Hurricane Impact Windows in Broward County, FL

Every impact window installed under a Broward County permit must meet the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions of the Florida Building Code. Broward became part of the HVHZ when the first statewide Florida Building Code took effect on March 1, 2002, and the county carried strict South Florida hurricane construction standards for decades before that.

Products approved for HVHZ use are tested under three protocols: TAS 201 for large- and small-missile impact, TAS 202 for air infiltration, water resistance, and structural performance under uniform pressure, and TAS 203 for thousands of positive and negative pressure cycles that simulate hurricane wind loads. Passing these tests is only part of the requirement. Each window must also be installed to the exact specifications in its product approval, which set allowable sizes, design pressures, glass configurations, anchor types, and spacing.

Innovative Storm Defense installs HVHZ-approved impact windows and handles the permit application, Notice of Commencement, product-approval documentation, and final inspection scheduling as part of the job.

Our impact windows use laminated glass: two panes bonded to a durable interlayer that holds the glass together when it is struck, so a broken pane stays in its frame instead of opening the house to wind and debris. For eastern Broward homes near the coast, from Fort Lauderdale to Pompano Beach, salt air is a real factor, so frame and hardware choices are matched to resist coastal corrosion as well as wind load.

Frames come in aluminum and vinyl, each meeting Broward's HVHZ design-pressure requirements, with aluminum offering strength for large coastal openings and vinyl offering added thermal insulation. Low-E coatings and insulated glass options reduce heat gain, which matters more than heat loss in South Florida's climate, and block most UV. Window styles include single-hung, double-hung, casement, sliding, and fixed picture windows, matched to how each opening in the home is built and to the wind exposure of its Broward location.

Broward County's exposure to hurricanes is well documented. Hurricane Wilma caused widespread roof damage, broken high-rise windows, and prolonged power outages across Broward in 2005, and Hurricane Irma brought strong winds in 2017, including a recorded 112 mph gust in Deerfield Beach. Storms like these are why the county enforces some of the strictest window and door standards in the country, and why permanent, code-approved protection matters more here than in most of Florida.