RESNET Certified Inspector | Builder Focused Turnaround | Immediate Electronic Reports
Stellar Building Performance serves Port St. John, the largest unincorporated community in North Brevard, for the scattered-lot custom construction that defines the market here.
What Is a Duct Leakage Test?
Before anything gets tested in Port St. John, one question has to be answered: who holds the permit. Port St. John carries a Cocoa 32927 mailing address, which leads builders to assume the City of Cocoa is the authority when it is the county, and the Port St. John Dependent Special District acts in place of county Planning and Zoning inside its boundary.
Port St. John is the largest unincorporated community in North Brevard, and a scattered-lot market rather than a subdivision market, and the work runs to scattered homesites with no HOA, worked lot by lot. A duct leakage test measures how much air escapes the duct system instead of reaching the rooms it was sized for.
Registers are sealed and a calibrated duct blaster pressurizes the system to 25 Pascals, reporting the result as CFM25 per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area. The report goes to whichever department is actually reviewing, documented under the Florida Energy Conservation Code.
Request Port St. John Duct Leakage Testing
we respond quickly for Port St. John duct leakage testing. no waiting days for scheduling and reports.
Local Port St. John and Brevard County Projects Our Team has Worked On
Florida Energy Code Duct Leakage Requirements
The Florida Energy Conservation Code governs every residential permit in Port St. John, and it applies to any conditioned structure built as living space.
Port St. John is unincorporated, and this is where the address trips people up. Port St. John carries a Cocoa, FL 32927 mailing address, which leads builders to assume the City of Cocoa is the authority. It is not. Every permit here goes through Brevard County Planning and Development.
There is also a land-use layer that exists nowhere else in the county: the Port St. John Dependent Special District, a seven-member appointed board that acts in place of the county Planning and Zoning Board for rezonings, variances and site plans inside its boundary. If your project needs any of those, that is the body you are in front of.
The market is scattered-lot rather than subdivision. Maronda Homes markets Port St. John explicitly as scattered homesites, buy their lot or bring your own, with no HOA. That means one-off envelopes rather than a repeating plan type, and a test that is worth scheduling per house rather than per phase.
Brevard County offers VuSpex virtual inspections, and the eligible list includes Insulation and Mechanical Final. That is worth thinking about: the county inspector may never be standing in the house at the exact moments the envelope and the duct system are open and visible, which raises rather than lowers the value of an independent test.
A duct test is required here whenever any part of the duct system or the air handler sits outside the conditioned space. Total leakage must be no more than 4 CFM25 per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area, or 3 CFM25 per 100 square feet at rough-in where the air handler is not yet installed. Where every duct run and the air handler are inside the thermal envelope, the code does not require a test at all.
Why is Duct Leakage Testing Beneficial?
The jurisdiction in Port St. John decides who signs off. It does not change what a leaky house costs to run.
Ducts losing air outside the conditioned space can cause:
In Port St. John, duct leakage testing is what turns “it should be fine” into a documented number before final inspection. Passing the first time is what keeps the closeout on schedule.
How We Keep Our Services Simple and Easy
We want completing your Duct Leakage Testing in Port St. John to be as easy as possible.
1.
Schedule your test
You tell us the Port St. John address and when the home will be ready. Scattered lots mean scattered trips, so we group Port St. John work and give you a firm window rather than a range.
2.
onsite testing
Registers are sealed and the duct blaster is connected to the system, which is then brought up to test pressure. We work around whoever else is still on site in Port St. John, so nobody has to clear out.
3.
Diagnostics and Measurements
We measure total duct leakage in CFM25 per 100 square feet and compare it against the limit for the test stage. You get the number and, if it needs work, the reason behind it.
4.
Report delivered same day via email
The report goes out by email before we leave the Port St. John job, documenting code compliance for the inspection file.
5.
Ready for Final Inspection approval
With the report on file, Brevard County Planning and Development can close out the permit and issue the certificate of occupancy.
Contact Us for Fast & Convenient Duct Leakage Testing in Port St. John
Why Builders Choose Stellar Building Performance
Stellar Building Performance
No missed appointments or reschedules.
Responsive scheduling for Port St. John projects.
We’re on the same team
Other Inspectors
You’re just another sale
Recent Duct Leakage Tests
Checking in from the field! See some highlights of our recent Duct Leakage Test site visits!
Frequently asked questions about Duct Leakage Testing
Budget half an hour to an hour on site in Port St. John, depending on the size of the house. Nothing is drilled, cut or removed.
In Port St. John, duct leakage testing is required for new residential buildings where any part of the duct system or the air handler sits outside the conditioned space. That covers most homes with ducts in an attic, a garage, a crawlspace, or a soffit chase. If every duct run and the air handler are inside the thermal envelope, the code exempts the system from testing.
Common Structures Like:
Additional Structures Like:
Either one is allowed. A rough-in test is run before the drywall closes the system up, which is the better moment to catch a problem because the ducts are still reachable. A postconstruction test is run near the end, once the air handler is in and the home is approaching final inspection. The limit is 4 CFM25 per 100 square feet in both cases, except at rough-in without the air handler installed, where it tightens to 3.
Yes — an undocumented test is an incomplete permit file, and Brevard County Planning and Development will not close it out. Being on time in Port St. John is most of the job.
It is recommended to test as close to completion as possible. Our best suggestion is to be one of the last vendors in the project before the cleaners do their final clean. We provide a pre-inspection, get ready checklist in all of our proposals that is designed to make being prepared for your duct leakage test as simple and easy as possible.
No. Work does not have to stop and the building does not need to be cleared. We just need the envelope in its finished condition, with exterior doors and windows shut.
Duct Leakage Testing Code Reference
Duct Leakage Test Florida Requirements Explained
Duct leakage testing is required in Port St. John under R403.3.3 of the 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, Eighth Edition, which calls for ducts to be pressure tested at 25 Pascals either at rough-in or after construction.
The limits live in R403.3.4. Total leakage must be no more than 4 CFM25 per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area on a postconstruction test, and the same 4 CFM25 on a rough-in test where the air handler is installed. If the air handler is not in place at rough-in, the limit tightens to 3 CFM25 per 100 square feet.
There is a real exception: no duct test is required where the ducts and air handlers are located entirely within the building thermal envelope. Homes on the performance path under R405 are handled differently again, and are tested against the duct leakage rate assumed in the energy calculation.
We keep the full code language, including the complete text of R403.3.3, R403.3.4 and the R405 provisions, on our main duct leakage page: read the full Florida duct leakage code references.
questions? give us a call, this is our specialty!
Need Duct Leakage Testing in Port St. John to Pass Final Inspection?
Similar Services
Stellar Building Performance covers the full energy-code package for Port St. John projects, so one call handles the testing and the calculations that go with it.
Blower Door Testing
Verify the building envelope meets the 7 ACH50 air leakage limit using a calibrated duct leakage, required for new construction inspections. We provide this service across the Port St. John area!
Energy Code Calculations
Energy performance calculations required for Florida residential building permits and code compliance documentation.
Helping Port St. John Builders Stay on Schedule
Fast Scheduling
We know how Port St. John books inspections, and we test to fit that rather than fight it.
accurate results
Measured, not estimated. Calibrated equipment, RESNET certified, documented for Brevard County Planning and Development.
immediate reports
The report is emailed the same day to everyone on the Port St. John job, not left in a truck.
Other Areas We Serve
Local duct leakage testing in Port St. John, with additional service throughout Brevard County, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, Martin County, and Okeechobee County.
