Award Determination

2 Award Determination

2.1 Maximum Awards

The Program allows up to $150,000 in rebuilding assistance to affected homeowners, with award amounts and types dependent on the income level of each household, per Table 2 above. In addition, the Program allows up to $30,000 for wind and wildfire mitigation measures (see Award Types). 

2.2 General Award Determination

Any award is determined by estimating the total rehabilitation or reconstruction cost of the project for standard or mid-grade construction plus any additional costs including mitigation measures, subtracting out insurance and any federal, state, non-profit or private funding already provided for the purpose of reconstruction, and assessing the remaining difference between rebuilding expenses and rebuilding resources. The award will be the lesser of this difference and the maximum allowable award.

The HRP Program Administrator has the authority to end the review and processing of the household income level of an applicant if any part of an applicant's contributing household income is over 150% of the area median income for that county as that household would only be eligible for traditional loan awards and would have the financial means to ensure payment of that type of award.

2.3 Award Calculation

The Program calculates the total grant award amount using this formula:

1- Identify Applicant’s total need based on eligible construction costs less any custom or luxury items.

2- Calculate potential Duplication of Benefits (DOB) - see Section 3

• Sum total rebuilding assistance received from other sources.
• Evaluate other sources of assistance for applicability.

3 - Subtract rebuilding assistance received from total need to determine the ‘gap.’

4 - Calculate the Grant / Forgivable portion:  Use the income table for the appropriate county to determine the maximum grant (forgivable loan) portion.  If the gap < max eligible award, then the award = gap.  If the gap ≥ max eligible award, then the award = max eligible award as defined in Table 2.

5 - Calculate the traditional loan eligible amount by subtracting the grant (forgivable loan) amount calculated in step 4 from the total gap.

• If gap minus grant is greater than zero and less than $50,000, then the traditional loan award = gap - grant.
• If gap minus grant is greater than zero and greater than $50,000, then the traditional loan award is $50,000.
• If gap minus grant is less than zero, then the traditional loan award is zero.

2.4 Determination of Cost to Reconstruct or Repair

The program calculates project costs using standard construction estimating software to develop the standardized reconstruction or renovation costs. Applications may be accepted with or without a construction bid. The rebuilding costs estimated by the program administrator may differ from your contractor/builder estimate as public funding places a “reasonable and necessary” requirement on all expenditures. For the traditional loans, we may take the greater of the rebuild estimate or the general contractor construction bid.

The full estimating process is summarized below:

• Step 1: Estimating software (e2Value) develops base or standardized estimate.
• Step 2: Site, design and utility work outside of home added to base estimate.
• Step 3: Unique site-specific costs added to base estimate.
• Step 4: Wind and wildfire mitigation costs added to base estimate.
• Step 5: Total the above to get rebuilding subtotal.
• Step 6: Multiply the rebuilding subtotal by 15%.
• Step 7: Add the rebuilding subtotal and the additional 15% to get the total estimate.

The steps of the estimating process are shown in detail below.

Step 1: The rebuilding software is used to estimate the following:

• General requirements
• Structure
• Exterior finishes
• Interior finishes
• Mechanical, electrical, plumbing
• Code upgrades
• Contingency
• Contractor overhead/profit
• Fees, taxes, permitting

Step 2: Items added to the rebuilding estimate may include:

• Concrete flatwork including driveway and sidewalks...up to $8,000
• Design, surveys, geotech reporting, other soft costs...up to $25,000
• Excavation...up to $10,000
• Landscape and irrigation...up to $20,000
• Utility connections...up to $5,000

Step 3: Site-specific items may be added to the rebuilding estimate per a contractor’s bid for the items below - as they are unique to each site or property:

• Backfill
• Foundation piers
• Retaining walls
• Septic system repairs
• Wells
• Radon mitigation
• Accessibility measures
• Spray foam (insulation) air sealing 

Step 4: Additional wind and wildfire mitigation costs that are not included as part of building code requirements may also be added to the rebuild estimate.  In the absence of a construction bid that includes the actual additional costs related to wind and wildfire mitigation, the State will use estimates as follows:

• Fire-resistant  or ember-resistant siding...$15,000
• Fire resistant windows
  triple-pane windows with metal-clad or fiberglass frames, etc...$15,000
  dual-pane glass windows with metal-clad or fiberglass frames...$10,000
• In-home sprinkler systems...$8,000
• Non-combustible Class A decking attached to a residential structure...$3,000
• Non-combustible fencing materials within 5 feet of structure...$3,000
• Gutter guard...$1,500
• Ember and flame resistant venting...$1,000
• Manufactured (mobile) home insulation (cold weather protection)...$5,000
• Manufactured (mobile) home tie downs/anchoring...$5,000
• Manufactured (mobile) home fire-resistant skirting...$5,000

Step 5: Total the above to get rebuilding subtotal.

Step 6: Multiply the rebuilding subtotal by 15%.

Step 7: Add the rebuilding subtotal and the additional 15% to get the total estimate.

2.4.1 No construction Bid Available

The initial award will be determined using construction estimating software taking into account any additional documented eligible cost requirements which may include any applicable clearance and demolition, mitigation measures and enhanced energy efficiency or electrification costs.

2.4.2 Construction Bid is Available

The construction bid will be considered in the rebuilding follows:

1. If the bid is within 15% of the estimate developed by the Program, the bid will be used as the reconstruction estimate for the purposes of award determination.
2. If the bid varies by more than 15% of the Program estimate, then additional evaluation will be conducted by the Program Administrator as follows:

• Assess the bid for cost reasonableness.
• Approve/add any verified mitigation, energy efficiency or electrification costs.
• Approve/add any required costs not considered in the original estimate (i.e. demolition, soil remediation, etc.).
• Reduce any costs associated with non-essential luxury or custom construction to the appropriate standard cost.
• Reduce any unsubstantiated contingency costs included in the bid.

2.4.3 Standard or Mid-Grade Construction

All methods listed above will consider mid-grade quality reconstruction or renovation work to develop estimates. Should a contractor estimate or bid be developed using custom furnishings or finishes, those items will be adjusted downward to mirror the price of more mid-range quality elements in developing the projected cost of reconstruction or renovation. For example:

2.4.4 Calculating the Value of Mobile Homes

The replacement value of the mobile home will be determined using e2Value Software. Within the e2Value software, the Program Administrator will:

• Select the quality of construction category as "Basic / Economic" quality of construction when valuing the mobile home.
• Use the square footage of the existing, damaged or destroyed mobile home as determined by the respective county authorities. Review that square footage measurements are accurate and up to date.
• Complete the valuation to calculate the replacement value of the mobile home.