RESNET Certified Inspector | Builder Focused Service | Same Day Electronic Reports
Where We Work
Stellar Building Performance is based in Palm Bay and works the length of the Space and Treasure Coasts, from Titusville down through Stuart and west to Okeechobee.
Every city listed on this page has a page of its own, covering the building department that actually holds the permit, the local scheduling rules that trip people up, and the code requirements as they apply there. If your project sits outside these five counties and it is large enough to justify the trip, that is still a conversation worth having.
Request Testing
we coordinate testing around your stage of construction, with the report sent the same day.
Five Counties, Sixteen Building Departments, One Testing Company
The practical difficulty of working this stretch of Florida is not distance. It is that a single county can contain more than a dozen independent building departments, each with its own submittal portal, its own inspection scheduling cutoff and its own preferences about how a test report arrives. Brevard alone has sixteen municipalities running their own permitting, plus the county for everything unincorporated.
That is why the city pages on this site are built around jurisdiction rather than around a list of nearby landmarks. Knowing that a Suntree address permits through Brevard County and a West Melbourne address does not, or that Melbourne Village inspects on Thursdays and wants you on the list by Wednesday close of business, is the difference between a report that lands and a week of delay.
Every Service, Everywhere in the Service Area
Nothing is restricted to part of the map. Across all five counties:
Also available throughout: mechanical ventilation testing, HERS and home energy ratings, ENERGY STAR work, rebate and green building programs where qualified, and pre-drywall inspections covering HVAC, insulation and air sealing.
How Scheduling Works Across the Service Area
The process is the same wherever the project sits. What changes is the building department.
1.
Tell us where
Send the address and the service. We confirm which department actually holds the permit.
2.
we schedule around the AHJ
Some departments want inspections booked the day before, some by a set cutoff, and one inspects only on Thursdays. We work to whichever applies.
3.
Diagnostics and Measurements
Testing is performed to the same standard in every jurisdiction, with the same equipment and the same method.
4.
Report delivered by email
Formatted for the department that is going to review it, including jurisdictions that require submission on their own form.
5.
Ready for final inspection
The report reaches the code official in the form that department expects.
Not Sure Which Department Holds Your Permit?
Locations We Serve
Every city below has its own page with the local permitting detail, the code requirements, and how testing usually gets scheduled there. If yours is not listed and you are inside these five counties, we still cover it, and the county page is the right place to start.
Recent Projects Across the Service Area
Checking in from the field. Highlights from recent projects across the Space and Treasure Coast.
Coverage county by county
Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee, directly rather than subcontracted. We travel beyond that for larger multifamily, townhome and affordable housing projects where the economics work, so if your project is big enough it is worth asking.
Brevard carries the most volume and the most jurisdictional complexity. The county handles unincorporated areas, including Viera, Suntree, Port St. John, Merritt Island and Mims, while sixteen incorporated municipalities each run their own department. Mailing address is not a reliable guide to jurisdiction anywhere in this county.
Growth corridors:
Also covered:
The county building division covers unincorporated areas and Vero Beach, but not Sebastian, Fellsmere or Orchid, each of which permits separately. Vero Beach is where we have the deepest project history. Sebastian and Fellsmere are the growth story, with Fellsmere carrying approved development well out of proportion to its current size.
The highest volume new construction market in the service area, and Port St. Lucie is the reason. The county Building and Code Regulation Division covers unincorporated areas only. Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce each run their own departments, and Port St. Lucie processes are more formalized than most of the smaller jurisdictions to the north. Tradition and the Becker Road corridor west of I-95 carry most of the production building.
A full service area county covering Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound and Indiantown. The recurring difficulty is that a Stuart or Jensen Beach mailing address does not settle which department holds the permit, and it has to be verified per parcel. The mix skews toward custom and semi-custom work, with Hutchinson Island bringing elevated coastal construction and the tighter envelope targets that usually come with a performance path.
The inland end of the service area. Okeechobee County Building and Permitting, within Community Development, handles the unincorporated county, and the City of Okeechobee permits separately. Outside the city, the surrounding communities all permit through the county, so the process is consistent across most of the map. Volume is lower and more scattered, and largely custom and owner-builder work.
Energy Code Reference
The Requirements That Apply Across All Five Counties
The code is statewide. What changes from one jurisdiction to the next is the process rather than the requirement, which is why the local detail on each city page is about departments and deadlines instead of thresholds. The references below apply everywhere we work.
questions? give us a call, this is our specialty!
BIG CHANGES COMING IN 2026 FLORIDA BUILDING CODE UPDATES
Duct Leakage testing to be required on all homes with few exceptions, more stringent compliance targets, mechanical ventilation testing & more. Read our updates bulletin below.
2026 Florida Building Code Energy Conservation: What Builders Need to Know
This code line sets the envelope testing procedure and the Prescriptive Path air leakage limit.
R402.4.1.2 Testing.
The building or dwelling unit shall be tested and verified as having an air leakage rate not exceeding seven air changes per hour in Climate Zones 1 and 2, and three air changes per hour in Climate Zones 3 through 8. Dwelling units with an air leakage rate less than three air changes per hour shall be provided with whole-house mechanical ventilation in accordance with Section R403.6.1 of this code and Section M1507.3 of the Florida Building Code, Residential. Testing shall be conducted in accordance with ANSI/RESNET/ICC 380 and reported at a pressure of 0.2 inch w.g. (50 pascals). Testing shall be conducted by either individuals as defined in Section 553.993(5) or (7), Florida Statutes, or individuals licensed as set forth in Section 489.105(3)(f), (g) or (i) or an approved third party. A written report of the results of the test shall be signed by the party conducting the test and provided to the code official. Testing shall be performed at any time after creation of all penetrations of the building thermal envelope.
