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Roofing in Orlando, Florida

Orlando keeps six historic preservation overlay districts and lists 51 historic landmarks, so some roofs here face a design review before they ever reach the permit counter. For everyone else, choosing a roofing contractor in Orlando, FL starts with three things: how old the house is, which office issues the permit, and which storms the city has already taken.

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Updated October 2026

Low aerial view over a gray-blend shingle roof with gables and valleys, palm trees and a street behind

At a glance

Orlando homes at a glance

People (2020 Census): 307,573
Median year homes were built: 1992
Share of homes built before 1980: 32.6%
Share of homes built 2010 or later: 19.7%
Owner-occupied share of occupied homes: 39.5%
Single-family detached share of housing units: 31.6%

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

Your roof

What a 1992 median build year means for Orlando roofs

The median Orlando home was built in 1992, two years ahead of the countywide median of 1994. Another 32.6% of the city's housing went up before 1980, and only 19.7% dates from 2010 or later. NRCA says most new roofs are designed to give about 20 years of service, and a 1992 house turns 34 in 2026, so plenty of these homes are on a second roof or ready for one. The build year on the deed matters less than the date of the last full re-roof, because Florida law counts a roof's age from the last time 100 percent of it was replaced.

Code era matters as much as age. Florida's first statewide building code took effect on March 1, 2002, and the 2007 edition followed on March 1, 2009. On a roof built before that 2007 code, no more than 25% of a roof section can be repaired or replaced in any 12 months unless the whole section is redone to current code. Florida law also told the Building Commission to make every re-roof of a site-built single-family home include a secondary water barrier and stronger deck attachment, a rule due by October 1, 2007.

Ownership shapes the decision too. Only 39.5% of Orlando's occupied homes are owner-occupied, against 56.8% across Orange County, and just 31.6% of the city's housing units are detached single-family houses. In townhomes, apartments and condominium buildings, the person who decides on a new roof may be a landlord or an association rather than the person living underneath. Mobile homes are 0.2% of the city's housing, so manufactured-home roofs are rare inside city limits.

Local rules

Historic districts: the review that comes before the permit

The Town of Orlando was incorporated in 1875 with 85 inhabitants, and the area's history reaches back to Fort Gatlin in 1838. That age shows on the city's preservation map: six Historic Preservation overlay districts, 51 historic landmarks and 12 listings on the National Register of Historic Places.

Inside those districts, the city sends major and minor changes to a property through a Certificate of Appropriateness review by the Historic Preservation Board. If you own in one of them, ask the city's Historic Preservation office how your roof plans will be classified before you choose a material or sign a contract. Elsewhere in the city, the permit is the first stop.

The Town of Orlando was incorporated in 1875 with 85 inhabitants; the area's history dates to Fort Gatlin.
Orlando has six Historic Preservation overlay districts; the city lists 51 historic landmarks, 12 of them on the National Register of Historic Places.
Major or minor changes to a property in Orlando's historic districts go through a Certificate of Appropriateness review by the Historic Preservation Board.
Water is 6.9% of the place's total area.

Permits

Who issues the roof permit, and the two inspections

Inside city limits, roof permits come from City of Orlando Permits & Inspections. If your home sits in unincorporated Orange County instead, the county's Division of Building Safety handles it, and that office takes every new permit application and inspection request online through its Fast Track portal.

Florida's code does not require plan review for a re-roof, but it does require inspections. The sheathing inspection looks at the roof sheathing and its fasteners at dry-in; the roofing inspection checks the dry-in, insulation, roof coverings and flashing. Roofing products need Florida product approval, so the approval number belongs in your paperwork.

Building permits

City of Orlando Permits & Inspections

Official building page

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

Storm record

Storms Orlando roofs have already met

Hurricane Irma pushed a 69-knot peak gust across Orlando International Airport in 2017. Hurricane Milton in 2024 brought gusts of 55 to 75 mph across Orange County, locally 87, plus 4 to 8 inches of rain, and the county counted 188 affected structures, 32 of them with major damage. Matthew in 2016 did most of its harm to homes with falling branches and trees.

FEMA's assessment team found that hips and ridges took the most damage in Hurricane Ian, on newer and older roofs alike, so look there first after a storm, and look from the ground. Two Orange County men died in falls while clearing storm debris from roofs, one after Ian and one after Milton. The National Weather Service also calls central Florida the Lightning Capital of the United States.

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Services

Roofing services in Orlando

Questions

Orlando roofing questions

Do I need historic review to replace a roof in an Orlando historic district?

The city decides, based on the district and the work. Orlando sends major and minor changes to properties in its six Historic Preservation overlay districts through a Certificate of Appropriateness review by the Historic Preservation Board. Call or visit the city's Historic Preservation office with your address and the material you plan to use, and ask which review applies. Settle that question before you apply for the roof permit, so the permit describes work the board has already seen.

Related: Roof replacement

Who issues roof permits in Orlando?

For an address inside city limits, City of Orlando Permits & Inspections issues the permit. Property in unincorporated Orange County goes to the county's Division of Building Safety instead, which takes new applications and inspection requests through its online Fast Track portal. Either way, Florida's code skips plan review for a re-roof but requires a sheathing inspection and a roofing inspection, so expect the inspector at dry-in and again when the roof is finished.

Related: FAQ

My Orlando house was built in the 1990s. How old does my insurer think the roof is?

Your insurer counts from the roof, not the house. Under Fla. Stat. 627.7011(5)(d), roof age runs from the last date on which 100 percent of the roof's surface was built or replaced. With Orlando's median home built in 1992, a house that age may be on its second or third roof, so keep the final inspection record from the last re-roof. Once a roof is 15 years or older, the insurer must let you have it inspected before requiring a replacement, and it cannot refuse or drop you for age alone if the inspection shows at least 5 years of life left.

What should I check on my roof after a storm in Orlando?

Start on the ground and look at the hips and ridges first, since FEMA's review of Hurricane Ian found damage there more than anywhere else. Then scan for missing ridge vents, lifted shingle edges, sagging gutters and new stains on ceilings. Stay off the roof and off ladders while things are wet or windy: in Orange County, a man died after Ian when he fell from a ladder while clearing debris from his roof, and another died after Milton when he fell off his roof cleaning up.

Does an Orlando house need gutters?

Florida's code requires gutters with downspouts wherever a roof's eaves project less than 6 inches, except at gable-end rakes or on a roof above another roof, and the downspouts must discharge at least 1 foot from the wall. Beyond the code, the rain makes the case: Orlando International averages 51.45 inches a year, 23.20 of it from June through August, and NOAA Atlas 14 puts a 10-year, 5-minute burst at 8.87 inches an hour at its point inside the city.

Related: Gutters

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