IBHS Announces First FORTIFIED Home™ Award Winners

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) announced today the four recipients of its inaugural FORTIFIED Home™ Awards. These awards are given to builders and certified FORTIFIED Evaluators™ in recognition of their service to the FORTIFIED Home™ program and commitment to build strong, safe, durable FORTIFIED Homes in the communities they serve.

"FORTIFIED Home is the national standard for resilient construction. IBHS' specific, tested set of engineering and building standards are designed to make new and existing homes stronger, safer and better able to withstand severe weather," said Fred Malik, IBHS FORTIFIED program director. "One of the key features of the program is that independent third-party Evaluators, trained and certified by IBHS, inspect every FORTIFIED Home before, during and after construction to ensure compliance with program requirements."

Two homebuilders received the inaugural awards:

• D.R. Horton, Inc., Mobile/Baldwin County Division, received a Crystal Award for completing more than 500 designations during 2015.
• Truland Homes, received a Spotlight Award for completing more than 100 designations during 2015.

Two certified FORTIFIED Evaluators received the inaugural awards:

• Bethel Engineering, received a Crystal Award for completing more than 500 evaluations during 2015.
• Disaster Smart Consulting, received a Spotlight Award for completing more than 100 evaluations during 2015.

"The FORTIFIED program is growing," said Malik. "IBHS is proud to present these awards to the builders and FORTIFIED Evaluators who have worked hard and are helping make their communities stronger and better able to recover from severe weather events and natural disasters."

Visit fortifiedhome.org and sign up to learn more about FORTIFIED Home, future training opportunities, how to begin the designation process, how to find a FORTIFIED Evaluator, and other helpful resources.

IBHS' mission is to conduct objective, scientific research to identify and promote effective actions that strengthen homes, businesses and communities against natural disasters and other causes of loss.

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SOURCE Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)

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