The 8th edition names a Florida REScheck printout as an accepted prescriptive-path document. The 9th edition takes that option out of the code. Here is the date that controls, what the replacement form looks like, and the new credits it carries.
Short answer: for permits filed through December 30, 2026, Florida accepts a Florida-edition REScheck printout or Form R402 for the prescriptive path. For permits filed on or after December 31, 2026, under the 9th edition (2026 FBC-EC), REScheck is no longer a listed compliance document. You file Form R402 (prescriptive, now carrying new Section R407 efficiency credits), Form R405 (performance, generated by Commission-approved software), or Form R406 (Energy Rating Index). Manual J/Manual S equipment sizing under Section R403.7.1 is mandatory on every path, in both editions, and that part does not change.
Florida's current energy code is the 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th edition. Its Section R101.5.1.1.1 gives you two ways to document the prescriptive/UA envelope path: an accurately completed Form R402, or alternatively a Florida REScheck computer printout, both demonstrating compliance with Sections R402, R403, and R404.1
The Florida Building Commission's own change documents for the 9th edition (2026 FBC-EC) are direct about what happens to that second option. The Commission's "Significant Provision Changes" overview lists Section R101.5.1.1.1 and states plainly: "Removes REScheck compliance option."2 The companion "Analysis of Changes" document, which runs the two editions side by side section by section, confirms the identical line for R101.5.1.1.1: "Removes REScheck compliance option."3 Once the 9th edition is in force, a REScheck printout - Florida edition or otherwise - is not one of the documents R101.5.1.1.1 names.
The 9th edition itself becomes effective December 31, 2026, per the Florida Building Commission's own code development schedule.4 What is not spelled out in the change documents is exactly how a given building department will treat an application that is partway through review when the clock turns over. Florida's past edition changeovers have run on the permit application date, not the date of issuance or the start of construction - an application submitted before the cutover gets reviewed under the old edition, one submitted on or after gets the new one. Expect the 9th edition to work the same way, but this is an intake-process question each building department answers for itself. Confirm with your building department how it treats applications already in process before you commit to a compliance path on a project that straddles the date.
What this means in practice for the two forms we are asked about most:
For the fuller picture of Florida's energy code, including climate zones, the air-leakage and duct-testing thresholds, and the mandatory equipment-sizing rule, see our Florida state guide, which covers the 8th edition in depth and tracks this changeover as it develops.
Form R402 is Florida's prescriptive compliance form, published in Appendix RD of the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation.1 Under the 8th edition it runs three pages plus a one-page mandatory-requirements checklist, and the layout is worth knowing even if you have been letting REScheck handle this part.
Page one carries project information: jurisdiction, permit number, owner, address, climate zone (1 or 2 for Florida), conditioned floor area, number of stories, and whether the project is new construction, an addition, or an alteration. Below that sits the Insulation and Fenestration Requirements by Component table. For each component - window U-factor (area-weighted average), skylight U-factor, SHGC (area-weighted average), ceiling R-value, wood-frame wall R-value, mass wall R-value, floor R-value, and basement, slab, or crawl-space wall R-value - you write in the installed value and it has to meet or beat the table's requirement for your climate zone.5 On the 8th edition's Table R402.1.2, Climate Zone 2 (most of the state) calls for fenestration U-0.40, SHGC 0.25, ceiling R-38, wood-frame wall R-13, and mass wall R-4/6 depending on interior or exterior placement; Climate Zone 1 (the warmer of Florida's two zones) calls for fenestration U-0.50, SHGC 0.25, ceiling R-30, and wood-frame wall R-13.5
There is no area takeoff and no UA calculation on this form, and no trade-off between components. That is exactly what a REScheck's UA alternative does instead - it lets a better ceiling or wall offset a window that falls short of the table. Form R402 does not do that; every line stands or falls on its own installed value against the table.
Page two covers the mechanical side: duct location and air handler location (an air handler installed in the attic is not permitted on the prescriptive path), duct R-value, the duct leakage test result, cooling equipment efficiency (SEER2), heating efficiency (HSPF2 or AFUE), and water heater type and efficiency (UEF).5
Page three is the mandatory-requirements checklist - air sealing, the programmable thermostat requirement, duct testing, water heater compliance, pools and spas, lighting efficacy, and a line confirming the equipment-sizing calculation was performed and is attached - followed by the signature block described below.5
This description of the form's layout comes from the parent's reading of the 8th-edition Form R402 as hosted by Martin County's building department, cross-checked against the code's own published Table R402.1.2 values. Appendix RD, where the form originates, is maintained by the Florida Building Commission.
