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New construction ยท Stuart

New construction roofing in Stuart, FL

Only 6.1 percent of Stuart's homes were built in 2010 or later, yet the city is still adding people: the Census Bureau's survey puts it at 18,520 residents against 17,425 counted in 2020. A new roof permitted here today is built to the 2023 Florida Building Code, and the Ninth Edition takes over for applications on or after December 31, 2026.

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Updated October 2026

A roof deck sheathed in red-brown ZIP System panels with black seam tape, a bucket and a ladder on the deck, homes and a street behind.

Stuart figures this page uses

Share of homes built 2010 or later
6.1%
Population estimate (ACS 5-year)
18,520
People (2020 Census)
17,425
Median year homes were built
1982

Local know-how

Building new in an older city

Countywide, building has picked up. The Census Bureau's permit survey counts 843 new single-family units permitted across Martin County in 2025, up from 479 in 2020, while 2025 saw no units permitted in buildings of five or more. Inside Stuart, new homes are permitted and inspected by the City of Stuart Building Division.

A lot in the East Stuart Historic District adds a step: ask the city's historic preservation program about review before the roof material is chosen.

A new Stuart house is built to rules its 1982-era neighbors never saw. FEMA's Hurricane Michael advisory documented widespread soffit and envelope damage from wind-driven rain, notes that the 2007 code began requiring soffits to resist the same wind loads as walls, and recommends fastening soffit panels at both the wall and the fascia.

The code lists the inspections in order: foundation, framing with the trusses and connectors, sheathing with the roof and wall dry-in, exterior wall coverings and soffit, roofing, then final (FBC-Building 110.3).

At the sheathing stage, the deck should be fastened with 2-1/2-inch RSRS-03 ring-shank nails, at a spacing that tightens as design wind speed and exposure rise. The design speed for a given lot comes from ASCE's hazard tool, and the plans carry the exposure category and nailing schedule that follow from it.

Builders

Who installs a new Stuart roof, and what the builder owes

Florida makes a general, building or residential contractor subcontract the roofing unless it holds a roofing certificate or registration; the one exception lets it install shingles on a new building of its own construction (section 489.113(3)).

After closing, the builder's own duty applies. Since July 1, 2025, section 553.837 requires a builder to warrant a newly built home for 1 year against defects that cause a material violation of the building code, excluding normal wear, settling, owner-caused damage and natural disasters.

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Questions

New construction roofing in Stuart: questions

Which code edition applies to a new house in Stuart?

The answer turns on the filing date of the permit application. The 2023 Florida Building Code, Eighth Edition, has been in effect since December 31, 2023, and applications submitted on or after December 31, 2026 must meet the Ninth Edition. A Stuart home whose permit is applied for in late 2026 and one applied for in January 2027 can be built to different text, so builders timing a start should know which side of that date they are on. The City of Stuart Building Division applies the edition in force when the application is filed.

Source: FRSA, February 2024; Miami-Dade County RER notice, read October 5, 2026.

Related: New construction roofing

Does a new Stuart house need gutters?

Code requires them on a Stuart house whose eaves stick out less than 6 inches. Section R318.5 of the Florida Residential Code requires gutters and downspouts on those buildings, except at gable end rakes or a roof above another roof, and wherever downspouts go in, they must discharge at least 1 foot from the sidewall. With Stuart's NOAA station averaging 62.72 inches of rain a year, gutters are worth pricing even where the overhang is deep enough to skip them.

Source: 2023 FBC-Residential R318.5 (UpCodes, unofficial transcription); NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals, read October 5, 2026.

Related

Is Stuart still growing?

Modestly. The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 survey estimates 18,520 residents, above the 17,425 counted in 2020 and well outside its small margin of error. Housing is older: only 6.1 percent of units were built in 2010 or later. Countywide, permits for new single-family units rose from 479 in 2020 to 843 in 2025; that Census file is a county total, so it does not say how many were inside Stuart, where new houses go through the city's permit office.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 and 2020 Census; Building Permits Survey county files, read October 5, 2026.

Related: New construction roofing

Sources for this page(46)
  1. 1.Share of homes built 2010 or later: 6.1%. 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.Population estimate (ACS 5-year): 18,520. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B01003, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  3. 3.People (2020 Census): 17,425. U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census counts (POP100, HU100) via TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020 layer 26 (Incorporated Places). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  4. 4.Median year homes were built: 1982. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  5. 5.Official website: City of Stuart, East Stuart Historic District. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.Permit office: City of Stuart - Building Division. City of Stuart - Building Division. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  7. 7.U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey county annual files (co2025a.txt, co2020a.txt). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  8. 8.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  9. 9.FRSA, "New 2023 FBC Eighth Edition is Now in Effect", 2024-02-13. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  10. 10.Miami-Dade County RER notice. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  11. 11.FEMA. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  12. 12.2023 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").
  13. 13.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., Chapter 8 (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).
  14. 14.FBCR Ch. 8. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  15. 15.OIR form. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  16. 16.Florida Statutes, section 489.113 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  17. 17.Florida Statutes, section 553.837 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  18. 18.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., Chapter 3 (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).
  19. 19.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  20. 20.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.
  21. 21.City of Stuart - Building Division, City of Stuart. Read Oct 5, 2026. Permit office for this place (official page checked 2026-10-05).
  22. 22.Wikipedia, 'Stuart, Florida' (revision 1374938628), Wikipedia. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  23. 23.Wikipedia, 'List of municipalities in Florida', Wikipedia. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  24. 24.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  25. 25.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25003, via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  26. 26.U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census counts (POP100, HU100) via TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020 (county and incorporated-place POP100), U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  27. 27.Official website: City of Stuart, Emergency Permitting, City of Stuart. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  28. 28.Florida Building Commission, 'Setting New Standards for Safety: The Florida Building Code' (2004 publication; wind-speed figures in it are outdated and not used), Florida Building Commission. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  29. 29.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Matthew (AL142016), NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  30. 30.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Isaias (AL092020), NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  31. 31.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Nicole (AL172022), NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  32. 32.NOAA Storm Prediction Center, preliminary storm reports 2024-10-09, NOAA Storm Prediction Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  33. 33.OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (declarations since 2016-01-01 for this county), FEMA. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  34. 34.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology, NOAA National Hurricane Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  35. 35.Senate SB 808 staff analysis pp. 3-4, The Florida Senate. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  36. 36.FBCR Ch. 9, Florida Building Commission. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  37. 37.Florida Statutes, section 718.112 (2026), Florida Legislature. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  38. 38.FBC-B 2023 Ch. 1, Florida Building Commission. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  39. 39.FBC-Building 2023 Chapter 2 definitions, UpCodes (Florida Building Code transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. Unofficial transcription (UpCodes); verify on floridabuilding.org.
  40. 40.Florida Statutes, section 553.842 (2026), Florida Legislature. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  41. 41.Florida Building Commission. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  42. 42.ICC Building Safety Journal, Karl Fippinger, 2024-02-07. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  43. 43.FEMA FL-RA2, FEMA. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  44. 44.NOAA NHC, NOAA. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  45. 45.Florida Statutes, section 627.7011 (2026), Florida Legislature. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  46. 46.Insp4pt 03 25. Read Oct 4, 2026.

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New construction roofing in Stuart

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