Get the Number – Save Your Home

Tom Johnston, President of the International Hurricane Protection Association (IHPA), announced today the launching of the ‘Get the Number’ consumer awareness campaign. "The ‘Get the Number’ campaign is an educational tool to let consumers know what they should be looking for when buying storm and hurricane protection," Johnston said. "Consumers can ensure that they are buying and protecting their home with approved or evaluated products by simply requesting and confirming that the product they are buying has an awarded approval or evaluation number."

"Unfortunately, there are products out there being sold that have never been tested or evaluated," Johnston added. "With the increased hurricane activity that we have had over the last decade, and predicted to continue for the next 20 years, we have been able to gather an immense amount of information on what is needed and what fails in regards to protecting your home and family in cases of hurricane strikes. The accredited agencies know now what to look for and can hold the manufacturers’ of storm and hurricane protection feet to the fire to insist that consumers are getting proper protection." Agreeing that, "it may be possible that an unapproved, untested product may work to some extent," but Johnston warned, "the bigger worry is that the product being installed on the consumer’s home was tested and failed. That is why they are unable to present an approval number."

"Our research shows that the costs that contractors are charging for unapproved products are no different than what is being charged for approved products. It is a pretty simple decision; just ‘Get the Number."

Currently, there are three main agencies that are evaluating and approving hurricane protection. They are: The Florida Building Commission (FBC), which awards an FBC number to properly tested and evaluated products; Miami-Dade County, which awards a Notice of Acceptance (NOA) to approved products, and the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), which creates a product evaluation number for tested products. The International Code Council (ICC) will be issuing evaluation numbers on storm and hurricane protection as well in the future. "If you can get the contractor to supply any one of these numbers, you can be fairly confident that what you are paying for has been tested and certified by a qualified agency to give you the protection you need to stand up to storm and hurricane force winds and pressures."

Johnston sites these simple steps:

Insist on the approval number – Do not accept or be fooled by a slick contractor who tells you that the numbers are not important.

Verify the number – Okay, you have been given the number - now what? Verify it. All hurricane protection product approvals are publicly available on the websites of the approving agencies. Visit the approved products page at www.inthpa.com for links to these agencies.

Check the label – Once the product has been installed on your home, check that it has a label listing the approval number. This avoids the opportunity for the contractor to tell you they are selling you an approved product when, in actuality, they may supply something different.

"It’s pretty simple; just ‘Get the Number!’"

About the International Hurricane Protection Association
The IHPA is a non-profit organization with a membership of over 200 manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and government agencies providing quality hurricane protection systems, information, and education to insure the publics' welfare and safety.

The next IHPA Meeting is at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside on August 21st and will include discussion and presentations on the Get the Number Campaign, The Commission to Insure Louisiana, Local Jurisdiction Regarding Hurricane Protection Products and Hurricane Protection Product Approval & Plan Review.
For more information, go to their website at http://www.inthpa.com
SOURCE International Hurricane Protection Association
For further information: Thomas Johnston, President of IHPA, +1-561-282-2395, fax, +1-561-433-2101, mgrsoffc@bellsouth.net