Updated August 2026 | DRS Roofing of Central Florida
TL;DR
- Florida law does not require you to replace your roof simply because it reaches 15 years of age.
- Under Florida Statute 627.7011(5), an insurer cannot refuse to issue or renew a homeowner’s policy solely because of roof age when the roof is less than 15 years old.
- If your roof is 15 years or older, your insurer must let you get a roof inspection — at your own expense — before it can require replacement as a condition of coverage. If that inspection shows 5 or more years of useful life remaining, the insurer cannot refuse you on roof age alone.
- Important correction: Many articles online claim Florida SB 808 / HB 815 expanded these protections effective July 1, 2026. Both bills died in committee on March 13, 2026. Neither became law. The roof-age protections enacted in 2022 remain in effect, with a 2024 amendment adding licensed roofing contractors to the authorized-inspector list.
- The inspector must be approved by your insurer. Hiring any licensed roofer does not automatically satisfy the statute.
- The law has real limits: it does not apply to mobile home policies, does not cap your premium, does not stop a carrier from non-renewing for condition rather than age, and does not guarantee that your roof will be insured on a replacement-cost basis.
- Got a non-renewal letter citing roof age in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, or Lake County? Call DRS at (407) 240-1225 for a documented roof condition assessment.
What the “15-Year Roof Rule” Actually Is
The phrase “15-year roof rule” appears nowhere in Florida law. It is shorthand the insurance and roofing industries adopted for a consumer protection contained in Florida Statute 627.7011(5), which took effect for homeowners’ policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022.
The confusion is understandable, and it costs Central Florida homeowners real money. We have sat at kitchen tables in Winter Park and Oviedo with homeowners who received a carrier letter, assumed the law obligated them to replace a functioning roof, and were preparing to spend twenty-plus thousand dollars they did not need to spend that year.
Here is what the statute actually establishes.
For roofs under 15 years old: An insurer may not refuse to issue or refuse to renew a homeowner’s policy insuring a residential structure with a roof less than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof.
For roofs 15 years and older: An insurer must allow the homeowner to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector, at the homeowner’s expense, before requiring roof replacement as a condition of issuing or renewing the policy. If that inspection indicates the roof has 5 years or more of useful life remaining, the insurer may not refuse to issue or renew solely because of roof age.
Read those two provisions carefully and a pattern emerges: the operative phrase in both is “solely because of the age of the roof.” That qualifier is doing enormous work, and it is where most homeowner misunderstandings begin. We will come back to it.
The Correction: SB 808 and HB 815 Never Became Law
This section exists because the misinformation is widespread enough to cause harm.
Throughout the first half of 2026, a large number of roofing company blogs, insurance agency sites, and law firm resource pages published articles stating that Florida Senate Bill 808 and its House companion House Bill 815 would take effect July 1, 2026, expanding roof-age protections from homeowners’ policies to all residential property insurance policies and broadening the definition of “authorized inspector” to include roof consultants and roof observers.
Those bills were real. They were filed. They did not pass.
According to the Florida Senate’s official bill tracking, SB 808 died in the Banking and Insurance Committee on March 13, 2026. Its identical companion, HB 815, died in the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee on the same date. SB 808 never received a committee vote — it was placed on the Banking and Insurance agenda for January 28, 2026, and temporarily postponed. There is no vote history and there are no amendments.
You can verify this yourself at the primary source: flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/808.
Why this matters practically: if you are relying on an article claiming that condo associations, landlords, or non-standard residential policies gained roof-age protection in July 2026, you are relying on protection that does not exist. Statute 627.7011(6)(a) still expressly states the section does not apply to policies that are not “homeowners’ policies” as that term is commonly understood in the insurance industry.
The roof-age protections enacted in 2022 remain in effect. A 2024 amendment added licensed roofing contractors to the statute’s list of potential authorized inspectors. The broader expansion proposed for 2026 did not pass.
This is also a useful lens for evaluating any roofing contractor. Ask whether their published guidance is sourced to the statute itself or recycled from other blogs.
How Florida Legally Calculates Your Roof’s Age
Almost no one covers this, and it is one of the most consequential provisions in the statute for homeowners who have had partial work done.
Subsection (5)(d) defines roof age precisely. A roof’s age is calculated using the last date on which 100 percent of the roof’s surface area was built or replaced in accordance with the building code in effect at that time. Alternatively, where partial replacements are involved, the clock runs from the initial date of a partial roof replacement when subsequent partial builds or replacements resulted in 100 percent of the surface area being built or replaced.
