Windows, doors, roofing, and other products used in a permit must carry a valid approval. In South Florida there are two systems: the Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) and the statewide Florida Product Approval (FL#).
Both can be valid. What matters is that the approval covers your jurisdiction and, in the HVHZ, is accepted there.
Miami-Dade NOA
A Notice of Acceptance is issued by Miami-Dade County. It is widely recognized for HVHZ product acceptance and is verified on the county's product-control source.
Florida Product Approval (FL#)
A statewide approval verified on the Florida Building Commission's product-approval source. For HVHZ projects, the FL# must carry explicit HVHZ acceptance to be used in Miami-Dade or Broward.
How to read an approval
An approval is not a blanket 'this product is fine' stamp. It lists the specific configurations it covers, each with a positive and negative design pressure (DP), the tested sizes and framing, the impact rating, and the anchor types, substrates, and edge distances the tested installation used. To use it, the negative (suction) design pressure the approval allows for your size has to meet or exceed the pressure your calculation requires for that opening's zone, and the field anchorage has to match the approval's installation details.
This is where a sealed package connects the two: the wind calculation sets the required pressure opening by opening, and the product schedule pairs each opening with an approval that covers it at that pressure, size, and anchorage.
Verification matters
Approvals expire and are revised. We verify each product against the current source for the project, not a cached listing or a search-engine snapshot, which can lag the official record.
Questions
What does the 'design pressure' or DP on an approval mean?
Design pressure is the wind pressure, positive and negative, that the product was tested and approved to resist at a given size, in pounds per square foot. For your permit, the approved negative (suction) pressure for that size must meet or exceed the pressure the wind calculation requires for that opening's location on the building.
Do I need a Miami-Dade NOA specifically?
Not necessarily. A Florida Product Approval with explicit HVHZ acceptance can also be valid in the HVHZ. The requirement is that the product is approved for your jurisdiction and pressures, which we verify.