South Carolina · Grants
SC Safe Home Grants: A Homeowner’s Guide
Up to $7,500 toward a roof that earns a FORTIFIED Roof designation — if your home qualifies, you apply while a round is open, and nothing is built before the state approves it.
Facts checked October 8, 2026
SC Safe Home is not accepting applications (checked October 8, 2026). Rounds open twice a year, and funding often runs out within days. Live status · Official reopening alerts
On this page
What SC Safe Home pays for
The SC Safe Home Mitigation Grant Program is run by the South Carolina Department of Insurance (SCDOI) under S.C. Code § 38-75-485. It helps eligible coastal homeowners pay for preventive wind-mitigation work — a stronger roof, protected openings, hurricane shutters — before a storm, not repairs after one. Funding comes in application rounds and depends on the money available.
| Grant category | What qualifies | Non-matching, up to | Matching, up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resilient Mitigation | Roof retrofit meeting both SC Safe Home and IBHS FORTIFIED Roof standards | $7,500 | $6,000 |
| Sustainable Mitigation | SC Safe Home-only roof retrofit, or windows, doors and opening protection | $5,000 | $4,000 |
| Shutters and protective barriers | Approved storm-shutter or barrier systems | $3,000 | $3,000 |
These are ceilings, not flat rebates. Household income, family size, the approved retrofit cost and remaining funds decide the actual award, and you pay anything above it.
The FORTIFIED connection. The largest award — Resilient Mitigation — requires the roof to earn an IBHS FORTIFIED Roof designation. That designation comes only after an independent, IBHS-certified FORTIFIED evaluator documents the work and IBHS accepts it. That is the step we place you with.
Matching versus non-matching
Under the statute, households whose adjusted gross income is at or below 80% of the area median may be eligible for the full non-matching award. Households above that line receive a matching grant, which the homeowner matches dollar for dollar up to the cap. SCDOI compares your household income, adjusted for family size, with the higher of the county median or the state median family income. Use SCDOI's award estimator as a planning aid only.
Who can apply
SC Safe Home is limited to 11 counties: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion and Williamsburg. A county address is only the first test. The home must also be:
- A freestanding single-family home you own and live in as your primary residence, taxed at the 4% legal-residence rate.
- Insured by a current homeowners or dwelling policy, with coverage at least equal to the home's fair market value in county records.
- A home that has not already received an SC Safe Home grant.
- Free of existing or previous damage. SCDOI's program page also excludes homes with any prior storm-related damage or insurance claim payout.
Not eligible: duplexes, townhomes, apartments and other multifamily buildings, and rental homes. A second or vacation home is not your primary residence, so it does not qualify either.
Manufactured and modular homes are listed as eligible property types in the statute, but the program's portal says a mobile home will not qualify for roof or opening-protection work — only for piers, anchors and tie-downs (up to $500, $700 or $900 for single-, double- and triple-wide homes). Ask SCDOI how your home is classified before planning around a grant.
SC Safe Home's 11 counties are not the same as the SC Wind Pool's insurance territory, which covers parts of only five counties. Read SC Wind Pool vs SC Safe Home.
What the program covers
The program funds storm resilience, not ordinary replacement. Depending on the inspection and approved scope, that can include:
- Roof-deck attachment and an approved sealed roof deck (secondary water barrier).
- A compliant high-wind roof covering.
- Gable-end bracing and roof-to-wall connections.
- Opening protection, impact-rated exterior and garage doors, and storm shutters.
Cosmetic work, additions, remodeling and new construction are outside the program, and a routine reroofing invoice does not become a grant project on its own.
SC Safe Home asks for more than the IBHS roof standard alone. SCDOI says the two programs share the same mitigation standards, "with the exception that the Safe Home program requires roof-to-wall connectors." A Resilient Mitigation scope has to satisfy both. Read Roof-to-Wall Connectors: The SC Safe Home Requirement Homeowners Miss.
Documents to have ready
Before a round opens, gather:
- Your most recent federal income-tax return (usually Form 1040).
- Your homeowners insurance declarations page.
- Your county property-tax assessment.
- A retrofit estimate — SCDOI requires one with the application.
- Accurate household, ownership and property details, an email address and access to the online portal.
Do not schedule or pay for a wind inspection before you apply. Once your application is approved, you choose an inspector from the program's list.
From application to finished roof
- Check eligibility — county, owner-occupancy, home type, insurance, prior grants and damage history.
- Get a written scope and estimate. Ask whether the contractor participates in SC Safe Home and whether the roof will be submitted for an IBHS FORTIFIED designation. Confirm what is included: evaluator fee, permits, deck repairs, roof-to-wall work.
- Apply through SCDOI while a round is open. Only the homeowner applies, through the official portal. A contractor's waiting list is not an application.
- Complete the state wind inspection with an inspector from the program's list. The homeowner pays the inspector: up to $150 for homes up to 1,500 sq ft, $200 for 1,501–2,000 sq ft and $250 above that.
- Receive your written award and approved scope. An application or estimate is not an award.
- Build to the approved scope. SCDOI requires approved improvements to be finished within three months of the Grant Award Notification letter, with all required local permits and inspections. For a Resilient award, your FORTIFIED evaluator documents the roof at the critical stages — before tear-off covers anything up.
- Final inspection, documentation and payment under the program's rules.
Never start first. SCDOI "cannot reimburse you for retrofits you have already done, in accordance with state law." Replacing the roof now and applying later forfeits the grant. See Why SC Safe Home Won't Pay for a Roof You Already Replaced.
Checklist for the next round
Eligibility
- My home is in one of the 11 eligible counties.
- I own it and live in it as my primary residence.
- It is a freestanding single-family home (or I have asked SCDOI how my manufactured or modular home is classified).
- I have a current homeowners policy at or above the home's fair market value.
- The home has never received an SC Safe Home grant, and has no prior storm damage or claim payout.
Paperwork
- Latest federal tax return.
- Insurance declarations page.
- County property-tax assessment.
- A written retrofit estimate.
The roof plan
- I know Resilient Mitigation needs both SC Safe Home and IBHS FORTIFIED Roof compliance.
- I have asked whether the scope includes roof-to-wall connections.
- I have checked the roofer's SC Safe Home participation and its listing as a FORTIFIED Wise roofing contractor.
- I have an independent FORTIFIED evaluator lined up, and I know that fee.
- I have budgeted for my share above the award.
The sequence
- I will apply only through SCDOI, not through a third-party "grant approval" site.
- I will not start grant-covered work before the inspection and written award.
- I will keep the award letter, permits, invoices and FORTIFIED documentation.
SC Safe Home and FORTIFIED are different things
| SC Safe Home | IBHS FORTIFIED | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | State mitigation grant and retrofit standard | National construction standard and designation |
| Run by | South Carolina Department of Insurance | Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety |
| Where | 11 eligible counties, qualifying single-family homes | Available more broadly, with its own technical eligibility |
| Who verifies | State-listed wind inspectors | An independent IBHS-certified FORTIFIED evaluator, then IBHS |
| Funding | Rounds, subject to appropriations | None — the designation is the proof the work was done right |
You can earn a FORTIFIED designation without a grant. The Resilient Mitigation award is simply the point where the two programs meet.
Official contacts
SC Safe Home: 803-737-6087 · [email protected] · program page · FAQ · statute
Keep reading
Planning a FORTIFIED Roof?
We place you with a licensed, certified and insured FORTIFIED evaluator who documents the roof for IBHS — the record a Resilient Mitigation grant and most insurance credits rely on.