RESNET Certified Inspector | Builder Focused Turnaround | Immediate Electronic Reports
Stellar Building Performance is a Florida local, family-run company working throughout Port St. Lucie, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Whether it is a production phase out in Tradition or a single build on one of the original quarter-acre lots, we schedule testing around your inspection date.
What Is a Duct Leakage Test?
Duct Leakage Testing is required on new residential construction in Port St. Lucie, and with the fastest-growing large city in the country for five consecutive years that usually means volume: the master-planned phases in Tradition, Riverland and Verano, alongside an enormous scattered-lot market.
A duct leakage test measures how much air escapes the duct system instead of reaching the rooms it was sized for. Stellar Building Performance runs it for builders and developers working in Port St. Lucie and returns the report the same day, so the result is never what holds up a closing.
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. That reading is what the City of Port St. Lucie Building Department checks against the Florida Energy Conservation Code.
About Me
Before founding Stellar Building Performance, I spent more than 4 years overseeing residential energy code compliance services across two branches covering Southeast Florida for a national engineering firm, supporting builders, contractors, and developers on projects ranging from single-family homes, to developments, to multifamily construction.
Request Duct Leakage Testing in Port St Lucie
we respond quickly for Port St Lucie duct leakage testing. no waiting days for scheduling and reports.
Local Port St. Lucie Projects Our Team has Worked On
Florida Energy Code Duct Leakage Requirements
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.
The City of Port St. Lucie Building Department reviews plans and inspects to the 2023 code. With more than 80,000 originally platted lots alongside master-planned communities like Tradition and Riverland, we test both one-off scattered-site builds and repeating production phases across the city.
Why is Duct Leakage Testing Beneficial?
Volume builders in Port St. Lucie do not just need a passing number, they need to know which detail moved it.
Ducts losing air outside the conditioned space can cause:
For Port St. Lucie projects the test does two jobs at once: it satisfies the City of Port St. Lucie Building Department and it tells the builder whether the assembly actually performed the way it was drawn.
How We Keep Our Services Simple and Easy
We want completing your Duct Leakage Testing in Port St. Lucie to be as easy as possible.
1.
Schedule your test
You tell us the Port St. Lucie address and when the home will be ready. We schedule against the city’s own inspection calendar.
2.
onsite testing
Our inspector arrives at the Port St. Lucie site and sets up. Registers are sealed and the duct blaster is connected to the system, which is then brought up to test pressure.
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
Everyone on the Port St. Lucie project team gets the signed report the same day, not on the next visit.
5.
Ready for Final Inspection approval
With the report on file, the City of Port St. Lucie Building Department can close out the permit and issue the certificate of occupancy.
Contact Us for Fast & Convenient Duct Leakage Testing in Port St Lucie
Why Builders Choose Stellar Building Performance
Stellar Building Performance
No missed appointments or reschedules.
Responsive scheduling for Port St Lucie projects.
We’re on the same team
Other Inspectors
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Recent Duct Leakage Tests in Port St. Lucie
Checking in from the field! See some highlights of our recent Port St. Lucie Duct Leakage Test site visits!
Frequently asked questions about Duct Leakage Testing
Most duct leakage tests in Port St. Lucie take 30 to 60 minutes. It is quick, non-destructive, and easy to slot in before final inspection.
Simple rule of thumb: if it’s a conditioned space intended for people, it will require duct leakage testing.
By code definition, any dwelling unit permitted for residential use requires duct leakage testing in Port St Lucie. This includes:
Common Structures Like:
Additional Structures Like:
In Port St Lucie, 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.
Yes — an undocumented test is an incomplete permit file, and the City of Port St. Lucie Building Department will not close it out. Being on time in Port St. Lucie is most of the job.
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.
In most cases, no. Other trades can keep working in Port St. Lucie while we test — we only need the openings closed and the house in its final configuration.
Not necessarily. 7 ACH50 is the prescriptive limit in Florida Climate Zone 2, but if the project was documented through the performance or ERI path, the target is whatever the energy calculation for that specific home specifies, and it is often tighter.
Two homes on the same street can carry different numbers. Confirm which path your project is on before the envelope is closed up.
Yes. The city’s Comprehensive Plan records over 80,000 platted lots created by General Development Corporation, predominantly quarter-acre single-family lots, so a large share of Port St. Lucie construction is one-off scattered-site building.
A single conditioned dwelling is tested the same as a home inside a Tradition or Riverland production phase.
Duct Leakage Testing Code Reference
Duct Leakage Test Florida Requirements Explained
Duct leakage testing is required in Port St Lucie 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 Lucie to Pass Final Inspection?
Similar Services
Most Port St. Lucie projects need more than one of these. We do all of them, on the same schedule and in the same report chain.
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 Lucie area!
Energy Code Calculations
Energy performance calculations required for Florida residential building permits and code compliance documentation.
Helping Port St Lucie Builders Stay on Schedule
Fast Scheduling
The city’s Comprehensive Plan records over 80,000 originally platted lots from the General Development Corporation era, so scattered-lot volume runs alongside the master-planned phases. We schedule around it.
accurate results
Measured, not estimated. Calibrated equipment, RESNET certified, documented for the City of Port St. Lucie Building Department.
immediate reports
Same-day digital reporting to the whole Port St. Lucie project team, with deficiencies named if there are any.
Other Areas We Serve
Local duct leakage testing in Port St Lucie, with additional service throughout Brevard County, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, Martin County, and Okeechobee County.
