Louisiana Now Requires a Certified FORTIFIED Contractor. Most of the Bids You Are Collecting Cannot Deliver One.
By Acadiana Roof Restoration LLC | Scott, LA | Veteran-Owned | IBHS FORTIFIED Certified Contractor | Louisiana's Only 5-Star Roof Maxx Dealer
Published: August 2026
There is a rule change that took effect on November 1 and almost nobody in South Louisiana is telling homeowners about it.
Every roofing project permitted on or after November 1, 2025 has to meet the 2025 FORTIFIED Home Standard. And the 2025 standard does something the earlier version did not: it requires that the roof be installed by a certified FORTIFIED roofing contractor. Not a licensed roofer. Not an experienced roofer. A certified one.
For years, FORTIFIED certification was a credential a contractor could advertise. As of last November it is a gate. If the company on the bid does not hold it, the job does not produce a designation, and without a designation there is no FORTIFIED insurance discount and no grant reimbursement. The roof might be perfectly good. It just will not count.
Why This Catches Homeowners Off Guard
Because nothing about it is visible on a bid sheet.
A homeowner does the responsible thing and collects three quotes. All three come back with similar shingle brands, similar warranties, similar prices. One of them is four hundred dollars cheaper. Nothing on any of those pages says whether the company can legally deliver the outcome the homeowner is actually buying.
If you are pursuing a grant, the program pushes you toward multiple bids and the contractors have to be approved to participate. But plenty of Louisiana homeowners are paying for a FORTIFIED roof out of pocket or through insurance proceeds, with no grant involved, precisely because they want the premium discount that comes with the designation. Those homeowners have no program screening anyone for them. They are on their own.
What Certification Actually Requires
This is not a form somebody fills out. A contractor participating in Louisiana's FORTIFIED work has to hold IBHS certification, and for the state grant program that means completing both the Hurricane and the High Wind and Hail training and passing the associated exams. On top of that: commercial general liability coverage of at least one million dollars for roofing work, workers compensation in compliance with Louisiana law, and current licensing with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.
The 2025 standard also tightened the installation itself. Nailing patterns that used to apply only to coastal work now apply statewide, and roof-mounted vents have to meet wind-driven-rain testing. These are the details that separate a roof that holds through a serious wind event from one that peels at the edge, and they are not optional anymore.
The Evaluator Is a Different Person, and That Is the Whole Point
Here is the part that protects you. A contractor cannot certify their own work. An IBHS-authorized FORTIFIED Evaluator, independent of the roofing company, inspects the installation and submits the documentation that produces the designation.
So when a contractor tells you the roof will be "built to FORTIFIED standards," that sentence means nothing on its own. Ask who the evaluator is. Ask to see the designation from a job they finished this year. A certified contractor answers both questions in about ten seconds. An uncertified one changes the subject.
Four Questions to Ask Before You Sign
Are you IBHS certified to install FORTIFIED roofs under the 2025 standard, and can you show me?
Which independent FORTIFIED Evaluator will inspect and document this job?
Will this project produce an actual FORTIFIED designation, or only be "built to the standard"?
Can I see a designation certificate from a Louisiana job you completed this year?
If a company hesitates on any of those, you have learned something more useful than a price.
Where We Stand
We hold the credential. Acadiana Roof Restoration is an IBHS FORTIFIED certified contractor, veteran-owned, BBB A+, License #70583, working out of Scott and serving Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and the surrounding parishes. We are also the state's only 5-Star Roof Maxx dealer, which matters here for a reason people do not expect: sometimes the honest answer is that your roof does not need replacing yet, and restoration will carry it several more years. We will tell you that even though the smaller job pays us less.