Hurricane hardening in Palm Beach County: impact windows, shutters, My Safe Florida Home

Start with the inspection, not the windows

Before you buy anything, find out where your house stands. A wind mitigation inspection records the hurricane features your home already has, and it's what your insurer uses to give you credits. Many homeowners already have one from when they bought the house. It's good for up to 5 years as long as nothing on the house changes. Citizens: the 2026 form.

The state says the two most cost-effective steps are securing the roof and protecting windows from flying debris. OIR discount notice. Credits apply only to the hurricane part of your premium, and they don't simply add up: when one is applied, the others shrink.

My Safe Florida Home, in plain words

It's a state program run by the Department of Financial Services, and as of November 5, 2026 its help center says it's accepting applications. Is funding available?.

Step 1, the free inspection. For single-family homes you live in and have a homestead exemption on. Since June 2026 that includes attached homes and townhouses up to three stories.
Who goes first. Low income means household income at or below 80% of the county median. Moderate means below 120%. When money opens, low-income homeowners 60 and older go first, then other low-income homeowners, then moderate-income homeowners 60 and older, then everyone else, each group 15 days apart. Program flyer.
Step 2, the grant. Your home must be built before January 1, 2008, insured for $700,000 or less, inspected by the program within the last 24 months, and your household must be low or moderate income.
How the money works. The state pays $2 for every $1 you pay, up to $10,000. Low-income homeowners can get up to $10,000 with no match. It's a reimbursement: you pay the contractor first, pass the final inspection, then get paid back. Program FAQ.
What it pays for. Impact windows, doors, garage doors and skylights, plus roof-to-wall straps, roof-deck re-nailing, a sealed roof deck, and since 2026, replacing the roof covering. The program may require every opening to be protected before it pays.
The rules that trip people up. The work needs local permits and a licensed contractor named on your application. You have 18 months from approval to finish and request the final inspection, or the money goes back to the state. Grants are first come, first served.

Source: Chapter 2026-174, Laws of Florida, signed June 26, 2026.

Impact windows or shutters

For insurance, your opening protection is rated by the weakest opening on the house: every window, door, sliding door, skylight and the garage door. One unprotected slider can cost you the credit for the rest. Wind mitigation form.

	Impact windows and doors	Shutters
Before a storm	Nothing to do	Someone has to close them. Homeowners in West Palm Beach reported paying $95 to $300 a storm to have it done.
Insurance credit	Top rating when every opening is tested and documented	Same top rating if they're tested and documented. Shutters with no paperwork rate as ordinary.
2026 sales tax refund	Yes, up to $500	No
Permit	Required for both, even for one window in Jupiter

The new impact window tax refund

Impact windows, doors and garage doors bought from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029 and installed on a homesteaded, site-built home with a just value of $700,000 or less qualify for a sales tax refund of up to $500. You apply after the job with Forms DR-26S and DR-26HH plus receipts. If your contractor supplies and installs the windows for one lump-sum price, you won't see sales tax on your bill, so ask for the receipt showing the tax the contractor paid. That receipt is what you claim with. Shutters don't qualify. Florida Department of Revenue.

Your HOA can't just say no

Every HOA in Florida has to adopt hurricane protection specifications and can't deny an application that meets them. It can set the color and style. Section 720.3035(6).

Check the product

Windows, doors and shutters sold as hurricane protection need a Florida product approval or a Miami-Dade NOA. Ask for the number and search it on the state product approval site. Near the beach in Jupiter, glass within 600 feet of the sand has to be tinted for sea turtles.

What windows and shutters cost here

From 2,029 permits

$15,100

was the typical value contractors declared on a windows, doors or shutters permit in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens over the last 12 months. Half of all jobs fell between $7,900 and $27,384.

Town	Permits	Typical value
Jupiter	885	$14,000
Palm Beach Gardens	1,144	$16,553

Busiest month: May (237 permits). Quietest: October (131). Permits from November 2025 to October 2026, pulled from each town's public permit records on November 5, 2026. Declared values often run below the full contract price, so use these as a rough guide for comparing quotes, not as a quote. How we counted.

