A question we hear weekly, in two flavors: condo owners asking "can I even install impact windows, and who pays?" and single-family owners assuming the condo crowd has it easier. The honest answer is that Florida draws the responsibility lines in completely different places for the two, and misunderstanding your side of the line costs real money — in duplicated insurance, in stalled projects, and occasionally in an association making you undo work you paid for. Here's the map.
Own a house, and the picture is clean: every opening is yours — the decision, the cost, the permits, the insurance credits, and the consequences of deferring. Your only approvals are the local building department and, in deed-restricted communities, an HOA architectural review that can govern appearance (frame colors, grid patterns) but in practice cannot prohibit code-compliant hurricane protection. The whole toolkit — grants, financing, discounts — flows directly to you.
In a Florida condominium, responsibility for windows is set by your declaration of condominium — and declarations genuinely vary. In many associations, windows and sliding doors are the unit owner's responsibility; in others they're common elements the association maintains; in others still, maintenance is the owner's while replacement is the association's, or vice versa. Florida condo law provides default rules and a framework for hurricane protection specifically, but the declaration is where your answer actually lives. Step one is always the same: get the declaration and read the maintenance matrix.
Florida statute gives condo associations specific authority around hurricane protection: boards can adopt uniform specifications for shutters and impact glass (color, style, approved products), and associations may install protection building-wide with costs allocated to owners. Crucially for proactive owners, the framework generally protects a unit owner's ability to install code-compliant protection meeting the association's published specs — an association can standardize how protection looks, but blanket prohibition of hurricane protection is another matter. If your board has no published specification, requesting one in writing is often the move that unlocks the whole project.
The insurance seam: condo insurance splits between the association's master policy and your HO-6 unit policy — and windows sit right on the seam. Whether YOUR policy or the master policy covers the glass follows the declaration's responsibility lines. Owners who don't check commonly either double-insure or, worse, assume coverage that isn't there.
Request the declaration and any board-adopted hurricane specification. Submit your product selection — with NOA/product approval documentation — for board approval in writing. Use licensed, insured installers who pull permits (associations can and should demand this; so should you). Keep every approval and permit with your unit records: they matter at claim time, at resale, and for your HO-6 insurer's credits. And if you're on the board side of this question, a building-wide program often prices dramatically better per opening than unit-by-unit projects — worth a conversation before the next assessment cycle.
Single-family owners: the responsibility is all yours, which means the savings are too — start with the worth-it math. Condo owners: your project has one extra document and one extra approval, not a wall — and the same physics apply to the glass either way. Wherever you sit, a free quote with your situation spelled out is the fastest way to real numbers.
It depends on the declaration and Florida condominium law, which vary by association and situation. Windows are often unit-owner responsibility while the association controls exterior appearance and approval. Read your declaration and ask the board before planning any project.
Almost always yes for exterior-visible changes. Associations typically maintain approved product and appearance standards. Submit your application before signing a contract, since approval conditions can affect product selection.
Associations can adopt requirements and, in some circumstances, undertake building-wide projects assessed to owners. Milestone inspection and structural reserve requirements have also increased attention on building envelope work in Florida.
Unit owner policies and association master policies work differently. Building-wide opening protection generally affects the master policy, while unit-owner coverage may see different effects. Ask your agent how your specific structure is rated.
Not sure what your wind mitigation report is costing you? Try the free Wind Mitigation Savings Calculator.