Translated into practical terms:
- Replacing 40% of your roof in 2019 does not reset the statutory age of the roof. The remaining 60% still carries its earlier age.
- If you replaced a section in 2016 and finished the remaining sections in 2021, the statute points to 2016 as the start of the clock — not 2021.
- A full tear-off and replacement resets the clock cleanly. Sectional repairs generally do not.
This interacts directly with Florida’s other well-known roofing provision. If you are trying to understand when partial repair is permitted versus when the entire roof must come off, read our companion guide on the Florida 25% roof rule, which covers the building-code side of that question.
The two rules are frequently conflated. The 25% rule is a building code provision about repair scope. The 15-year rule is an insurance provision about coverage eligibility. They are separate bodies of law that happen to collide on the same roof.
The “Authorized Inspector” Requirement Most Articles Skip
If your roof is 15 or older and you intend to use the inspection pathway, the inspection only counts if it comes from an authorized inspector as the statute defines that term.
Subsection (5)(a) sets two conditions. The inspector must be approved by the insurer, and must be one of the following:
- A home inspector licensed under s. 468.8314
- A building code inspector certified under s. 468.607
- A general, building, or residential contractor licensed under s. 489.111, or a roofing contractor
- A professional engineer licensed under s. 471.015
- A professional architect licensed under s. 481.213
- Any other individual or entity the insurer recognizes as qualified to complete a general inspection of the residential structure
That first condition — approved by the insurer — is the part routinely omitted from competitor summaries, and it changes the sequence of events.
You should not commission an inspection and then present it to your carrier hoping it is accepted. Contact your carrier first, confirm who they will accept and what report format they require, then schedule the inspection.
A licensed roofing contractor is expressly included among the professionals who may qualify under the statute. DRS Roofing of Central Florida operates under Florida Certified Roofing Contractor License #CCC057239, which you can verify through the Florida DBPR license portal.
If your insurer approves DRS as an authorized inspector and confirms the required report format, our roof inspection service can provide the documented condition assessment needed for the carrier’s review.
One more practical point: the statute places the cost on you. Carriers are not obligated to reimburse the inspection fee.
Five Things the 15-Year Rule Does Not Protect You From
Homeowners often read the statute as broader armor than it is. Subsection (6) contains meaningful carve-outs.
1. It does not stop non-renewal based on condition. The protection is against decisions made solely on age. If an inspection documents active leaks, widespread granule loss, soft decking, failed underlayment, or other significant deterioration, the carrier may be acting on condition rather than age — and the roof-age protection does not prevent that.
2. It does not apply to mobile home policies. Subsection (6)(b) excludes them outright.
3. It does not apply to non-homeowners’ policies. Landlord policies, condo association master policies, and commercial residential forms fall outside subsection (6)(a). This is precisely what SB 808 would have changed had it passed.
4. It does not eliminate “other lawful reasons.” Subsection (6)(c) preserves the insurer’s ability to refuse to issue or renew coverage where the structure fails underwriting criteria applicable to replacement cost or law and ordinance coverage — or for other lawful reasons.
5. It does not control your premium or guarantee replacement-cost roof coverage. The 15-year roof-age protection does not guarantee that your roof will be insured on a replacement-cost basis. Coverage and claim valuation depend on the policy and its endorsements, and changes at renewal are subject to Florida’s policy-term notice requirements.
Actual-cash-value coverage can be financially significant for an older roof because depreciation is taken into account when determining the amount payable for a covered loss.
If you are weighing whether an aging roof is worth carrying another season, our guide on deciding between roof repair and replacement in Orlando walks through the condition thresholds, and our 2026 Orlando roof replacement cost breakdown gives you real local numbers to weigh against the cost of replacement and changing insurance premiums.
What to Do If You Receive a Non-Renewal Notice Citing Roof Age
A practical sequence for Central Florida homeowners:
Step 1 — Read the letter for the stated reason. There is a legal difference between “roof age exceeds our guidelines” and “roof condition does not meet underwriting standards.” Only the first is directly constrained by the roof-age protections in 627.7011(5).
Step 2 — Establish your roof’s legal age. Pull the permit record from your county or municipal building department and identify the date associated with the most recent qualifying full roof replacement. Orange County permit records are searchable online, as are Seminole, Osceola, and Lake County records.
