Florida Senate - 2009                              CS for SB 742
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senators Fasano
       and Storms
       
       
       
       597-02355-09                                           2009742c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to sinkhole losses; creating s.
    3         627.7063, F.S.; defining the term “sinkhole loss
    4         prevention ordinance”; requiring the Financial
    5         Services Commission to adopt a building code
    6         effectiveness grading schedule by rule to evaluate the
    7         effectiveness of sinkhole loss prevention ordinances
    8         in reducing the number of sinkhole claims and the
    9         severity of sinkhole losses; requiring insurance
   10         discounts and surcharges based on the grade assigned
   11         to a sinkhole loss prevention ordinance; providing an
   12         effective date.
   13  
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Section 627.7063, Florida Statutes, is created
   17  to read:
   18         627.7063 Building code effectiveness grading schedule.—
   19         (1) As used in this section, the term “sinkhole loss
   20  prevention ordinance” means a county ordinance that amends the
   21  Florida Building Code and that is intended to reduce the number
   22  of sinkhole claims and the severity of sinkhole losses.
   23         (2) The commission shall adopt a building code
   24  effectiveness grading schedule by rule. The grading schedule
   25  shall evaluate the effectiveness of each sinkhole loss
   26  prevention ordinance in reducing the number of sinkhole claims
   27  and severity of sinkhole losses. Each ordinance shall be
   28  evaluated 4 years after the ordinance takes effect. The grading
   29  schedule shall be based on the effectiveness of code enforcement
   30  in each county and scientific, modeling, and engineering
   31  methodologies. The rules shall further mandate insurance premium
   32  discounts or surcharges on personal residential property
   33  insurance based on a property’s compliance with an ordinance and
   34  the grade assigned to the applicable sinkhole loss prevention
   35  ordinance.
   36         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.