Miami-Dade NOA glazing — the Florida HVHZ approval system

What an NOA is

An NOA — Notice of Acceptance — is a product approval document issued by the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER), Product Control Section. It certifies that a manufacturer's glazing system (or other building product) has been submitted for review, tested to the Florida Building Code requirements for the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, and approved for installation in HVHZ jurisdictions — Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

The NOA is not a generic rating or industry certification. It is a formal county-issued document specific to a named manufacturer, a specific product family, and a defined range of configurations. It is the mechanism through which Miami-Dade County's Product Control Section tracks which products are approved for use in South Florida's most demanding hurricane environment.

NOAs are public records. Every active NOA is published in the Miami-Dade County Product Control database and is available for download without charge or registration. Any building official, plan reviewer, design professional, or contractor can verify whether a specific product is currently approved and what conditions apply.

The NOA number format

Every Miami-Dade NOA is assigned a unique identifying number following a consistent format:

Full example: NOA 21-1108.05 is the 5th NOA issued by Miami-Dade Product Control on November 8, 2021.

When citing an NOA on a permit application or submittal package, the full number must be referenced, not just the year or manufacturer name. The NOA number is the primary lookup key in the Product Control database and the reference the building official uses to verify the current status of the approval.

Superseded NOAs (earlier revisions replaced by a newer NOA for the same product) remain in the Product Control database but show as expired or superseded. Always confirm the NOA cited in a submittal is the current active version, not an older issuance that has been replaced.

What an NOA contains

A glazing NOA is a multi-page technical document. Its contents are standardized by Miami-Dade Product Control but vary in detail depending on the product family and the testing scope covered. A typical glazing NOA includes:

The design pressure table and the frame size limits are the two sections most frequently referenced during permit review and field verification. Every opening on the project must be checked against the NOA table to confirm the system's rated DP at the specified size meets or exceeds the project's design wind load at that opening.

NOA expiration: the 5-year cycle

Miami-Dade NOAs are typically issued with a 5-year validity period from the date of issuance. An NOA issued on November 8, 2021 (NOA 21-1108.xx) would typically expire in November 2026. The exact expiration date is stated on the NOA cover page.

Renewal options

A manufacturer seeking to renew an expiring NOA has two paths:

• Re-testing — submitting new TAS 201, 202, and 203 test results for the product to Miami-Dade Product Control for a new NOA issuance. This is required if the product has been modified or if test standards have been updated.
• Extension request — submitting a formal extension request to Miami-Dade Product Control, which may be granted if the product has not changed, the testing protocols have not been revised in a way that affects the existing test data, and the manufacturer can demonstrate the product remains in the same configuration as tested.

Impact on projects

The 5-year renewal cycle creates a practical complication for long-duration projects. A system specified in schematic design based on a current NOA may have an expired NOA by the time permits are submitted or construction begins. Florida Building Code generally allows an NOA that expires after the permit is issued to remain valid for the duration of that permit. However, if the NOA expires before the permit is issued, the permit application will be held until a current NOA is referenced.

On projects where the schedule extends beyond the NOA's expiration date, the glazing contractor should confirm with the manufacturer whether the NOA will be renewed, and on what timeline. Proactive confirmation during preconstruction avoids a last-minute permit hold.

Where to look up an NOA

Active and historical Miami-Dade NOAs are publicly searchable at the Miami-Dade County Product Control web portal (miamidade.gov/building/pc-search_app.asp). The portal is the authoritative, real-time source for NOA status. Key search options include:

• By NOA number — fastest method when the number is known; returns the current status and document directly
• By manufacturer name — returns all NOAs issued to a given manufacturer across all product categories
• By product category — useful for discovering all approved products within a category (e.g., "Storefront Systems," "Impact Windows")
• By expiration status — filter for active-only NOAs to exclude expired approvals from results

The portal returns the full NOA document as a downloadable PDF for each result. The document's cover page shows the issue date, expiration date, and NOA number in the standard format.

Manufacturers also publish their current NOAs through distributor networks and on product specification sheets. These are useful for initial system selection, but portal verification at submittal time remains the required confirmation step.

