Does the whole roof have to be replaced? Florida's 25% rule after SB 4-D

If you have owned a home in Miami-Dade for a while, you have heard the 25% rule: repair more than 25 percent of a roof section in a year and the whole section has to be brought up to current code, which in practice meant a full replacement. Roofers quoted around it, insurers relied on it, and homeowners with a bad leak on an older roof braced for the bill.

The rule changed in 2022. It did not disappear, but for many houses it no longer applies.

What changed

Senate Bill 4-D, signed in May 2022, added an exception to the Florida Building Code. If the existing roof was built, repaired, or replaced in compliance with the 2007 Florida Building Code or a later edition, then only the part being repaired has to meet current code. The 25 percent threshold no longer forces a full replacement of that roof.

The 2007 code took effect in March 2009. So the practical test is: was this roof installed, or fully replaced, after March 1, 2009? If yes, it can be repaired section by section for as long as repairs make sense. If the roof predates that, the old rule still applies: once repairs to a roof section exceed 25 percent in a 12‑month period, the whole section comes up to current code.

Why it matters in Miami-Dade

Most of the county’s housing falls on one side of that date or the other in predictable ways.

• Homes re-roofed right after Hurricane Andrew (1993 to 1996) are on the old side of the line. Those roofs are also past thirty years, so the question is often moot: the underlayment has aged out and a replacement is the right call anyway.
• Homes built or re-roofed from 2009 on, including most of Doral, Keys Gate and Waterstone in Homestead, and anything permitted after the 2010 code cycle, can be repaired without triggering the rule.
• Roofs in between, replaced in the early 2000s, are the ones that get argued about. The permit record decides.

How to find out which case yours is

The building department’s permit history is the record that counts. In unincorporated Miami-Dade you can look up permits by address on the county’s permitting portal; cities such as Miami, Hialeah, and Coral Gables have their own. A closed roofing permit dated after March 2009 puts the roof on the new side of the line. If there is no permit on record for a roof you believe was replaced, that is its own problem, and a contractor will want to know before quoting.

A roofing contractor who works in your area will usually check this before proposing a repair. Ask them which case they think applies and why.

What this does not change

The exception is about repairs. It does not change what a full replacement involves in Miami-Dade: a permit, HVHZ-rated materials with a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, a sealed deck or secondary water barrier, the fastening pattern, and inspections. And it does not override your insurer’s view of the roof. An insurer can still require an inspection on a roof that is 15 years or older and can still decline to renew if the roof lacks enough remaining life. A legally repairable roof and an insurable roof are two different questions.

Repair or replace, then

The rule removed a legal reason to replace; it did not remove the practical ones. If a tile roof’s underlayment is failing in several places, if a shingle roof is brittle across the slope, or if decking is soft in more than one spot, a series of repairs costs more over a few years than a replacement and leaves you with the insurance problem unsolved. A contractor should be able to show you photos and explain which of those you have.

If you want a roofer to look at yours, call.

Related pages

• Roof replacement in Miami-Dade
• Roof repair
• Roof inspection