What a Windstorm Certificate (WPI-8) Is and Why Your Roof Project Needs One

A windstorm certificate in Texas — the WPI-8 — is the document that proves construction or repair work on a coastal property was inspected and met the state’s windstorm building code. Homeowners in Corpus Christi usually meet it for the first time in the worst possible way: after a roof is finished, or after a storm, when someone asks for a certificate nobody applied for.

It matters because eligibility for wind and hail coverage through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) depends on it. If you are replacing a roof, adding a room, or repairing storm damage, the certificate is not paperwork you clean up later. The application is supposed to be filed before the work starts.

What a WPI-8 actually is

The WPI-8 is a Certificate of Compliance issued by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). It says that a structure, addition, or repair on the Texas coast was inspected and found to meet the windstorm building code that applies in that area. TDI describes it plainly on its Windstorm Inspections pages: the certificate is what makes the building eligible for wind and hail insurance through TWIA.

The certificate is tied to the work, not to the person. It stays with the property. When you sell, the buyer’s agent will look for it. When you file a windstorm claim, TWIA will look for it. And when you cannot produce one, you are the one explaining why.

The three certificate types, and why people get them confused

• WPI-8 — issued by TDI for ongoing construction, inspected while the work is underway by a TDI windstorm inspector or an appointed Texas-licensed professional engineer.
• WPI-8-E — issued by TDI for completed improvements, where nobody inspected the work while it was open. TDI began accepting WPI-8-E applications on June 1, 2020.
• WPI-8-C — issued by TWIA, not TDI, for completed construction between January 1, 2017 and May 31, 2020. TWIA stopped issuing certificates as of June 1, 2020; everything since then comes from TDI.

That June 2020 handoff is the source of most of the confusion. If your roof was done in 2018 and you are hunting for a certificate, you are looking for a WPI-8-C in TWIA’s lookup tool. If the work was done in 2022, you are looking for a WPI-8 or WPI-8-E on the TDI system.

Who needs one — and yes, re-roofs count

TDI’s program FAQ is direct about this: to qualify for wind and hail coverage through TWIA, new structures, alterations, additions, or repairs to existing structures — including re-roofs and roof repairs — located in the designated catastrophe area must be certified. TDI’s insurability guidance ties the requirement to work that commenced on or after January 1, 1988.

People assume “repair” means a major rebuild. It does not. Replacing a wind-damaged roof is exactly the kind of improvement the program was written for, and it is the single most common gap we see when reviewing a coastal homeowners policy in Corpus Christi.

The part that trips everyone up: apply before you start

Texas Insurance Code §2210.251(c) requires a person to submit an application for windstorm inspection to TDI’s Inspections Division before beginning to construct, alter, remodel, enlarge, or repair a structure. That application is Form WPI-1.

Once work is underway, the inspection verification comes in on Form WPI-2, and TDI issues the certificate. Under 28 Tex. Admin. Code §5.4621, those forms are submitted to TDI electronically through the Windstorm system on TDI’s website.

Miss the front end of that sequence and you are not out of options — the WPI-8-E path exists for completed work — but you have moved from a straightforward inspection into an after-the-fact certification, where a licensed engineer has to evaluate work that is already closed up behind decking and shingles. That is slower, and it is on your dime.

How to get one

TDI’s WPI-8 fact sheet lists two routes:

1. Request a free TDI inspector. Depending on the size and scope of the job, a TDI field office may be able to inspect it at no charge.
2. Hire a Texas-licensed professional engineer or appointed qualified inspector. TDI notes that it does not regulate inspection rates, so what an engineer charges is between you and the engineer.

TDI publishes a list of appointed engineers and can be reached at 800-248-6032 with questions about inspections. Your contractor may handle the filing, but the certificate protects your insurability, so do not assume it happened.

Check this on your own property this week

This takes about twenty minutes and it is worth doing before hurricane season gets serious, not after:

1. List every improvement since you bought the place. Roof replacement, roof repair, garage conversion, patio cover, room addition, window replacement, siding. Write down the approximate month and year of each.
2. Search the TDI windstorm system for a WPI-8 or WPI-8-E on your address. TDI hosts a public certificate search for certificates it issued.
3. If the work finished between January 2017 and May 2020, use TWIA’s certificate lookup instead — that period is WPI-8-C territory.
4. Ask your contractor for the WPI-1 on any current or recent project. TDI also lets you view submitted applications online, so you can confirm enrollment rather than take someone’s word for it.
5. Match certificates to improvements. Any improvement with no certificate is an open item, not a settled one.
6. Pull your declarations page and confirm who actually writes your wind coverage — TWIA, or a private carrier. That changes what the missing certificate means for you.
7. Put the certificates somewhere you can find them from your phone. A scanned folder in cloud storage beats a drawer that floods.

What a missing certificate means at claim time

TWIA’s own permanent-repairs guidance explains the logic: the certificates certify compliance with the applicable windstorm building code for the area, and without one, TWIA lacks evidence that the structure conforms to that code — which puts the structure’s eligibility in question. Chapter 2210 provides for limited exceptions, but you do not want to be discovering which exception you might fall under while a tarp is on your roof.

This is also why the wind, flood, and homeowners distinction matters so much on the coast. If you have not read it yet, our breakdown of which policy pays after a Texas hurricane covers how those three policies split a single storm loss, and our comparison of TWIA versus private windstorm coverage explains why the certificate question lands differently depending on who writes your wind.

Before your next roof project

Three habits prevent almost every certificate problem we see:

• Ask the contractor about the WPI-1 before you sign, not after the dumpster arrives. Put it in the contract.
• Tell your agent the work is happening. TDI’s process guidance says to notify your insurance agent of the work — that is how the certificate ends up connected to your policy instead of sitting in a file.
• Keep the certificate with your closing documents. It follows the property, and the next buyer will ask.

If you are not sure whether your improvements are certified, or you are about to start a roof project and want the sequence right the first time, that is exactly what our free windstorm and TWIA coverage review is for. We are an independent agency in Corpus Christi — we read your windstorm coverage alongside your homeowners and flood policies and tell you what is actually there. No charge, no obligation. You can also book a general coverage review or reach us through claims help if you are mid-claim right now.

This article is general information for Texas coastal property owners and is not a coverage opinion on any specific policy, property, or claim. Whether a certificate is required, and what a missing certificate means for you, depends on your property, the date and scope of the work, and your policy terms. Sources: Texas Department of Insurance Windstorm Inspection Program (tdi.texas.gov/wind), TDI WPI-8 fact sheet, Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (twia.org), Texas Insurance Code Chapter 2210, and 28 Tex. Admin. Code §§5.4608 and 5.4621.