City Helping Hold Insurance Costs Down
Dec 05, 2007 - Newsletter
The City of West Palm Beach’s Construction Services Department received one of the highest possible rankings for how the department ensures public safety through thorough building code enforcement. The ranking reflects that the City has taken steps to minimize catastrophe-related damage, which will ultimately lead to lower insurance costs for residents.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO), an independent statistical, rating, and advisory organization that serves the property/casualty insurance industry, ranked the City’s Construction Services Department a “2″ for the one and two family dwellings category and a “2″ for all other construction. Classifications are on a scale of 1 to 10, with Class “1″ being the highest. The significance of ISO’s rating to the citizens and businesses of the City of West Palm Beach is two-fold. First, thorough enforcement of the building codes will minimize catastrophe-related damage resulting in less negative impacts to the lives of our citizens and businesses. Second, this rating ultimately leads to lower insurance costs.
ISO conducts audits of municipal building departments to measure and rate them on the building codes and their effectiveness in the enforcement of the building codes. According to the ISO, “Building code enforcement can have a major influence on the economic well-being of a municipality and the safety of its citizens.”
“I am very proud that the ISO has verified the entire department’s on-going commitment to ensuring public safety through thorough enforcement of the Florida Building Code. It is the department’s highest priority.” said Construction Services Department Director Neil K. Melick.
Residents can their insurance agent to ensure they are using the new improved rating to calculate property insurance premiums.
