How to Fill Out and Submit Florida Building Code Form R402

Florida Building Code Form R402 is the state’s standardized worksheet for proving a residential project meets the prescriptive energy conservation requirements of the 8th Edition Florida Building Code. You fill it in with your climate zone, insulation R-values, window U-factors and SHGC ratings, HVAC efficiency numbers, and duct leakage results, sign it, and submit it with your permit application. The current version, Form R402-2023, is valid through December 31, 2026, and the blank PDF is available directly from the Florida Building Commission.¹²

When You Need Form R402

The form applies to single-family and multi-family residences of three stories or less, including additions, alterations, renovations, and replacements of building systems in existing homes.³ If your project changes the conditioned space or replaces insulation, windows, or HVAC equipment, expect the form in your permit package.

R402 documents only the prescriptive R-value path, which is one of three ways to show compliance with Chapter 4 of the Florida Energy Conservation Code.⁴ The prescriptive path means your materials and equipment meet the specific minimums printed in the code tables. If your design cannot hit every prescriptive number, you can switch to the Performance path (energy simulation, Form R405) or the Energy Rating Index path (a HERS rater score, Form R406) instead. Most standard construction stays on the prescriptive path because it is the simplest: look up the minimum, confirm the installed value meets it, write it down.

Start With Your Florida Climate Zone

The first field on the form is climate zone, and every insulation and fenestration threshold below it depends on that answer. Florida has two zones:⁵

Zone 1: Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties.
Zone 2: every other Florida county.

Pick the wrong zone and every value you check on the form will be measured against the wrong minimums. Confirm your county before filling in anything else.

Filling Out the Form

The form has four working sections plus signatures. Each pulls from your architectural plans, product cut sheets, and eventually your test reports.

Header

Enter the climate zone, builder name, project name and address, permitting office, jurisdiction number, property owner, permit number, permit type (new construction, addition, or alteration), number of dwelling units, and the conditioned floor area in square feet. The “Worst Case” field is for multi-unit projects with more than one unit type; you document the unit with the least favorable energy profile.⁶

Insulation and Fenestration Table

This is the heart of the form. Each row is a building component with the code minimum already printed and a blank column for the value your project installs. The prescriptive minimums are:⁴

Ceiling insulation: R-30 in Zone 1, R-38 in Zone 2.
Wood frame wall insulation: R-13 in both zones.
Floor insulation: R-13 in both zones.
Fenestration U-factor: no requirement in Zone 1; maximum 0.40 in Zone 2, or 0.65 for impact-rated windows meeting Florida’s hurricane provisions.
Skylight U-factor: maximum 0.75 in Zone 1, 0.65 in Zone 2.
Glazed fenestration SHGC: maximum 0.25 in both zones.

R-values are minimums, so higher is better insulation. U-factors and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients are maximums, so lower means less heat transfer through the glass. Pull the U-factor and SHGC for each window from the manufacturer’s NFRC label. Every glazed window and door must meet the 0.25 SHGC threshold, or the area-weighted average across all fenestration must.

Enter the installed R-value, not the label value. If R-19 batts are compressed into a 2×4 wall cavity, the installed R-value is lower than 19, and the form has to reflect the lower number.

The UA Alternative

If you cannot meet every component minimum, the form allows a UA trade-off. Add up each assembly’s U-factor times its area for your design, and compare that total to the same calculation done with the code-table U-factors. If your total is equal to or less than the code total, you pass. SHGC is separate and cannot be traded away.⁴

Equipment

The equipment section captures the specs for four systems:⁶

Air distribution: duct location, whether ducts are factory-sealed, R-values for ducts in unconditioned attics and other unconditioned spaces, whether the whole system sits inside conditioned space, and total duct leakage in CFM per 100 square feet.
Air conditioning: capacity in BTU/h, minimum SEER2, system type, minimum EER.
Heating: minimum HSPF2 for heat pumps, minimum AFUE for furnaces, system type, capacity, and minimum COP.
Water heating: storage capacity, minimum Uniform Energy Factor.

Use SEER2 and HSPF2 numbers, which replaced the older SEER and HSPF metrics on January 1, 2023.⁷ The AHRI certificate shipped with every new system lists the current values. If your contractor hands you a spec sheet with the old ratings, ask for the SEER2 equivalent; the numbers are not interchangeable.

