Weston Building Official, Reggie Cox was notified by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) of the new Building Code Effectiveness Grading Classification for the City of Weston after an extensive review process.

The Classifications received are:

Class 2 rating for commercial and industrial property

Class 2 rating for 1 & 2 family residential property 

Classifications range from 1 – 10, with 1 representing the absolute highest class rating possible.
If you are thinking that maybe a 2 rating is not that good, according to officials at ISO, a classification of 1 has not been achieved by a city in over 20 years.

Many insurers currently use or are in the process of using the ISO rating system as a basis for providing credits to individual property insurance policies in recognition of community efforts to mitigate property damage due to natural disasters.  The ISO program will apply credits to new construction within the City that has been issued a Certificate of Occupancy in the year of publication and forward. 

ISO is a leading source of information about risk.  They are an independent statistical, rating, and advisory organization that serves the property/casualty insurance industry.  ISO collects information on a community’s building-code adoption and enforcement services, analyzes the data, and then assigns a Business Code Effectiveness Classification from 1-10. A classification of 99 indicates that a particular aspect of a community's building code enforcement program does not meet the minimum requirements of the BCEGS Schedule to receive a classification of 1 through 10.

THE BENEFITS

• BCEGS classifications can help identify communities that are more resilient to natural hazards and everyday perils. Resilient communities generally attract more businesses and residents.
  
  
• Policyholders in communities with effective building code programs are positioned to benefit from available premium discounts, because Verisk participating insurers can apply credits and receive information relating to building code enforcement vigor from us.
  
  
• BCEGS data and benchmarking reports offer community officials detailed information about their local code enforcement program, including regional, state, and national trends that can be used to help in their efforts to effectively manage the delivery of building safety services.
  
  
• A more favorable BCEGS classification can help a community qualify for Hazard Mitigation Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
  
  
• BCEGS classifications are currently part of the criteria for receiving discounted flood insurance premiums from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through the Community Rating System (CRS) program.

City Manager Don Decker stated, "This independent review should give Weston’s residential and commercial property owners the confidence that the building codes applicable to their properties are being administered to high standards of both plan review and inspection."

Congratulations go out to CAP Government Inc., and to Building Official, Reggie Cox; the Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, including Fire Marshal Kristin Smallwood and all inspectors; and Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc., and Zoning Administrator Silvio Baca, for maintaining this high classification in their collective administration of the City’s building codes.