The 9th edition does not just carry the prescriptive table forward unchanged. It adds a new Section R407, "Additional Efficiency Requirements," that applies on top of the standard envelope table for anyone using the prescriptive path under Section R401.2.2 The Commission's analysis documents describe it as requiring not less than 10 credits from not less than two measures specified in a new Table R407.2, with an additional five credits required for dwelling units over 5,000 square feet of living space.2
The credit categories named in the Commission's overview are: an enhanced building thermal envelope, improved fenestration, roof solar reflectance, more efficient HVAC equipment, reduced water-heating energy use, more efficient thermal distribution, renewable energy (including off-site procurement), demand-responsive thermostat control, and lighting control.23 Each category has its own section and, in several cases, its own table of qualifying values - for example a dedicated table of maximum fenestration U-factor and SHGC values for the improved-fenestration credit, separate from the baseline Table R402.1.2 requirement every project has to meet regardless.
Two other 9th-edition changes affect the same prescriptive path worth flagging here, since they show up on the same form: the maximum area-weighted average fenestration SHGC for the performance path (Form R405) tightens from 0.50 to 0.40, and the Tropical Zone compliance section that used to sit at Section R401.2.1 is removed outright.23 Neither changes what prescriptive-path homeowners file, but both are part of the same code-development cycle and worth knowing if you are reading the 9th edition's R401.2 and wondering what moved.
The Commission's own form-change notes confirm that Form R402's Insulation and Fenestration Requirements table is updated and expanded to reflect the 2026 Table R402.1.2 revisions, and the form itself is renumbered Form R402-2026.3 Beyond that, we are not aware of a published layout for the finished 9th-edition form, and we are not going to guess at one. What we can say with confidence: Form R402 remains the prescriptive-path document, and it will carry the R407 credit bookkeeping alongside the familiar component-by-component table.
Florida names three documented routes to prescriptive, performance, or rating-based compliance, and the choice does not change with the REScheck removal - only the paperwork for the first one does.
None of these three forms replaces Manual J. Equipment sizing under Section R403.7.1 is mandatory on every path - prescriptive, performance, or ERI - in both the 8th and 9th editions.6 The DBPR's 9th-edition overview describes tightened equipment-sizing verification requirements on top of the existing rule, without changing the underlying mandate to size from a Manual J load.
The code is direct on this point: no Florida license or registration is required to prepare the code-compliance form for a single-family dwelling, duplex, or townhouse.7 Form R402 reflects that directly in its signature block. It carries a "Prepared By" certification line, where the preparer certifies that the plans and specifications covered by the form are in compliance with the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, with a date; a separate Owner/Agent signature line, also dated; and a Code Official review line where the building department records its own review.5
The building official has final authority over whether the submitted form demonstrates compliance, the same as with any other compliance document. Nothing about who prepares Form R402 changes between the 8th and 9th editions.
We prepare three things against this changeover, and we are specific about what we do not touch:
We do not produce Form R405 or Form R406. Those require Commission-approved software or a HERS-based ERI calculation, and neither is something a REScheck-style report can substitute for.
If your permit is going in close to the December 31, 2026 cutover, tell us the planned filing date when you order and we will prepare the document that matches the edition your building department will actually be reviewing under.
Form R402 prepared from your plans, $149, order through the REScheck page. A room-by-room Manual J report is $249, sized up to 3,000 sq. ft.; Manual S is a $50 add-on, ask when you order. See full pricing, or look up your project's requirements on the Florida state guide.
The 9th edition (2026 FBC-EC) takes effect, and Section R101.5.1.1.1 removes the REScheck compliance option. The prescriptive path is documented on Form R402 itself, now with the new Section R407 efficiency credits.
Expect the application date to control, consistent with past Florida edition changeovers, but confirm with your building department how it treats applications already in process at the cutover.
Florida's prescriptive compliance form, in Appendix RD. You enter installed envelope and mechanical values against the Table R402.1.2 requirement for your climate zone; there is no UA trade-off on this form.
A 9th-edition requirement to earn at least 10 credits from at least two measures - envelope, HVAC, water heating, distribution, renewables, thermostat control, or lighting - with five more credits above 5,000 square feet.
No. The code states no license or registration is required for single-family, duplex, or townhouse compliance forms. The form has a Prepared By line and an Owner/Agent line; the building official has final say.
Yes, on every path, in both editions. Section R403.7.1's equipment-sizing requirement does not change with the REScheck removal.
The 9th edition's finished Form R402 layout is not yet published in the sources this page checked; DBPR's own change documents describe "form updates" and an expanded Table R402.1.2, without a line-by-line reproduction. This page does not guess at that layout. Final authority over any submitted form rests with your building official.
Travis Smith, ICC-Certified Residential Plans Examiner. The same certification your building department's plan reviewer holds - working for you.