NOA review process at Miami-Dade

The NOA review and issuance process is administered by the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER), Product Control Section. The general process a manufacturer follows to obtain a new NOA for a glazing system:

1. Pre-notification — the manufacturer or testing laboratory notifies Miami-Dade Product Control at least 7 days before TAS testing begins. Miami-Dade may send a representative to witness the testing. Testing conducted without prior notification may not be accepted.
2. Laboratory testing — TAS 201, 202, and 203 are performed by an accredited testing laboratory. The laboratory produces test reports signed and sealed by a licensed engineer. Common accredited laboratories include Intertek, PRI (Product Research International), and similar facilities.
3. Application submission — the manufacturer submits the application to Miami-Dade Product Control with the test reports, engineering drawings, and the required fee.
4. Technical review — Miami-Dade Product Control engineers review the test reports, drawings, and application for completeness and code compliance. Comments may be issued requiring additional information or drawing revisions.
5. NOA issuance — once the review is complete, Miami-Dade issues the NOA with the assigned number, issue date, and expiration date. The NOA is published in the portal.

The review and issuance timeline varies by application complexity and Miami-Dade workload, but commonly runs several months from submission to issuance. Manufacturers planning product introductions for HVHZ markets typically begin the NOA process well in advance of their target market availability date.

NOA on the permit

In Miami-Dade and Broward permit applications for commercial glazing work, the NOA is not just supporting documentation — it is a required field in the permit package. The permit application or glazing submittal must explicitly reference:

• The NOA number for each glazing system being installed
• The NOA expiration date
• Confirmation that each opening's specified frame size falls within the NOA-tested size envelope
• Confirmation that the required design pressure at each opening is met by the NOA's DP table for the specified size

The plan reviewer at the building department checks these references during the plan review process. Common plan review holds related to NOAs:

• NOA number not cited in the submittal documents
• NOA is expired at the time of submission
• A specified opening size exceeds the NOA-tested envelope
• The required DP at a specified size is not achieved by the NOA's design pressure table
• The submitted shop drawings show a glass make-up different from the NOA specification

Each of these holds requires a revised submittal before the permit can be issued. On a commercial project with multiple glazing systems and many openings, a thorough pre-submittal NOA compliance review prevents these delays.

NOA submittal package contents

A complete HVHZ glazing submittal package centered on the NOA includes the following components:

1. The full NOA PDF — the complete, current NOA document for every glazing system being installed, downloaded directly from the Miami-Dade Product Control portal. Not a manufacturer's condensed summary — the full document.
2. Shop drawings matching the tested envelope — signed and sealed drawings showing every opening by unit, with width and height dimensions explicitly within the NOA-tested envelope, anchorage layout matching the NOA anchorage detail, and frame identification matching the NOA product description.
3. Glass make-up specification — an explicit glass specification for every opening type, using the exact glass make-up from the NOA: interlayer type, interlayer thickness, lite thicknesses, and any specified coatings.
4. Design pressure analysis — a calculation or schedule demonstrating that the required design wind pressure at each opening (from the structural engineer's wind load analysis per ASCE 7) is met or exceeded by the NOA's DP table at the specified opening size.
5. Anchorage details — installation details showing fastener type, spacing, edge distance, and embedment depth per the NOA, dimensioned to the project's structural substrates.
6. Sealant schedule — identification of perimeter and glazing sealants used, confirming compatibility with NOA conditions where sealant type is specified.

Common NOA pitfalls

The most frequent NOA-related issues encountered during plan review and field inspection on HVHZ glazing projects:

Expired NOA at permit submission

The NOA was current when the system was specified but expired before the permit application was submitted. The building department will hold the permit until a current NOA is referenced. Solution: verify NOA currency in the Miami-Dade portal at the time of submittal, not just at the time of specification.

Frame size outside the tested envelope

A project opening requires a frame dimension (width or height) larger than the maximum tested size documented in the NOA. The system is not covered for that opening at the specified size. Solution: either select a system with an NOA covering the required size, or work with the manufacturer to determine if a larger-size NOA exists for the same product family. In some cases, project-specific engineering and a special approval pathway may be available, but this is atypical for commercial glazing and should not be relied upon as a routine path.

