Can you tell if the roof has “impact resistant class 4 shingles”? Our homeowners insurance wants to know..

This is a question that we get almost daily as home inspectors and it’s a frustrating question because there is no way to visually determine if a shingle is impact resistant/class 4 rated. The only way to determine a shingles impact rating is by the manufacturer's spec sheet. Some shingles do have labeling on the back side of the shingle, but of course we can’t see that without ripping up a shingle.

Tip: If a roof is newer or if you have the contractor's information who installed the shingles, then we recommend contacting the contractor to see if product specifications are still available for that job. Sometimes there are extra shingles lying around the property, but that is rare and not reliable. Most often the answer is just not available and certainly something that the inspector cannot determine through the normal scope of an inspection.

Other non asphalt shingle roofing materials such as concrete tile or metal roofs are inherently impact resistant and don’t need a rating to determine impact resistance.

Next time you are advising your clients on a homeowners insurance application or looking for this info yourself, keep this information in mind and see if you can track down documentation from when the roof was installed.