A permit can be one front door or every opening on the house, so the range is wide. Get every quote itemized by opening so you can compare them line by line.

Flood is a separate policy

Your homeowners policy almost certainly doesn't cover flood, and wind coverage doesn't either. Palm Beach County.

New flood maps took effect December 20, 2024. Thousands more eastern county homes were added to high-risk zones. Look up your address with the county flood zone tool.
Citizens policyholders: Citizens has been phasing in a flood requirement. Homes in high-risk flood zones and higher-value homes already need it. From January 1, 2027 it covers every remaining Citizens home policy with wind coverage. Condo unit-owner and renter policies are exempt. Citizens flood requirement.
New federal flood policies usually take 30 days to start. Don't wait for a storm in the forecast. FloodSmart.
Unincorporated county residents get 25% off federal flood insurance through the county's Community Rating System. The discount differs by city.

Before a storm

Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and it peaks around September 10. National Hurricane Center.
Know your evacuation zone with the county's Know Your Zone lookup. It's different from your flood zone. Check both.
Sign up for AlertPBC and get the county's planning guide from the Office of Emergency Management.
Since August 2025, batteries, portable generators up to 10,000 watts, tarps and tie-down kits are tax-free all year in Florida. Shutters and plywood are not. Department of Revenue.

Permits by city

Where you live	Who can pull the permit	What is different here
Jupiter Look up permits	Licensed contractor, or you as owner-builder	A permit for even one window or door. Changing an opening's size needs an alteration permit. Turtle glass within 600 feet of the beach. Shutters need their own permit. Source
Palm Beach Gardens Look up permits	Licensed contractor, or you as owner-builder	One permit type covers windows, doors and shutters. The city has its own retrofit schedule form. Source
West Palm Beach Look up permits	Licensed contractor, or you as owner-builder	In historic districts staff prefers repairing wood windows, and vinyl is generally not allowed. Source
Boca Raton Look up permits	City-registered licensed contractor, or you as owner-builder	Over-the-counter permits for straight replacements. 170 mph wind design citywide. Source
Unincorporated county Look up permits	Licensed contractor, or you as owner-builder	Window and door swaps are simple Type 1 permits. Shutters are Type 2A, with a layout showing escape openings. Source
Tequesta Look up permits	Licensed contractor, or you as owner-builder	Written HOA approval before the permit. Wind design sealed by an engineer or architect. Source

The “Look up permits” links open each building department's own search, where you can see past permits on your house. North Palm Beach, Juno Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach have their own building departments too. Rules checked November 5, 2026.

Questions to ask every window or shutter company

What is your state license number, and who pulls the permit?
What are the product approval numbers for every window and door you're quoting?
Does the quote cover every opening, including the garage door and sliders?
Will you give me the paperwork my wind mitigation inspector needs to rate the openings?
If I'm using My Safe Florida Home, have you done grant jobs before, and will you wait for the program's approval before starting?
How long is the lead time on the glass, and who handles the HOA application?

Red flags

Starting work before your My Safe Florida Home grant is approved. Ask the program first, or you may not get paid back.
No product approval number on the quote.
A quote that leaves out one opening. Your insurance credit follows the weakest one.
Shutters with no documentation. They rate as ordinary on the inspection form.

Who pulled the most window and shutter permits

Permit activity, not a recommendation. We haven't finished our checks on this trade, so nobody here is ranked or endorsed yet.

These companies pulled the most window, door and shutter permits in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens in the last 12 months. Garage-door-only jobs aren't counted.

