Roof Certification: Florida RCF-1 Form Guide for Inspectors

Short answer: In Florida insurance work, a "roof certification" is usually the Citizens Roof Inspection Form, RCF-1 03 25, or an equivalent report: a signed record of the roof's covering, age, remaining useful life and condition, with a photo of every slope. For shingle roofs over 25 years old, tile, slate, clay, concrete or metal roofs over 50, and mobile home roofs over 25, Citizens wants proof of a full replacement or documentation of at least five years of remaining useful life. It is not a warranty and does not verify wind mitigation features, which belong on form OIR-B1-1802.

"Roof certification" is a loose phrase. Clients use it for anything from a roofer's letter to a lender, to the roof form their insurance agent asked for. For a Florida home inspector, it almost always means the second. The insurer wants to know whether the roof is in acceptable condition and how long it has left, signed by someone whose license it can verify.

This guide covers that form, the age rules behind it and how it fits with the 4-point and wind mitigation forms, as of September 2026.

What a roof certification is, and is not

The Citizens form is titled "Roof Inspection Form," not certification, and its own wording is careful. Underwriting relies on the information "only to determine insurability," and it "is not a warranty or assurance of the suitability, fitness or longevity of the roof inspected."

So you are not guaranteeing the roof. You are certifying, with your signature and license, that "the above statements are true and correct": the covering, age, remaining useful life, condition and visible damage as you found them.

It is also not a wind mitigation form. The RCF-1 says so directly: "This form does not verify loss mitigation features. Use Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form OIR-B1-1802." The reverse holds too. Citizens' Wind Loss Mitigation Guide notes that the wind form is not acceptable proof of roof condition or roof replacement.

The Citizens RCF-1 at a glance

What the form asks

The RCF-1 has two blocks, one for the predominant roof and one for any secondary roof. Each asks for:

• Covering material
• Roof age in years
• Remaining useful life in years
• Date of last roofing permit
• Date of last update, and whether it was a full or partial replacement, with the percentage replaced
• Overall condition: satisfactory, or unsatisfactory with an explanation

Then a damage checklist for each roof: cracking, cupping or curling, excessive granule loss, exposed asphalt, exposed felt, missing, loose or cracked tabs or tiles, soft spots in decking, visible hail damage. Then visible leaks, yes or no, at the attic or underside of the decking and at interior ceilings. A "Yes" must be explained.

Page 2 has the additional comments box and the certification: signature, title, license number, date, company name, license type and work phone. The comments "must be completed with full details" if you note updates (type, date, and by whom), any visible hazard or deficiency, or any roof not in good working order.

Remaining-life rules by roof type

Citizens ties roof eligibility to age and remaining useful life. Its roof age FAQ (updated March 17, 2026) and inspections page set the lines:

The two sources frame it differently. The FAQ says "documentation of full roof replacement is required" past these lines, then adds "some exceptions apply" and says to submit documentation of at least five years of remaining useful life "for our underwriters to review and determine eligibility." The inspections page leads with the remaining-life documentation. The inspections page adds the consequence: "When a roof has less than five years of remaining useful life, the property owner must provide proof of a full-roof replacement to the inspector before any policy is written on the property."

Recent purchases. Citizens' FAQ on new purchases with roof damage, or with a roof that does not have at least five years of remaining useful life, allows an unbound application if the purchase happens within 45 calendar days of the requested effective date and a roofing contract shows a full replacement will be completed within 30 days of that date. The contract must be with a licensed general, residential, building or roofing contractor and signed by the applicant. That is the agent's paperwork, but clients will ask you about it.

Other carriers set their own age rules. Ask which insurer the form is for.

How to estimate remaining useful life

Citizens does not give a formula. Its FAQ says: "Remaining Useful Life is an estimate made by a trained professional who has experience and works in the industry." It relies on "the experience and expertise of the trained professional," and says condition ratings "should take into account the age, remaining useful life and any signs of deterioration."

That puts the reasoning on you, so show it. A number with no support is the weakest line on the form.

• Start from age evidence. The last roofing permit date and the year of installation from the permit record, not the seller's recollection.
• Weigh the covering type. Soft and hard roofs age differently, and Citizens itself draws separate lines at 25 and 50 years.
• Adjust for what you see. Granule loss, curling, cracked or slipped tiles, soft decking and leak staining all shorten the estimate. Record each on the damage checklist and photograph it.
• Write the basis in comments. One or two sentences: age source, covering, condition observations. See how to write defect comments that hold up.

