jhime

If you want it done right I would call Coastal Building Inspections (windstorm engineers) at 281-331-0788 upfront.

I do inspections (not engineering) and they are the best engineers I've seen as compared to all others in these

"wanna be" builders homes.

David Gibson, Broker 281-704-0641

This guy is pretty awesome and is a Buyers Broker. He pays for a plumber to video every sewer and hands you the tape and pays back your inspection fee. He is present at inspection and helps. Great sense of humor. Not a

real estate sales type person just looking for a commission.

His e-mail is dg93@sbcglobal.net

Here's the short version that I hope helps:

SCR in a 110 m.p.h. wind speed zone under the influence of the Texas Dept. of Insurance (TDI) for windstorm construction. It's in a Inland II area and if built since 2002 it's supposed to be built under the statewide IRC code. If before 2002, then it will be the SBCCI code. So far, 99% homes I have inspected for buyers in SCR have had windstorm insurance certificates. If not, I check before any inspection and tell the buyer because it can really affect insurance costs.

Properties built or renovated in a first tier coastal county (Brazoria County) require design and inspection by a windstorm engineer that certifies the structure to TDI for the purposes of obtaining an Windstorm Insurance Certificate. Usually a city requires a letter of (windstorm) compliance from engineer before they issue a Certificate of Occupancy but...cities aren't perfect and things slip through.

As TDI adopted the windstorm construction guidelines in 1988 and...SCR is much newer than that you should have a windstorm insurance certificate. However, I have found many properties without certificates for a myrad of reasons and I let people know as soon as they call.

Anyway, I usually find that:

1. Engineer never completed the paperwork for the builder.

2. Engineer didn't get paid by the builder so......"X".

3. Home didn't comply with the engineer so engineer refused to certify it.

4. Address was entered incorrectly by engineer or TDI staff.

.......other reasons and excuses I have found to be truly "interesting".

You can find out if your home has a windstorm insurance certificate by following this link:

https://apps.tdi.state.tx.us/windstormsearch/start.jsp

Tip: don't type in city; only need first few letters of street.

If you can't find address sometimes the address was mis-spelled or entered wrong at the state level so you may have to try a different combinations of things. If push comes to shove you can call TDI and ask (phone number on the link).

Also, try using a neighbors address and see if he/she has a certificate. The same builder usually uses the same engineer and if you can find out who did the engineering on your street you can track down the engineer from the TDI site.

If you give up after really trying you can call me (after 2 PM daily M-F) and I'll do a search from my linked sources.

I hope this helps!

James L. Hime

IRC Combination Code Certified 5188826-R5

SBCCI Combination Code Certified 4614

TDI - Residential Property Inspector 16708061031

TREC - PI 1646

281-337-4052