Miami-Dade County · City

Roofing in Homestead, Florida

Homestead bore the brunt of Category 5 Hurricane Andrew on August 24, 1992, and most of the city is newer than that storm: its median home was built in 2001, against 1980 for Miami-Dade County as a whole. Roofing in Homestead, Florida, starts from that younger housing, now reaching the roof ages insurers ask about, under High-Velocity Hurricane Zone rules.

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Updated October 2026

Top-down drone view of a gray-blend shingle roof with ridges, valleys and roof vents, lawn on both sides and a white fence at the left edge.

At a glance

Homestead homes at a glance

People (2020 Census): 80,737
Median year homes were built: 2001
Share of homes built before 1980: 21.8%
Share of homes built 2010 or later: 16.8%
Owner-occupied share of occupied homes: 48.3%
Median age: 32.5yrs

Census figures; each one is listed in the sources at the end of this page.

Your roof

Houses built after Andrew, roofs coming of age

Only 21.8% of Homestead's homes went up before 1980, against 49.6% across the county. The median house, finished in 2001, predates by months the statewide Florida Building Code that replaced local codes on March 1, 2002. Florida adopted that single code because Andrew exposed how weak the old system of local codes was, and the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone over every Homestead roof carries the provisions South Florida wrote after the same storm.

Age is the first thing an insurer asks about. An untouched shingle roof on a 2001 house turns 25 in 2026, the point past which Citizens wants proof of five more years of useful life on soft roofs. The Homestead roof inspection page sets out that line and the state's 15-year rule.

The people are younger than the county's, too. Homestead's median resident is 32.5 years old, against 40.7 across Miami-Dade. Owners live in 48.3% of the occupied homes, so on many streets a landlord or a board sets the re-roof schedule. Mobile homes make up 2.2% of the housing, above the county's 1.3%, and Senate staff note that the 15-year roof rule does not reach mobile home policies.

Permits

Homestead's permit office and the zone's paperwork

Inside city limits, roof permits come from the City of Homestead's Building Permits office; outside them, Miami-Dade County's Regulatory and Economic Resources department issues them. Because the whole county sits in the HVHZ, a permit reaches further here than in most of Florida: FBC-B 1512.3 requires one for any work on a roofing component, repair and maintenance included.

The filing is the zone's Uniform Roofing Permit Application. Each product listed on it needs an approval on record, either a Florida product approval or a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, and an NOA is issued only after the county's Product Control Section reviews the product, with an expiration date printed on it.

Building permits

City of Homestead - Building Permits

Official building page

Office names and links only. Fees, forms and timing change; check the official page.

Storm record

Andrew, Irma and Milton's first tornado

Andrew is the storm the region's roofing rules answer to. Hurricane Irma in 2017 did major damage to about 1,000 Miami-Dade homes and to about half of the county's agricultural industry, which matters in a city that is both a suburb and a major farm area, set between Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park.

The most recent damage came from a tornado. On October 9, 2024, Hurricane Milton's first South Florida tornado touched down south of Modello and tracked about 3 miles to just west of Homestead; the National Weather Service rated it EF-1, with mostly tree and fence damage.

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals give Homestead General Aviation Airport 59.90 inches a year, against 67.41 at Miami International, and hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, peaking around September 10.

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Local record

On record for Homestead

Suburb and major farm area between Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park.
Bore the brunt of Category 5 Hurricane Andrew on Aug 24, 1992.
Hurricane Milton's first tornado (Oct 9, 2024) touched down south of Modello and tracked about 3 miles to just west of Homestead (rated EF-1 in the 'Florida City / Homestead' entry), mostly tree and fence damage.
Census building-permit data list 582 new single-family homes and 353 units in 5+ unit buildings permitted here in 2025.

Services

Roofing services in Homestead

Questions

Homestead roofing questions

Where do I get a roof permit in Homestead?

At the City of Homestead's Building Permits office, if the house is inside city limits; addresses outside them are permitted by Miami-Dade County's Regulatory and Economic Resources department. Either office applies High-Velocity Hurricane Zone rules, so a repair needs a permit just as a full re-roof does (FBC-B 1512.3). Searches for Homestead roof permit records are usually after one date, the last full re-roof, which the 25% repair rule and insurers' roof-age questions both turn on.

Source: 2023 Florida Building Code, Building, 1512.3 (UpCodes, unofficial transcription; verify on floridabuilding.org), read October 5, 2026.

Related: Roof replacement

Was a 2001 Homestead house built under the Florida Building Code?

Probably not, if it was permitted before March 1, 2002, the day the first statewide Florida Building Code replaced local codes. Homestead's median home dates to 2001, so a large share of the city's houses sit right at that line. The state's wind mitigation form reflects the history: for building code era it offers HVHZ homes an SFBC-94 answer beside the 2001, 2004 and 2007-or-later Florida codes. The permit date, not the move-in date, decides which box fits, so check the permit record first.

Source: Senate staff analysis of SB 808 (2026); OIR-B1-1802 Rev. 04/26, read October 4-5, 2026.

Do insurers treat roofs on Homestead's mobile homes differently?

Yes. Florida's 15-year roof rule is written for homeowner policies, and Senate staff note it does not apply to mobile home policies. Citizens requires a 4-point inspection, which includes a roof section, on mobile home applications for properties more than 20 years old. Mobile homes are 2.2% of Homestead's housing, above Miami-Dade's 1.3%, so the question comes up here more often than in most of the county. Your agent can tell you what your own carrier asks for.

Source: Fla. Stat. 627.7011 and Senate staff analysis; citizensfla.com inspections page, read October 4, 2026.

Did Hurricane Andrew change how Homestead roofs are built?

Yes, through the code. After Andrew in 1992, Florida judged its system of local codes inadequate; the 1998 Legislature adopted a single state code, and it replaced every local code on March 1, 2002. Miami-Dade is also one of the two counties in that code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, which carries the provisions South Florida adopted after the storm.

Source: Senate staff analysis of SB 808 (2026); Florida Building Commission, read October 5, 2026.

Related: FAQ

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