Often the calls we receive about a Florida job start the same way. An architect has a building going up on the coast, the wall system is not settled, and someone needs to know whether our panel will meet the strict codes of high-wind areas. It is a fair question, and the answer is short.
Florida approved wall panels have to meet that standard, and ours do. Our Force Five panel meets the specification, and we have the approvals to show it.
The short version
- Our Force Five panels meet the strict codes of high-wind areas, and the approvals are posted on our specs page.
- Force Five carries a Florida product approval and a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance.
- We provide panels with a texture our customers love, a clean appealing wall face, and most importantly, we answer the phone when you call.
What Florida approved wall panels have to meet
Florida runs a statewide product approval system, and Miami-Dade County runs its own Notice of Acceptance program for the High Velocity Hurricane Zone. Force Five carries both. The current documents are posted on our Specifications and Warranties page.
If you want us to walk through the approval against your wall section before it goes to review, give us a call. We’d be glad to help.
Current approval documents
Meeting the code and getting noticed
Meeting the code requirements is the starting point for Florida approved wall panels, and ours do. What makes architects and owners choose Strukturoc is the texture. We manufacture a textured steel wall panel that our customers love, and its stucco-style face gives a building a finished look from the street. That is what most of the people who contact us want to talk about.
We meet the code, and we have a wall panel texture that gets noticed.
There is a practical side too. Many cities limit how much of a building can be plain metal. Our textured panel gives the wall a masonry-style surface, so it can meet that kind of requirement without switching to another material. For some projects, that is what gets the design approved.
The Signature Series is the stucco texture, in 20 standard colors with custom color matching available. The Classic Series is an embossed Kynar finish in 4 standard colors. The Design Series has 4 unique woodgrain patterns, which work well in many applications, especially schools and civic buildings.
One trade instead of two saves time and money
If the alternative to Florida approved wall panels on your project is stucco, the difference shows up in the schedule and the budget. Stucco is applied in several coats on site by a separate subcontractor, and each coat has to cure before the next. Our textured steel wall panel arrives finished and goes up as part of the wall, so there is no stucco sub to hire or coordinate and no cure time to wait on.
With Florida approved wall panels that arrive finished, one crew installs the wall and the finish together. That saves labor and shortens the schedule, and on a coastal job where weather already costs days, it keeps you from waiting on another trade.
Tongue-and-groove design to resist weathering
Our Florida approved wall panels are tongue and groove with hidden fasteners. No screw goes through the face of the panel.
That keeps the face clean and protects the finish. With no screw holes, there are no exposed fasteners where rain can get in, and no screw heads to rust and streak the wall.
Common applications for Florida approved wall panels
Schools are a common application for our steel wall panels. Many school exteriors use aluminum panel, and a textured steel panel gives the design team a similar look for less money, often as an accent rather than the whole building.
Government and civic work is the other steady market, for the same reason. Aluminum costs more than steel, public budgets are tight, and a textured panel in a couple of colors does what the design needs without stretching the budget.
Commercial work covers storage, retail, light industrial and fire stations. The common thread for Florida approved wall panels is a building that has to look finished from the street and stay that way.
Two projects with Florida approved wall panels we still get asked about
Haulover Marine Center in North Miami had to meet the Miami-Dade NOA, and the owner wanted three custom colors. We built the panels in those colors and delivered them on time. Days before Hurricane Matthew, the project manager called to ask whether the panels would hold up, with millions of dollars of boats stored inside. We told him that as long as it was installed to the guidelines, he would be fine. The building held up. You can read the full Haulover project story here.
The other is the James F. Hooks Public Safety Center, a fire station on Florida’s Gulf Coast clad in our STK2000 textured panels. Different end of the state, same requirement. Now they have a fire station that looks great, can hold up to the elements, and is functional for serving their community.
What to expect when you call us
Often people send us elevations or a set of drawings, and we jump on the phone and talk through it together. We will let you know the specific panel needs for this project, which colors are stocked and which would be custom, and make sure you have the approval documents if the job requires them. If we spot anything in your detail that needs a second look, we flag it early so there are no surprises.
Panels are cut for the specific building, so the drawing needs to be settled before we run them. We give you an honest lead time up front, and over ninety percent of our jobs ship on time. When something in the supply chain slips, which can happen to any manufacturer, you hear it from us early, and we work through the next step with you.
What it’s like to work with us
We’re a small company, but everybody here knows the product well because we produce a small set of products that we are proud of. You call, somebody picks up, and it is somebody who has answered your question before.
We are down-to-earth people who sell a good product and want to treat people well. We are small enough that your job matters to us, and customer service is a large part of what we sell. Taking great care of our customers is just as important as the panels we sell.
Taking great care of our customers is just as important as the panels we sell.
We will tell you honestly whether the panel is the right fit for your building. Many of our customers have been with us for years, and that comes from jobs going right.
Quick answers on Florida approved wall panels
Does Miami-Dade need something different?
Miami-Dade County has its own Notice of Acceptance program for its High Velocity Hurricane Zone. Our Florida approved wall panels carry a Miami-Dade NOA as well as a statewide Florida approval, and we post both.
Can I see the approval before I specify Florida approved wall panels?
Yes. Both documents are on our Specifications and Warranties page, and we are happy to send them directly or walk through them with you.
Can I get custom colors on Florida approved wall panels?
Yes. Our Florida approved wall panels come in the Signature Series in 20 standard colors with custom color matching, and Haulover ran three custom colors.
Working on a Florida job? Let us look at it.
Send us the elevations, or just call with a question about Florida approved wall panels and what your job needs. We will tell you honestly whether our panel fits the building.
Contact us or request a quote. You can also look at the Force Five panel line or the Signature Series first.
