Port St. Lucie, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Hurricane Shutters (2026)

10(m)(1) encourages windborne-debris protection on all structures certified for occupancy and requires shutters or hurricane protection devices to be designed and installed to the Florida Building Code edition in effect when the building department's permits division issued the permit. Subsection (m)(2) restricts closing shutters to the June 1 to November 30 hurricane season, unless a hurricane or tropical storm watch is issued outside that window. Subsection (m)(3) governs removal: hurricane protective devices that block egress, light or ventilation on an occupied building must come down no later than 14 days after a hurricane event, meaning a watch, warning, or an actual hurricane or tornado, ends.

That 14-day clock restarts the day after conditions subside if a new watch is issued within the period (m)(3)a, extends if a watch is predicted within 48 hours after day fourteen (m)(3)b, and does not run at all if the structure is residential but unoccupied (m)(3)c. The rule sits in the same Chapter 41 Property Maintenance Code as roof, wall and door maintenance standards, so violations are handled through the code official's general inspection and notice authority.