IBHS & RICOWI Offer Expert Advice From Roofing Professionals

Free, best-practices guide removes the guesswork from roofing for property owners, inspectors, code officials, roofing consultants, contractors and insurance professionals.

Installing a new roof, or repairing/replacing an existing roof is a substantial and critical expense for home and business owners. Finding a neutral resource for expert information on roofing has been difficult... until now. A new, one-stop information source, the RICOWI Best Practices Guide for Roofing, aims to make determining whether a roof should be repaired or replaced much easier for home and business owners, inspectors, code officials, roofing consultants, contractors, and insurance professionals.

A joint, voluntary initiative led by the Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues (RICOWI), the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) and several roofing industry associations, has resulted in a new guide developed in cooperation with manufacturers, roofing consultants, inspectors and insurers. This user-friendly, unbiased, factual resource takes the guesswork out of this major investment.

"Particularly following a bad storm, home and business owners can receive a significant amount of information about the condition of their roof from inspectors, contractors, insurance adjusters and even friends and neighbors," said Joan Cook, RICOWI executive director. "Our goal is to provide a clear summary of the available information on best practices and create consistent guidance from a variety of professionals. Simply put, we want to eliminate confusion for roof owners and ensure that best practices are widely known and followed."

Julie Rochman, president and CEO of IBHS added, "The roof is a home or business's first and most important line of defense against severe weather events. Getting the roof right is incredibly important to the integrity, durability and resilience of the entire structure. The RICOWI web-based resource guide should be the primary go-to reference for anyone considering a new roof, as well as professionals in the roofing industry. It will help roof owners understand the extent of damage to their roof, and how to proceed with next steps to obtain a strong, resilient roof."

The RICOWI Best Practices Guide for Roofing is a web-based, free electronic resource. It can be easily accessed via the Internet by laptops, smartphones and tablets, and will be updated as more materials are provided by project partners, code changes are made, materials are enhanced or new materials are introduced, and as installation practices evolve and improve.

"The roof system is the most important part of every building, residential or commercial, and also the most vulnerable. The new RICOWI Guide is designed to arm all roofing stakeholders from property owners to roofing contractors with vital information needed to make informed selection decisions and follow best practices," noted Cook.