Company	Jupiter	Gardens	Permits	Typical value	State license	Google
Window and Door Design Center of Florida	91	46	137	$16,515	Certified Specialty Contractor SCC131152223, current, active	4.1 (35 reviews)
Wright's Impact Window & Door	30	99	129	$20,500	Certified General Contractor CGC1537981, current, active	4.4 (1,515 reviews)
Newman Windows & Doors	37	67	104	$24,687	Certified General Contractor CGC1524666, current, active	4.5 (119 reviews)
Jupiter Aluminum Products	58	28	86	$8,000	Certified Specialty Contractor SCC131153803, current, active	4.9 (107 reviews)
The Home Depot (Home Services)	43	33	76	$14,571	Several state licenses. We could not tell which one covers these permits.	4.5 (18 reviews)
J & G Carpentry	48	25	73	$3,484	Certified General Contractor CGC022831, current, active	3.5 (66 reviews)
Statewide Windows & Doors	35	38	73	$22,000	Certified Specialty Contractor SCC131152028, current, active	4.9 (660 reviews)
Custom Door Shop	44	26	70	$12,260	Certified Specialty Contractor SCC131152939, current, active	4.7 (130 reviews)
Pahl Construction (Pahl Windows and Doors)	23	37	60	$18,405	Certified Building Contractor CBC1261041, current, active	4.2 (10 reviews)
Power Home Remodeling	46	0	46	$22,317	Certified Specialty Contractor SCC131152663, current, active	4.7 (1,067 reviews)
Florida Window & Door	8	32	40	$22,657	Certified General Contractor CGC1509450, current, active	4.5 (4,209 reviews)
First Impression Doors & More	17	22	39	$10,361	Certified General Contractor CGC1540754, current, active	4.3 (43 reviews)

Busy is not the same as good. This list is who pulled the most permits in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens from November 2025 to October 2026, with the license we looked up on the state's DBPR license search and the Google rating on November 5, 2026. We have not yet run our full checks (complaints, review activity and the call test) on this trade, so nobody here is ranked or recommended yet. How we check.

Your questions, answered

How does My Safe Florida Home work, and do I qualify?

It starts with a free wind mitigation inspection for homesteaded single-family homes, including attached homes up to three stories. For a grant, the home must be built before 2008, insured for $700,000 or less, and your household must be low or moderate income. The state pays $2 for every $1 you pay, up to $10,000, after the work passes a final inspection.

How much do impact windows cost in Palm Beach County?

Across 2,029 window, door and shutter permits in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens over the last year, the typical declared value was $15,100, and half fell between $7,900 and $27,384. A permit can be one door or a whole house, so ask for quotes itemized by opening.

What is a wind mitigation inspection, and how long is it good for?

It's a state form a qualified inspector fills out to record your home's hurricane features: roof covering, roof deck nailing, roof-to-wall connections, roof shape, a sealed roof deck and opening protection. Insurers use it for discounts. It's good for up to 5 years if nothing on the house changes. A new version of the form has been required since April 1, 2026.

Impact windows or shutters: which is better?

Both can earn the top insurance rating if every opening is protected with tested, documented products. Impact windows need nothing done before a storm and qualify for the 2026 sales tax refund. Shutters cost less but someone has to close them, and they don't qualify for the refund.

Do I need a permit for impact windows or shutters?

Yes. Every building department in Palm Beach County requires one, and in Jupiter that includes replacing a single window or door.

Can I replace just some of my windows?

You can, but insurance rates your opening protection by the weakest opening on the house, so one unprotected window or slider can cost you the credit. My Safe Florida Home may also require every opening to be protected before it pays.

Can my HOA stop me from putting in shutters or impact windows?

Florida law requires every HOA to adopt hurricane protection specifications and bars it from denying an application that meets them. The HOA can still set the color and style.

Do I need flood insurance in Palm Beach County?

Homeowners and wind policies don't cover flood. If you're in a high-risk zone with a federally backed mortgage, it's required. Citizens is phasing in a flood requirement, and from January 1, 2027 it covers every remaining Citizens home policy with wind coverage (condo unit-owner and renter policies are exempt). New federal flood policies usually take 30 days to start.

Sources

Rules and prices checked November 5, 2026. Rules change, so confirm with your city and your insurer before you sign anything.

Hurricane-proofing your home in Palm Beach County