Port St. Lucie, FL Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

The heat mandate applies to "every owner and operator of any building who rents, leases or lets one or more dwelling units or sleeping units" and agrees, expressly or by implication, to supply heat; the minimum is 68°F (20°C) in all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms (§ 41.18(b)(1)). Water heating facilities must be able to deliver hot water of at least 110°F (43°C) to every required kitchen sink, lavatory, bathtub, shower and laundry facility, with an approved combination temperature-and-pressure relief valve installed and maintained (§ 41.16(c)(4)); gas water heaters cannot sit in a bathroom, toilet room, bedroom or other normally-closed occupied room without adequate combustion air.

Every occupied building must have an electrical system meeting the National Electrical Code, and where the code official finds a hazard from inadequate service, improper fusing, insufficient outlets or bad wiring, the owner must correct it (§ 41.18(d)). Underlying all of this is the general owner duty in § 41.07(b): premises must be in a "sanitary and safe condition," and no one may occupy or be permitted to occupy premises that don't comply. In buildings with a rooming house, hotel, dormitory or two or more dwelling units, the owner must also keep shared and public areas clean and sanitary (§ 41.11).