Volusia County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Hurricane Shutters (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger date
- Permits applied for on or after July 1, 2008
- Cost threshold
- $50,000 or more estimated construction cost
- Value threshold
- $750,000+ insured value or just valuation
- Applies to
- Site-built single-family homes, wind-borne debris region
- Enforcing office
- Chief Building Official, Volusia County
- Exception
- FBC-permitted single-family homes exempt from this section
Summary
Volusia County requires opening protection, hurricane shutters or impact-rated glazing, on new single-family homes valued at $750,000 or more in the wind-borne debris region when the building permit costs $50,000 or more and was applied for on or after July 1, 2008. The Chief Building Official enforces this Florida Building Code administrative amendment through the standard permit review process.
105.15 Opening protection. When any activity requiring a building permit that is applied for on or after July 1, 2008, and for which the estimated cost is $50,000 or more for a site built single-family detached residential structure that is located in the wind borne debris region as defined in this Code and that has an insured value of $750,000 or more, or, if the site built single-family detached residential structure is uninsured or for which documentation of insured value is not presented, has a just valuation for the structure for purposes of ad valorem taxation of $750,000 or more; opening protections as required within this Code or Florida Building Code, Residential for new construction shall be provided. Exception: Single-family residential structures permitted subject to the Florida Building Code are not required to comply with this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 108 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
15 of Volusia County's local administrative amendments to the Florida Building Code sets a value-and-cost trigger for opening protection on new site-built, single-family detached homes. The rule applies only when three conditions align: the permit application was filed on or after July 1, 2008; the estimated construction cost is $50,000 or more; and the structure sits in the county's wind-borne debris region. Once triggered, a value test kicks in, an insured structure must carry $750,000 or more in coverage, and an uninsured structure (or one lacking insurance documentation) is measured instead against its ad valorem just valuation, which must likewise reach $750,000.
Structures that clear both thresholds must install opening protections meeting either this Code or the impact/pressure standards in the Florida Building Code, Residential, for new construction, code-compliant shutters, impact-rated windows and doors, or equivalent glazing systems reviewed at permit stage. 15's separate trigger, since the base residential code's own wind-borne-debris provisions already govern those permits. 4.
Violations & Fines
Volusia County treats missing or noncompliant opening protection as a plan-review deficiency: the Chief Building Official withholds permit approval, and construction documents stay in review under Section 107.3 until impact-rated shutters, windows or doors are shown on the plans. Building without an approved permit exposes the owner or contractor to a double permit fee under Section 109.4, on top of the general Chapter 22 penalty in Section 22-1(b), applied through Section 1-7 of the Code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every new home in Volusia County need hurricane shutters?
What counts as an insured value under this rule?
Who reviews whether my shutters meet the requirement?
Is there any exemption from the shutter rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Volusia County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Volusia County to another location·View the Florida hurricane preparedness overview
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