Glass make-up substitution

A glass specification that differs from the NOA's stated make-up — a different interlayer thickness, a different interlayer manufacturer, a different lite thickness, or an added coating not present in the tested assembly — voids NOA coverage for that opening. This is one of the most common field-level violations. Solution: confirm the specified glass make-up against the NOA before ordering. If the project's vision performance requirements (daylight, solar control, color) cannot be met with the NOA glass make-up, consult the manufacturer about alternate NOA variants for the product.

Wrong substrate at anchorage locations

An NOA may list concrete and CMU as acceptable substrates but not steel framing, or vice versa. If the actual substrate at the rough opening is not covered by the NOA's anchorage detail, the installation is out of compliance. Solution: confirm substrate type during preconstruction review, before system and NOA selection.

Anchorage spacing miss

Fasteners installed at intervals exceeding the NOA's maximum spacing void the NOA. This is typically a field installation issue, not a design issue. Solution: include NOA anchorage spacing in the QA inspection checklist and verify in the field before glazing installation is complete.

Superseded NOA

The NOA number on the submittal is a prior version that has been superseded by a newer issuance. The older NOA may or may not still be active (some superseded NOAs remain active until they expire; others are voided). Solution: verify in the Miami-Dade portal that the cited NOA is the current, non-superseded version.

NOA vs. FPA — the two Florida hurricane glazing approval paths

Florida has two parallel hurricane glazing product approval systems, and distinguishing them correctly is essential for specification and permitting:

The key practical rule: an NOA is accepted everywhere in Florida; an FPA-only approval is not accepted in HVHZ. For projects in HVHZ, always specify and submit systems with current Miami-Dade NOAs. For projects spanning both HVHZ and non-HVHZ jurisdictions in a single contract, specifying TAS/NOA-based systems uniformly simplifies the submittal package.

Note that the Florida Building Code includes a pathway for Florida Product Approval for HVHZ products — this is a state-level FPA that uses TAS protocols as the basis for testing, essentially mirroring the NOA pathway through the state system. Products approved through this pathway carry an FL number but with HVHZ-designated testing. In practice, most HVHZ glazing approvals appear as Miami-Dade NOAs rather than through the FPA-HVHZ track.

ACG's NOA workflow on every Florida project

American Commercial Glass follows a documented NOA workflow on every Florida commercial glazing project in HVHZ:

1. Preconstruction system selection — ACG selects from its seven approved manufacturer partners (ESWindows, Euro-Wall, PGT, Allegion, TGP, Slimpact, Aldora) based on the project's required design pressure at each opening size, frame depth, aesthetic requirements, and lead time. Only systems with current Miami-Dade NOAs covering the required size and DP range are proposed.
2. NOA pull and verification — ACG pulls the current NOA from the Miami-Dade Product Control portal at the time of submittal, not from manufacturer literature. The NOA number, issue date, and expiration date are recorded.
3. Opening-by-opening compliance check — before submittal, ACG reviews every opening on the shop drawings against the NOA: frame size within tested envelope, required DP met by the NOA table, glass make-up confirmed.
4. Submittal assembly — the NOA PDF, shop drawings, glass make-up specification, DP analysis, and anchorage details are assembled into the submittal package and submitted to the building department.
5. Permit issuance monitoring — ACG tracks NOA expiration dates through the permit review period. If a NOA approaches expiration before permit issuance, ACG coordinates with the manufacturer on renewal status and notifies the project team.
6. Field installation compliance — ACG's field QA includes verification that anchorage matches the NOA (fastener type, spacing, edge distance), substrate conditions match the NOA, and the delivered glass make-up matches the NOA specification before installation proceeds.
7. Closeout documentation — the approved NOA is included in the project closeout package alongside warranties, COIs, and water test reports.

ACG's seven approved manufacturers and their Miami-Dade NOAs

American Commercial Glass maintains active working relationships and current NOA documentation with the following seven manufacturer partners for Florida HVHZ projects:

ACG verifies the currency of each manufacturer's relevant NOA at the time of submittal on every project, rather than relying on documentation prepared at the time of system specification. NOA status can change — renewals, extensions, and supersessions occur — and the submittal must reflect the current, active NOA number.