The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), an insurer-supported organization, recently upgraded Lake County’s Building Code Effectiveness Classification into its top tier.
Since 2014, the county’s rating climbed from 5 to 3 for residential properties and from 4 to 2 for commercial and industrial properties on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the best.
The Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule is an insurance underwriting and information tool, with ISO providing insurers advisory material. The ISO rating program helps insurers to offer rating credits to individual properties in recognition of community efforts which mitigate property damage due to natural disasters. Insurers may use the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Classification as a basis for the credits.
The ISO program will apply credits to new construction within Lake County that have been issued a Certificate of Occupancy in 2017 and forward.
In determining the county’s score, ISO studied Lake County Economic Growth’s Building Services Division; how it enforces applicable codes; its staffing, training and community outreach; and the experience level of the building official, plans examiners and building inspectors, to name a few.
“We are extremely excited to have increased our ISO rating to this degree,” said Robert Chandler, Lake County Economic Growth Director. “Not only will this improvement have a direct impact on lowering property insurance on new construction in Lake County, but it is also a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Building Services team to continually improve our processes and to provide a service that Lake County citizens can be proud of.”