Exception: Testing is not required for additions, alterations, renovations or repairs of the building thermal envelope of existing buildings in which the new construction is less than 85 percent of the building thermal envelope.
During testing:
1.Exterior windows and doors, fireplace and stove doors shall be closed, but not sealed, beyond the intended weatherstripping or other infiltration control measures.
2.Dampers including exhaust, intake, makeup air, backdraft and flue dampers shall be closed, but not sealed beyond intended infiltration control measures.
3.Interior doors, if installed at the time of the test, shall be open.
4.Exterior doors for continuous ventilation systems and heat recovery ventilators shall be closed and sealed.
5.Heating and cooling systems, if installed at the time of the test, shall be turned off.
6.Supply and return registers, if installed at the time of the test, shall be fully open.
7.If an attic is both air sealed and insulated at the roof deck, interior access doors and hatches between the conditioned space volume and the attic shall be opened during the test and the volume of the attic shall be added to the conditioned space volume for purposes of reporting an infiltration volume and calculating the air leakage of the home.
This code line sets the duct leakage limits and when duct testing is required.
R405.2.2 Building air leakage testing.
Building or dwelling air leakage testing shall be in accordance with Sections R402.4 through R402.4.1.2. If an air leakage rate below seven air changes per hour at a pressure of 0.2 inch w.g. (50 pascals) is specified for the proposed design, testing shall verify the air leakage rate does not exceed the air leakage rate of the proposed design instead of seven air changes per hour.
Some projects require additional testing depending on the compliance path, where the ducts and air handler are located, and what the energy documentation represents. That is a project-level question rather than a jurisdictional one.
R403.3.3 Duct testing (Mandatory).
Ducts shall be pressure tested to determine air leakage by one of the following methods:
1.Rough-in test: Total leakage shall be measured with a pressure differential of 0.1 inch w.g. (25 Pa) across the system, including the manufacturer’s air handler enclosure if installed at the time of the test. All registers shall be taped or otherwise sealed during the test.
2.Postconstruction test: Total leakage shall be measured with a pressure differential of 0.1 inch w.g. (25 Pa) across the entire system, including the manufacturer’s air handler enclosure. Registers shall be taped or otherwise sealed during the test.
Exceptions:
1.A duct air leakage test shall not be required where the ducts and air handlers are located entirely within the building thermal envelope.
2.Duct testing is not mandatory for buildings complying by Section R405 of this code. Duct leakage testing is required for Section R405 compliance where credit is taken for leakage, and a duct air leakage Qn to the outside of less than 0.080 (where Qn = duct leakage to the outside in cfm per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area tested at 25 Pascals) is indicated in the compliance report for the proposed design.
A written report of the results of the test shall be signed by the party conducting the test and provided to the code official.
R405.2.3 Duct air leakage testing.
In cases where duct air leakage lower than the default Qn to outside of 0.080 (where Qn = duct leakage to the outside in cfm per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area tested at 25 Pascals) is specified for the proposed design, testing in accordance with Section R403.3.2 shall verify a duct air leakage rate not exceeding the leakage rate of the proposed design. Otherwise, in accordance with Section R403.3.3, duct testing is not mandatory for buildings complying by Section R405.
As the mantra goes, build tight and ventilate right. Where a home is built tight enough to need mechanical ventilation, that system carries its own verification requirements, and those apply the same way in every jurisdiction we work in.
What differs between departments is how and when the documentation has to arrive. Some want it uploaded before the final inspection is scheduled, some want it at the inspection, and at least one requires submission on their own form rather than ours. Tracking that is part of the job, and it is the reason a report gets accepted the first time instead of coming back.
R403.6.1 Whole-house mechanical ventilation system fan efficacy.
When installed to function as a whole-house mechanical ventilation system, fans shall meet the efficacy requirements of Table R403.6.1.
Exception: Where an air handler that is integral to tested and listed HVAC equipment is used to provide whole-house mechanical ventilation, the air handler shall be powered by an electronically commutated motor.
Review TABLE R403.6.1 WHOLE-HOUSE MECHANICAL VENTILATION SYSTEM FAN EFFICACY
R403.6.2 Ventilation air.
Residential buildings designed to be operated at a positive indoor pressure or for mechanical ventilation shall meet the following criteria:
1.The design air change per hour minimums for residential buildings in ASHRAE 62.2, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, shall be the maximum rates allowed for residential applications.
2.No ventilation or air-conditioning system make-up air shall be provided to conditioned space from attics, crawlspaces, attached enclosed garages or outdoor spaces adjacent to swimming pools or spas.
3.If ventilation air is drawn from enclosed space(s), then the walls of the space(s) from which air is drawn shall be insulated to a minimum of R-11 and the ceiling shall be insulated to a minimum of R-19, space permitting, or R-10 otherwise.
Working Somewhere on This Map?
Helping Builders Stay on Schedule and Pass Inspections
Coordinated Scheduling
Builders get testing scheduled around their stage of construction.
accurate results
Professional equipment ensures reliable measurements.
same day reports
Documentation provided by email the same day for inspection approvals.