Step 3 — Contact your carrier before scheduling anything. Confirm which inspectors they approve and what documentation they require.
Step 4 — Get the inspection and get it in writing. The report should explicitly address remaining useful life in years because that is the statutory threshold your carrier is measuring against.
Step 5 — Consider a wind mitigation inspection. Separate from the roof-age question, a wind mitigation report may materially reduce your premium based on qualifying features such as roof deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections, and secondary water resistance. Our Florida wind mitigation inspection guide explains what inspectors check and how these features may affect insurance discounts.
Step 6 — Shop carriers before you commit to replacement. Underwriting appetite varies. A roof that one carrier declines may be acceptable to another carrier, depending on condition, age, construction, policy type, and that insurer’s underwriting requirements.
Step 7 — If replacement is genuinely the answer, plan it deliberately. Do not let an approaching non-renewal effective date push you into a rushed contract with the first company that answers the phone.
Central Florida Context
Homeowners in Orlando, Winter Park, Oviedo, Winter Garden, Clermont, Altamonte Springs, and Kissimmee face a specific version of this problem. Central Florida’s combination of intense UV exposure, summer heat, heavy rainfall, and hurricane-season wind can place substantial stress on asphalt shingle roofing systems.
That does not mean a roof has automatically failed when it reaches 15 years old.
A well-installed architectural shingle roof in Orange or Seminole County may still document five or more years of remaining useful life at 15 to 18 years of age — particularly where it has been maintained, attic ventilation is adequate, and storm damage has been addressed promptly rather than deferred.
Deferred storm damage is a common reason an otherwise serviceable roof develops condition problems. Our hurricane season roof preparation checklist covers pre-season steps, and if you have active storm damage right now, our emergency roof repair service can stabilize the roof before secondary damage compounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Florida law require a new roof every 15 years?
No. Florida law does not require you to replace a roof simply because it reaches a particular age. Statute 627.7011(5) instead restricts when insurers may use roof age as the sole basis for refusing to issue or renew a homeowner’s policy.
Can my insurance company drop me because my roof is old?
Not for age alone if your roof is under 15 years old. If your roof is 15 or older, your insurer must allow an inspection by an authorized inspector before requiring replacement, and cannot refuse to issue or renew on roof age alone if that inspection shows 5 or more years of useful life remaining.
A carrier may still act on documented roof condition or for other lawful reasons permitted under the statute.
Did Florida pass a new roof insurance law effective July 1, 2026?
No. SB 808 and HB 815 would have expanded roof-age protections to additional residential property policies and broadened the authorized-inspector definition, but both died in committee on March 13, 2026.
The roof-age protections enacted in 2022 remain in effect. A 2024 amendment added licensed roofing contractors to the authorized-inspector list, but the proposed 2026 expansion did not become law.
Who can perform the roof inspection?
An inspector approved by your insurer who is a licensed home inspector, certified building code inspector, licensed general, building, residential, or roofing contractor, licensed professional engineer, licensed architect, or another party the insurer recognizes as qualified.
Carrier approval matters. Being licensed in one of these professions does not automatically mean an insurer must accept that person’s inspection.
Who pays for the inspection?
The homeowner. The statute specifies the inspection is performed at the homeowner’s expense.
Does a partial roof replacement reset my roof's age?
Generally, no. The statute calculates roof age from the last date 100 percent of the roof surface was built or replaced, or from the initial date of a partial replacement in a sequence of partial replacements that ultimately resulted in 100 percent of the surface being built or replaced.
Does the 15-year rule cover mobile homes?
No. Subsection (6)(b) expressly excludes mobile home policies.
Get a Documented Roof Condition Assessment
If your carrier has raised roof age at renewal, the most valuable thing you can do is replace speculation with documentation. DRS Roofing of Central Florida has been assessing and replacing roofs across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Lake counties since 1995. We operate under Florida Certified Roofing Contractor License #CCC057239. Before scheduling an inspection for purposes of Florida’s 15-year roof-age provision, contact your insurer and confirm that it will accept DRS as an authorized inspector and ask what documentation or report format it requires.Request a free estimate
or call
(407) 240-1225.
This article is provided by DRS Roofing of Central Florida for general educational purposes and reflects statutory language current as of August 2026. It is not legal advice or insurance advice. Insurance underwriting guidelines vary by carrier and change frequently, and Florida insurance law is amended regularly. Verify current statutory language at flsenate.gov and consult a licensed Florida insurance agent or attorney regarding your specific policy.