Okaloosa County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Hurricane Shutters (2026)

15 of the Administrative Construction Code sets three conditions that must all be met before opening protection, meaning hurricane shutters or impact-rated windows and doors, is triggered on an existing site-built single-family detached home. First, the permit applied for on or after July 1, 2008 must be for work estimated at $50,000 or more, though the rule expressly carves out roof covering replacement or repair intended to prevent further degradation of the residence, so a straightforward re-roof does not by itself trigger the shutter requirement.

Second, the structure must sit in the windborne debris region as the Florida Building Code defines it, which in Okaloosa County reaches the barrier-island and coastal areas around Okaloosa Island, Destin and Fort Walton Beach exposed to the highest design wind speeds. Third, the home must carry an insured value of $750,000 or more, or, if it is uninsured or the owner does not present insurance documentation, a just valuation for ad valorem tax purposes of $750,000 or more. When all three line up, the county requires the same opening protection new construction must carry under this code and the Florida Building Code, Residential, meaning the retrofit project has to bring the whole home's openings up to current shutter or impact-glazing standards rather than protecting only the renovated portion.

Because the threshold is tied to permit cost and property value rather than the county's coastal construction control line, an inland high-value renovation inside the windborne debris region can trigger the same shutter mandate as beachfront work.