Tougher Enclosures Advised

May 12--Upgrading standards for patio enclosures, carports, sheds and other such structures could prevent $857 million in storm losses over the next two decades, according to a study state insurance regulators issued Friday.

The $200,000 study, which the Florida Legislature commissioned in 2006 after the exterior structures sustained extensive damage during the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes, is the first such review in the nation.

The report, prepared by Applied Research Associates of Raleigh, N.C., faulted the design and construction quality of exterior structures.

It concluded that local building departments need to do a better job of reviewing the design and inspecting aluminum structures in the field.

The stability of external structures "has not been adequate" and they remain highly vulnerable to hurricane damage, Applied Research said.

A key reason, the study continued, is that professional engineers usually do not design aluminum structures, so when they fail, the result often is catastrophic.

That requires complete replacement of the structure, which increases insurance losses.

The study found that national construction standards allow the structures to be less sound than the rest of the home.

Those standards require that exterior structures meet only 70 percent of the hurricane wind standards required for homes.

Insurance companies have cut back on the amount they will pay for damage to exterior structures such as screened patio enclosures by requiring homeowners to buy additional coverage to include them.

Those changes occurred after insurance companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for enclosures and other structures during the eight hurricanes that hit Florida during 2004 and 2005.

Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is taking the report seriously.

"The state of Florida needs to design additional building code requirements for these structures in order to mitigate storm damage, and ultimately, lower the cost of insurance for our policyholders," McCarty said in a statement released to coincide with the report.

L.A. Twisdale, one of the report's authors, said in an interview that the large amount of damage to such structures during the storms was not surprising, given their vulnerability.

But another factor was their prevalence in Florida, he said.

Exterior structures are very common in Florida, with an average of one structure per house and three per mobile home, Twisdale said.

Preliminary study estimates show that the structures account for 10.3 percent of the total insured value of a home and 19 percent of the value of a mobile home.

''It was an eye-opener for us," he said.

In any given year, factoring in years when there are hurricanes and years when there aren't, the insurance industry payout for exterior structure damage amounts to $195 million, Twisdale said.

Given those statistics, he said change is necessary.

''We need to get it right,'' he said.

The report did not offer projections of how much insurance rates could be lowered by strengthening exterior structures.

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