If your estimate is under five years on a roof past the age line, write that. The certification is yours, and the client's remedy is a replacement, not a kinder number.

What to document

If you use a drone for slopes you cannot walk, the same list applies. The photos just come from above. See drone roof inspection.

Who may sign a roof inspection form

The RCF-1 "will not be accepted without the dated signature of one of the following appropriately licensed inspectors":

• General, residential, building or roofing contractor
• Building code inspector
• Florida-licensed home inspector

The page also says the form "must be completed and signed by a verifiable Florida-licensed inspector." Citizens' inspections page adds that a form may not be accepted if the appropriate professional did not perform it, or if the professional's license "is not active or cannot be verified."

Note the difference from the 4-point: the RCF-1 names roofing contractors, while the 4-point lists general, residential or building contractors and says trade-specific licensees may sign only their trade's section.

How it relates to the 4-point roof section

The RCF-1 03 25 was rewritten in 2025 to mirror the roof section of the 4-point form. The fields are the same: material, age, remaining useful life, permit and update dates, replacement percentage, condition, damage checklist, leaks.

That is why the 4-point roof section carries this line: "With photos of each roof slope, this section can take the place of the Roof Inspection Form." Citizens' FAQ 2868 confirms that the 4-point "can be submitted in lieu of the Roof Inspection Form (RCF-1)" when photos of each side of the roof are provided and a verifiable Florida-licensed professional signs and dates it.

In practice:

• Client needs a 4-point anyway (a home more than 20 years old, new business at Citizens): complete the roof section fully, photograph every slope, and you usually do not need a separate RCF-1.
• Client needs only the roof (a younger home, or a carrier asking only about the roof): use the RCF-1.

Keep the answers identical across forms when you issue both. The same roof cannot be 18 years old on one form and 20 on the other. The 4-point guide covers the rest of that form.

How it relates to the wind mitigation form

The two forms look at the same roof for different reasons. The RCF-1 asks about condition and life. OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26) asks about construction features that earn wind credits, and needs a photo or document for each attribute in questions 2 through 9.

A note on numbering. On the old Rev. 01/12 form, roof covering was question 2 and roof deck attachment question 3. Many older guides and templates still say "question 2" when they mean roof covering. On Rev. 04/26 it is question 4, and question 2 is the wind region. Use the current numbers.

Where the forms touch, keep the facts consistent. The year of installation you write on wind question 4.1 is the same fact as the roof age on the RCF-1, from the same permit. A reroof is the kind of change that can put an existing wind form out of date, since it is valid for up to five years only if no material changes have been made to the structure. The wind mitigation form guide covers each question.

Roof inspection reports outside Florida insurance

The phrase "roof certification" also shows up in lending. FHA is the clearest published rule: HUD Handbook 4000.1 says the roof must prevent moisture entry and have "a remaining physical life of at least two years." Where it does not, the appraisal is made subject to inspection by a professional roofer. That is the appraiser's call under FHA rules, not a home inspection requirement. This is the rule in the published Handbook as of Update 18 (August 12, 2026). On September 22, 2026, FHA posted draft changes to its Minimum Property Requirements for feedback through November 6, 2026, and the draft lists the roof covering requirement as "eliminated as unnecessary due to the guidance in the UAD condition rating." FHA says the draft is not official policy and current policy stays in effect until amended. As of November 11, 2026, no final version had been published, so check the current Handbook.

For a home inspector, the practical point is scope. A roof inspection report for a buyer, a lender condition or a pre-listing client is your own report, on your own template, under your standards of practice. Say what you inspected, how (walked, from a ladder, by drone), what you could not see, and what you found.

Binsr has the Florida Roof form built in with the Florida 4-Point, Wind Mitigation and WDO forms. For roof reports outside those forms, templates are fully configurable: sections, line items, findings, custom statuses and severity levels. See features.

Why roof forms come back

Price the roof form on its own time and liability, the same way as any add-on. See how to price ancillary inspection services, and for the pair most roof clients also need, selling 4-point and wind mitigation together.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• The 4-point inspection: form, checklist and coverage
• Florida wind mitigation form, question by question
• Selling 4-point and wind mitigation as a bundle
• Wind mitigation inspection cost
• How to become a wind mitigation inspector

Try Binsr on five real inspections. No time limit, no credit card. See pricing or start your trial.