Impact garage doors in Pembroke Pines, built for Broward's 170 mph code

What the code asks of a garage door in Pembroke Pines

A house in Pembroke Pines is designed for a 170 mph wind. Section 1620.2 of Florida’s building code (2023, 8th Edition) sets that speed for Broward buildings in Risk Category II, the category homes fall in; Miami-Dade's figure is 175. You'll see 165, 180 or 200 in ads, but for a Broward house the code says 170.

Wind speed is one test, and impact is the other. Under Section 1626, up to 30 feet above ground, every garage door must survive a 2×4 weighing 9 lb shot at 50 ft/s and then hold under repeated pressure, or be covered by a shutter that does. The pressure each door has to resist is set by its size and by the house; the county's worst-case chart puts a 16×7 door at +37.0 / −45.0 psf, and the full chart is in our permit guide.

Florida approved and HVHZ approved are different things

A Florida product approval can be registered for use inside the HVHZ, outside it, or both, and some garage doors carry a Florida number that says no to the HVHZ. Those doors can be legal elsewhere in the state and still fall short in Broward. Miami-Dade's Notice of Acceptance, or NOA, is issued for the HVHZ, and the state listing answers the question in a field called Approved for use in HVHZ. Check that line for the exact model, size and glass, because the same door can be approved with impact glass and not with plain glass.

Approvals also run out. Every NOA states an expiration date, and a door bought today has to be covered by one that's current. Our guide to reading the label shows how to look up either kind of number yourself.

Inside an impact door, and what a careless repair undoes

The rating belongs to the whole assembly in the approval drawing: the sections, the struts and where they sit, the track gauge, the hinges, plus the anchors and their spacing into the wall. Swap one of those for a part the drawing doesn't list, and the door may no longer be the door that passed the test, however smoothly it runs.

So on an impact door, struts, hinges, tracks and anchors get parts that match its approval, and if a matching part can't be had, we say so before removing anything. There's no such thing as a hurricane spring: springs balance the door's weight, and the wind load rides on the sections, struts, tracks and anchors. An impact door is heavier, so a spring replacement on one is sized to that door, not to a lighter one.

Storm braces

A storm brace, the post or bar some owners add to an older door, can stiffen it for a storm. It doesn't give the door an approval number. Some bracing systems carry a product approval of their own and many don't, and one without it leaves a wind mitigation inspector nothing to verify. If you use one, follow its instructions for your door's size, keep the opener unplugged while it's in place, and treat it as a bridge to a rated replacement door.

Wind mitigation, the tax refund and the state grant program

Your wind mitigation report grades the garage door too. The state's mitigation form, revision 04/26 of OIR-B1-1802, mandatory from April 1, 2026, lists garage doors with the other openings and grades the house by the weakest protection it finds. For the impact grade, the door must be tested to an impact standard on the form's list (for garage doors, ANSI/DASMA 115 is one; TAS 201, 202 and 203 is another), backed by a photo or document the inspector can attach. A door verified only for pressure ranks lower, and an opening that needs replacing keeps the house out of the mitigation credits altogether. What the grade does to your premium is your insurer's answer, not ours.

The state also gives back the sales tax on impact-resistant garage doors purchased between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2029 (Florida Department of Revenue, TIP 26A01-09). It's a refund, not a discount at the register: up to $500 per owner, for one homestead property with a site-built house and a just value of $700,000 or less, claimed on forms DR-26S and DR-26HH by September 30, 2029. When a contractor supplies and installs the door for one price, the owner files with the supplier's receipt to the contractor showing the tax paid, and we hand you that receipt with the job papers.

My Safe Florida Home, the state's home hardening grant program, counts garage doors as opening protection in its statute, for homestead homes that meet its other rules. Money for it depends on what the Legislature sets aside, so check mysafeflhome.com for current funding before you plan around it.

Before a storm, and after it

Do the first list in June and repeat the last two items when a storm is named for South Florida. During Irma in 2017, a private weather station in Pembroke Pines caught a 109 mph gust, and Broward filed 38,836 insurance claims (National Weather Service).

Before

• Photograph the label and the door. Both faces of the door, dated. If you ever file a claim or sell the house, that picture answers the first question.
• Test the balance. With the door closed, pull the release cord, hand-lift the door to about waist height and let go. A door in balance holds its position; if it falls or rises, have the spring checked before the season.
• Look at the cables. Frayed strands or rust at the bottom corners are a call to make now, not after the storm: see cable repair.
• Check the backup. If the opener has a battery backup, unplug the opener and run the door on battery. If it has none, practice locking and unlocking the door by hand.
• Close and lock. When the storm is coming, lower the door all the way, slide its manual lock into the track if it has one, and disconnect the opener's power so a remote can't drive it against the lock. Move anything stored along the tracks.
• Leave it shut. Don't raise the door during the storm, and not in the calm of the eye either.

After

• Look before you run it. From inside, check for bowed sections, a cable that has jumped its drum, a bent track or a door hanging crooked. If you see any of that, keep the opener unplugged, don't move the door, and call for emergency repair: a door under spring tension can drop or jump when it's moved.
• Photograph damage before anything moves. Your insurer will want to see it as you found it.
• When the power comes back. Plug the opener into a surge protector if it isn't on one already; lightning and power returning in jolts are hard on its circuit board.
• Check who you hire. Look up any contractor through the state's DBPR license lookup before you sign, ours included. A damaged door that gets replaced still needs a city permit.
• Keep the repair papers. A damaged opening drags the house down on the mitigation form until it's fixed or replaced, so file the invoice and photos with your report.

What changes the job

Door width and height

Bigger doors need more struts and heavier springs, and each size carries its own pressure to meet.

Windows in the door

Impact-rated glass narrows the approved models and adds weight.

The framing around the opening

Wood or concrete that won't hold an anchor is repaired first, and a Florida engineer can adjust an approval's fastening with a sealed letter or drawing when the wall needs it.

The spring and the opener

The heavier door gets a spring sized to it and an opener that can lift it.