Margate, FL Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

Section 40.707 of the Margate Land Development Code, titled Sustainability and Green Building Policy, sets a certified-based green building program for the City itself. The stated purpose is to provide sustainable and environmentally friendly practices of construction and design. Its operative sentence covers all new City-owned and operated buildings, which the design professional must evaluate to the minimum certification level of the USGBC LEED or GBI Green Globes programs, or another equivalent program the City determines.

Renovations are covered too. Renovation projects to City-owned and operated buildings that involve major elements, meaning HVAC renovation, significant envelope modifications and major interior rehabilitation that meet the USGBC or GBI definition of major renovation, must be evaluated to certified status by the design professional. City construction projects deemed eligible for the program must be registered with the appropriate green building program, and the project team, including the architect, engineer, general contractor and the City agencies responsible, must seek certification of the registered projects.

The process is tied to the development review calendar. Design submittals for these projects are reviewed and marked credit anticipated before a petition goes to the Development Review Committee. Under subsection (B), the LEED and Green Globes rating systems are certification tools that award points for the design and construction practices and technologies they list. Applicants submit an itemized list with a development application showing the individual criteria by which the development intends to meet certification, and the DEES department reviews it. The review is done by a qualified City staff member or a third party trained and certified as a LEED accredited professional or a Green Globes professional. A third party means any person or entity authorized by USGBC or GBI to verify that a project satisfies the requirements of the LEED or GBI standard designated for that project.

The section closes with a maintenance duty: the City must maintain green building components for the life of the building.

The structural and life-safety requirements for buildings in Margate are set by the building code chapters, not by this policy, which adds a certification target for public buildings.