Inspection vs forensic report vs certificate, three different coastal documents

After wind reaches the Coastal Bend, the same few words get used for very different paper. The windstorm inspection, the certificate of compliance, and a forensic engineering report can all concern the same roof in the same month, and treating one as another leads to a repair nobody can insure or a conclusion nobody can defend.

The windstorm inspection: observation of work in progress

Under the Insurance Code, a windstorm inspection may be performed only by a qualified inspector, and section 2210.254 requires that inspector to be approved and appointed or employed by the Texas Department of Insurance before inspecting. The department's process page says all inspectors must see the work in progress, during the construction or repair and not before or after it.

Its question is narrow: does this work, as it is being done, comply with the applicable requirements? It is not an opinion about why a building failed, and it is not performed on a building nobody is working on.

The certificate: the department's record of compliance

The certificate of compliance is issued by the department under section 2210.2515. Section 2210.251(g) says it demonstrates compliance with the applicable building code under the plan of operation and is evidence of insurability of the structure by the association, and section 2210.2515(k) says the department may not rescind it once issued. What it records, and what it leaves out, is set out on the certificate of compliance page.

It is not an account of storm damage. A building can hold a certificate for its roof and still have lost that roof.

The forensic report: an engineer's opinion on cause

A forensic engineering report asks a question neither of the others does: what happened to this building, and why. When a Texas professional engineer issues one for a Texas project, section 1001.401 of the Occupations Code requires the seal, and rule 137.33 states that on sealing the engineer takes full professional responsibility for the work. That responsibility does not change with who is paying for the report. The approach to investigation behind it is described on the forensic engineering page.

A forensic report can be decisive evidence about cause and extent. It is not a windstorm certificate and it does not make later repair work certifiable.

How the three meet after a storm

The sequence usually runs like this. The damage is assessed, and a forensic report may be commissioned to establish cause. The repair is then an improvement under section 2210.2515(a), which defines improvement to include repair, so subsection (b) requires written notice to the department before the repair begins. The repair is inspected while it is being done. The department issues a certificate for it.

Skipping the notice because a forensic report already exists is the expensive mistake, and it is common after a large storm, when everyone wants the roof back on. A report on why the old roof failed is not notice of intent to build the new one. What the repair route requires of a roofer is on the windstorm inspection for roofers page.

Reading the three side by side

• Inspection: a qualified inspector approved and appointed or employed by the department, observing work in progress. It answers whether the work complies.
• Certificate: the Texas Department of Insurance. It records compliance and is evidence of insurability through the association.
• Forensic report: a licensed engineer, sealed. It answers what happened and why, and the engineer carries full professional responsibility for the conclusions.