The South Florida building code covers the southernmost parts of the state of Florida including Broward and Miami-Dade County.  Although the South Florida building code has been amended frequently to uphold the environmental and energy-efficient standards of today’s building economy, many of the initial properties of the South Florida building code are still relevant.

The South Florida building code was last completely renovated in 2004 with subsequent supplemental amendments the last being effective October 1st, 2007.  The 2004 South Florida building code and the 2007 supplemental amendments outline provisions and requirements for safe building and prevention of unlicensed building.  Some of these provisions include:  new requirements for retrofitting single-family roofs being replaced as part of the hurricane mitigation requirements, contractors holding county certifications must also be registered with the state of Florida Department of Business and Professional Registration, and a requirement that carbon monoxide detectors are to be installed in all sleeping areas of residential occupancies. 

The state of Florida acknowledges the leading cause of death for young children and medically frail elderly residents is drowning.  The recent code modifications also require that all residences with new swimming pools must be equipped with at least one preventative pool safety feature.  Those recommended by the legislature are most commonly are barriers, locked fencing, or enclosures.  Any doors or windows that allow direct access from a residence to the pool must also be equipped with self-closing, self-latching devices with release mechanisms.  Anyone found to be in violation of the code modifications for new swimming pools will be charged with a misdemeanor or incur higher penalties if a submersion incident occurs due to lack of safety precautions. 

The code modifications also detail procedures for identifying and reporting illegally licensed contractors.  Residents who have hired a contractor identified by the state of Florida or that suspect their contractor is illegally licensed are urged to call the answer center to report their suspicions.

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