What Is Florida's Residential Building Code?
Some residential building codes in the state of Florida conform to the International Code Council's specifications for things like door, hallway and window clearances. But many other regulations are specific to the state and must be learned before getting a project cleared for construction.
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History
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The first residential construction codes were adopted in Florida during a construction boom of the 1970s. Those laws still require all municipalities to adopt "state minimum building codes," though local governments are permitted to design their own laws above and beyond the state statutes.
After the Storm
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Major natural disasters in the early 1990s brought attention to various inconsistencies and safety concerns in local building codes across Florida. State legislators studied then overhauled the building codes to compensate for decades of lax regulations. A study performed by legislators at the time placed "emphasis on uniformity and accountability," according to the preface of the 2007 Residential Building Code.
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What Is the Baseline?
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Unless otherwise stated by the Florida residential building code (see the Resources section for a complete copy), the state has adopted the the most recent of the following codes for various residential construction components: the International Building Code; the International Plumbing Code; the International Mechanical Code; the International Fuel Gas Code; the International Residential Code; the International Existing Building Code; the National Electrical Code; the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Fair Housing Guidelines; and much of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers' Standard.
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References
Resources
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