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Re-roofs · Fort Lauderdale

Roof replacement in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Most Fort Lauderdale houses due for a new roof are older than Florida's building code: 65.1 percent of the city's homes were built before 1980. A replacement here also runs under the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone sections of that code, which decide what an old deck needs before tile, shingle or metal goes back on.

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Updated October 2026

Drone view of a single-story home mid re-roof: part of the roof stripped to white synthetic underlayment, the rest still in gray shingles, a dump trailer of debris and a pickup in the driveway.

Local know-how

Re-roofing a 1970s Fort Lauderdale house in the HVHZ

The median home in the city dates to 1973. Across most of Florida, a re-roof follows the residential code's own re-roofing section and its deck re-nailing table. Broward is different: for High-Velocity Hurricane Zone buildings, the residential roof chapter defers to Chapter 44 (R901.1, exception), and the roofing rules come from Sections 1512 through 1525 of the Building code.

Section 1521.5 is the line an older house runs into. A new roof system may not be installed over sheathing that is not fastened to the current code, or over sheathing that is water-soaked or deteriorated. On decking laid in the 1970s, budget time for fastening work or replacement boards once the tear-off exposes it, and for the sheathing inspection Florida requires at dry-in or on its own visit (FBC-B 110.3).

Statewide, the reroof rule also calls for a secondary water barrier whenever a covering is removed and replaced (R908.7.2), and it names Building code Section 1518.2, inside the HVHZ chapters, as a path alongside the residential underlayment section. FEMA's Hurricane Michael advisory credits a sealed deck with significantly cutting water entry when the covering is lost.

Permit

Fort Lauderdale permits, product approvals and the 25 percent line

Permitting Services, in the city's Development Services department, issues the permit. Reroofs skip plan review (FBC-B 107), but the HVHZ application lists the product approval or Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance numbers for the roof system, and inspectors see the work while it goes on, not only when it is finished (1512.4).

Partial jobs meet the 25 percent rule, restated for the zone in Section 1521.4: redo more than a quarter of a section in 12 months and the whole section comes up to current code. The exception in Fla. Stat. 553.844(5) helps only roofs built to the 2007 code or later, and that edition took effect March 1, 2009, so a roof last replaced before then gets no break.

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Questions

Roof replacement in Fort Lauderdale: questions

Does a Fort Lauderdale re-roof need Miami-Dade NOA products?

It needs products with a recognized acceptance, and in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone the permit application lists those numbers up front. Florida requires statewide product approval for roofing (Fla. Stat. 553.842(5)), searchable on the Florida Building Commission's lookup. A Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance is written for use in Miami-Dade County and other areas where the Authority Having Jurisdiction allows it, so the City of Fort Lauderdale's Permitting Services decides what it accepts on your permit. Check the expiration date on any NOA you are shown; the document says it is not valid after that date.

Source: Fla. Stat. 553.842; Miami-Dade NOA No. 26-0204.02 (standard wording); both read October 5, 2026.

Related: Roof replacement

Can I put a new roof over my old one in Fort Lauderdale?

Usually not on an older house. In the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, Section 1521.5 bars a new roof system over sheathing that is not fastened to current code or is water-soaked or deteriorated, and nobody can confirm the fastening without opening the deck. Florida's recover rules also force a tear-off when the roof already has two or more coverings, when the existing covering is tile, slate or wood shake, or when it is too far gone to serve as a base. With 65.1 percent of the city's homes built before 1980, plan on a full tear-off unless the deck's fastening is already documented.

Source: 2023 Florida Building Code, Building, Sections 1511 and 1521.5 (UpCodes transcription), read October 5, 2026.

Related: Roof replacement

How long is a Fort Lauderdale re-roof permit good for?

Six months to get started, then it has to keep moving. Under the Florida Building Code, a permit becomes invalid if work does not begin within 6 months of issue or is suspended or abandoned for 6 months, and a job counts as in active progress when it has passed an inspection within 180 days. A permit from the City of Fort Lauderdale's Permitting Services follows the same clock, so schedule the dry-in and sheathing inspections to land inside those windows, and talk to the city before a deadline passes rather than after.

Source: 2023 Florida Building Code, Building, Sections 105.4.1 and 105.4.1.3 (UpCodes transcription), read October 5, 2026.

Related: Roof replacement

Sources for this page(39)
  1. 1.Share of homes built before 1980: 65.1%. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  2. 2.Median year homes were built: 1973. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  3. 3.Permit office: City of Fort Lauderdale - Development Services - Permitting Services. City of Fort Lauderdale - Development Services - Permitting Services. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  4. 4.Official website: City of Fort Lauderdale, Historic Preservation. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  5. 5.Florida Building Commission, 'Setting New Standards for Safety: The Florida Building Code' (2004 publication; wind-speed figures in it are outdated and not used). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25035, B25034, B25024, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  7. 7.FBCR 2023 Ch. 9. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  8. 8.2023 Florida Building Code, Building, 8th ed., Chapter 15 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from C-14 (the research cites it "as C-14").
  9. 9.FBC-B 2023 Ch. 1. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  10. 10.FBCR Ch. 9. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  11. 11.FEMA Recovery Advisory 2. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  12. 12.Florida Statutes, section 553.842 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  13. 13.miamidade.gov. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  14. 14.Florida Building Commission. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  15. 15.Florida Statutes, section 553.844 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  16. 16.Florida Building Commission, "Florida Building Code Effective Dates". Read Oct 5, 2026.
  17. 17.2023 Florida Building Code, Building, 8th ed., Chapter 1 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from C-3 (the research cites it "as C-3").
  18. 18.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (acs2024_5yr), tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B25001, B25003, B25004, B25024, B25034, B25035, via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau (via Census Reporter). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  19. 19.City of Fort Lauderdale - Development Services - Permitting Services (official page), City of Fort Lauderdale. Read Oct 5, 2026. Official municipal building and permit page (name and link only).
  20. 20.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (acs2024_5yr), tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B25001, B25003, B25004, B25024, B25034, B25035, via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau (via Census Reporter). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  21. 21.Wikipedia, 'Fort Lauderdale, Florida' (revision 1372249038), Wikipedia. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  22. 22.Wikipedia, 'List of municipalities in Florida', Wikipedia. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  23. 23.U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census counts (POP100, HU100) via TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020 layer 26 (Incorporated Places), U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  24. 24.NWS Miami, 'Fort Lauderdale Extreme Rainfall and Flooding - April 12th, 2023' StoryMap, National Weather Service Miami. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  25. 25.Broward County, Board of Rules and Appeals, Broward County. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  26. 26.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service), NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  27. 27.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Irma (AL112017), NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  28. 28.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Eta (AL292020), NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  29. 29.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service), NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  30. 30.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology, NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  31. 31.NWS Miami, Weather Safety - Lightning, National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  32. 32.Senate SB 808 staff analysis pp. 3-4, The Florida Senate. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  33. 33.Florida Statutes, section 718.112 (2026), The Florida Senate. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  34. 34.ICC Building Safety Journal, Karl Fippinger, 2024-02-07, International Code Council (Florida Building Commission). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  35. 35.Florida Statutes, section 627.7011 (2026), Florida Legislature. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  36. 36.Insp4pt 03 25, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  37. 37.FBC-Building 2023 Chapter 2 definitions, Florida Building Commission (UpCodes viewer). Read Oct 5, 2026. unofficial transcription; verify on floridabuilding.org
  38. 38.OIR form, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  39. 39.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9 version 2, partial-duration point estimates at the Fort Lauderdale 2020 Census internal point (26.1412, -80.1467), NOAA Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.

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Roof replacement in Fort Lauderdale

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