Mandatory Requirements Checklist

The bottom of the form is a checklist confirming intent to comply with mandatory sections on air leakage, programmable thermostats, duct sealing, water heater efficiency, cooling and heating equipment, pool and spa energy use, and lighting. Check each item that applies.⁶

Signatures

Three signature lines close the form: the preparer (usually an energy consultant or designer), the property owner or agent, and the code official. The code official signs during permit review or inspection.

The Blower Door Test

Every new home in Florida has to pass an envelope leakage test, commonly called a blower door test. A technician mounts a calibrated fan in an exterior doorway, depressurizes the home to 50 Pascals, and measures air leakage in air changes per hour at that pressure (ACH50).⁸

The maximum allowed is 7 ACH50 statewide. A home that tests below 3 ACH50 is tight enough to require whole-house mechanical ventilation.⁴ The test must be run by a certified energy auditor or rater (typically BPI or RESNET certified), a licensed mechanical, general, or air conditioning contractor, or another party approved by the local building official. The tester provides a signed written report that the code official must have on file before the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.³ Residential tests generally run $200 to $800 depending on the size and complexity of the home.

Testing is not required for additions, alterations, or renovations where the new construction covers less than 85 percent of the building’s thermal envelope.⁴ Most small remodels fall under that threshold.

Schedule the tester late enough in construction that all windows, doors, ductwork, and plumbing penetrations are sealed, but early enough that a failed result leaves time for remediation.

Submitting the Form

Once the preparer and owner (or agent) have signed, Form R402 goes to the local building department with the rest of the permit package, alongside architectural drawings and other compliance documents. Most Florida jurisdictions accept uploads through online permitting portals; some still take physical copies.

Plan reviewers compare the values you entered against the code minimums for your climate zone. Turnaround runs from a few business days in smaller counties to several weeks in high-volume metros. Any value that falls short of the code table means the permit is denied until the design is corrected and the form resubmitted.

After construction, a final inspection verifies that what was installed matches what the form promised. Inspectors check attic insulation thickness, look for NFRC stickers on windows to confirm U-factor and SHGC, and review the signed blower door report. Discrepancies fail the inspection, and the Certificate of Occupancy (the document that legally allows someone to move in or the builder to close a sale) is held until the installed materials and the form line up.³

Common Mistakes That Delay Approval

Selecting the wrong climate zone is the easiest error to make and the hardest to catch later. Every downstream number gets compared against the wrong table.

Entering label R-values instead of installed R-values catches builders who compress insulation into cavities thinner than the product was designed for. Enter the installed value.

Window SHGC trips people up because 0.25 is strict. Individual windows over the limit can pull the area-weighted average above the threshold. Confirm SHGC before ordering. Swapping windows after installation is one of the more expensive fixes a failed inspection can trigger.

Missing or unsigned blower door reports are a routine reason the Certificate of Occupancy stalls. The report has to reach the code official before the CO is issued, so build the test into your construction schedule rather than treating it as a last-minute item.

What Happens If the Work Doesn’t Match the Form

Energy code violations are treated like any other building code violation, and the consequences land on the licensed professional. A local jurisdiction that finds a licensee committed a material violation and did not correct it within a reasonable time must impose a fine between $500 and $5,000 per violation. If the licensee neither pays nor disputes within 30 days, their ability to pull permits anywhere in Florida is suspended until the fine is resolved.⁹

At the state level, the Construction Industry Licensing Board can impose administrative fines up to $10,000 per violation, order restitution, require continuing education, or suspend or revoke a contractor’s license. A revoked license cannot be reapplied for within five years.¹⁰

Homeowners have a separate remedy. Under Florida Statutes Section 553.84, anyone damaged by a building code violation has a private cause of action against the responsible party, with the violation itself serving as evidence of negligence.

1
Florida Building Commission. Form R402-2023 Residential Building Thermal Envelope Approach R-Value Computation Method
2
Florida Building Commission. Energy Forms – Florida Building Code
3
City of Gainesville. Florida Building Code – Energy Conservation – Residential Building Thermal Envelope Approach R-Value Computation Method Form R402-2023
4
International Code Council. 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, Eighth Edition – Chapter 4 RE Residential Energy Efficiency
5
UpCodes. Chapter 3 CE General Requirements – 2023 FBC
6
International Code Council. Appendix RD Forms – 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, Eighth Edition
7
International Code Council. 2023 DOE HVAC Efficiency Requirements
8
Florida Building Commission. Residential Air Leakage (Blower Door) Testing for Florida Code Compliance
9
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Section 553.781
10
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Section 489.129