time and exasperation. To say this program is a cluster would be a gross understatement. I watch with amusement sometimes at how different people determine what the definitions are, the parameters, the convoluted reasoning of underwriters who don’t know a hurricane clip from a vasectomy clip and all that for a few bucks. Hell, I would rather sell pencils on a street corner than subject myself to this nonsense. Those of you doing them, more power to you. I can make three times as much money doing other types of inspections for a lot less time and effort.
Doug, in this case some insurance companies may not even be using the information for wind mitigation discounts.
A little backgroung: last September the OIR had a public meeting in Tallahassee as the first step on the path to a new 1802 form. In that meeting there was a presentation by ARA who is the OIR’s concultant on the 1802 form. ARA said in the meeting that there were currently no OIR 1655 wind mitigation discounts for “wall construction” or "gable end bracing. The OIR 1655 is the form insurance companies are to use to disclose to their policy holders the state mandated wind mitigation discounts that are available. In that presentation ARA also recomended removing the wall construction and gable end bracing questions from the 1802 form because there are currently no wind mitigation discounts available for them. If that is true then why are carriers interested in this question. I have heard from more than one person that some insurance companies may be using this information for some sort of fire rating. This is why I mentioned unintended purpose, because questions formulated for wind mitigation may not be the same for determining fire porential or rating purposes. For example, for wind mitigation a 100% frame wall description may always suffuce. However, for a fire potential more information may be needed, is a frame decription sufficent for both a frame wall with brick venner and a frame wall with wood cladding the same? I certainly don’t know. I’m just saying taking information that is assembled for one purpose and using for something entirely different may not be the best idea.
Richard,
That is interesting and not surprising. The insurance companies in FL have been scamming the residents here for decades, often charging premiums for one thing only to later deny the policy holders for claims in the very areas they have paid on for years. I saw this first hand when I was a licensed PA in Florida after Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis. Same was happening all along the Gulf Coast after Katrina.