Roofing Manufacturers Attack IBHS 15-Year Roof Age Limit

Roofs older than 15 years will lose access to the coveted "Fortified" designation under an Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety rule that takes effect Jan. 1, 2027 — and asphalt shingle makers are fighting back hard.

The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) said the IBHS's "sweeping conclusions are fundamentally compromised by non-standard testing protocols, unrepresentative grab-sampling, and incomplete probabilistic modeling." The association added: "By shifting testing procedures mid-project and omitting positive performance outcomes along with enhanced manufacturer installation guidelines, the study fails to reflect real-world roof system durability."

The IBHS report and a technical bulletin released in September drew on a 10-year-long study of shingles at the institute's roof farms around the country, plus roof examinations after three windstorm events in recent years. The Sept. 29 bulletin states that homes with roofs more than 15 years old cannot continue to win the Fortified roof designation, a certification that can lead to significant premium discounts from property insurers.

Institute officials could not be reached for comment. But the bulletin stressed that the requirement applies only to Fortified home re-certification. "It does not establish asphalt shingle service life, determine whether an individual roof is fit for continued use or requires roof replacement at a particular age for any purpose other than FORTIFIED eligibility," the bulletin reads.

How big is the Fortified program?

The designation has become the gold standard for homes built to resist high winds. More states are adopting it through grant-funded wind-mitigation programs or similar building codes. The IBHS, funded by the property/casualty insurance industry, reported in May that more than 100,000 structures carry the Fortified designation — double the number from 2023. Alabama leads the way with more than half of the Fortified homes in the country.

Why do roofing companies fear a broader age crackdown?

Roofing companies worry the IBHS reports paint with too broad a brush and could prompt insurers to adopt restrictions on any shingle roof. Several Florida-based carriers did exactly that in the early 2000s, during the height of claims litigation and the assignment-of-benefits crisis. Some insurers began dropping coverage for Florida homes with roofs older than 10 years — despite manufacturer warranties promising shingles would last as long as 30 years in some cases.

Florida lawmakers responded in 2022. A new law bars insurers from non-renewing homeowner policies for houses with roofs less than 15 years old solely because of roof age. The law requires continued coverage if an inspection finds the roof has at least five years of useful life remaining.

Only a handful of other states, including Texas and Virginia, have adopted similar rules on renewals based solely on roof age, according to news reports and the Texas Department of Insurance.

ARMA is now urging carriers to refrain from using the new bulletin to impose broad underwriting restrictions. The association wants insurers to demand consensus-based engineering standards and to "account for modern shingle technologies and installation quality rather than attributing wind vulnerability strictly to material age."

What do roofers say about shingle durability?

One longtime Florida roofing contractor agreed. "This study is unfortunate. A lot of folks in the insurance industry don't understand that shingles are not all the same," said Mike Silvers, director of technical services for the Florida Roofing and Sheetmetal Association.

Low-cost, three-tab asphalt shingles won't last nearly as long as "dimensional" or "architectural" systems with multiple layers of material, Silvers said. His own home in Orlando has top-of-the-line shingles that are now 32 years old and still weathering well. The house lost only a few cosmetic shingles in Hurricane Milton in 2024.

If carriers adopt the IBHS's 15-year rule broadly, Silvers argued, they'll undercut shingle makers' and roofers' own knowledge and shift costs to homeowners. "They'd be saying to homeowners: 'We want you to spend your money to reduce our claims,'" Silvers said. The ultimate test of a roof, he added, is whether it leaks after a rain: "If there's water inside, then it's a failure. If not, it's a success."

Do insurers already price by roof age?

Yes — even without a hard age limit, and despite Florida's statute against age-based nonrenewals, many carriers factor roof age into premiums.

Security First Insurance, one of Florida's largest property insurers, does not offer premium discounts for Fortified homes at all, said president Melissa Burt DeVriese. She and Silvers noted the Fortified standards closely mirror the Florida Building Code on roof coverings, roof decking and other wind-resistant construction.

But the Ormond Beach-based carrier does rate structures on roof factors. "We price on the age and condition of the roof," DeVriese said. "It is the single-largest rate factor."

That's partly because in Florida and the Deep South, where heat and hurricane winds are more frequent and intense, asphalt shingles often don't last as long as manufacturers claim. The IBHS's September report acknowledged this, saying research has shown some shingle brands cannot perform across climate zones and latitudes and carry additional risk. Florida agents say coverage for older roofs is harder to find even when shingles carry 30-year or longer life spans.

Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky went further in 2024, suggesting it's time to phase out asphalt shingles in the state. "Shingles are supposed to last 30 years. But they don't. Not in Florida," Yaworsky said. "It's time to write asphalt shingles out of the plot in Florida."

Those comments, like the IBHS bulletin, sparked blowback from manufacturers. With the 2027 deadline approaching and 100,000 Fortified structures already in the program, the fight over who pays for aging roofs is only tightening.