You usually cannot tell if a window or door is impact-resistant by looking at it or tapping the glass. Appearance, weight, sound and brand names do not tell you what the product was tested and approved to do. The reliable path is to identify the manufacturer, model or approval number, look that record up in the state or county database, then compare it with the permit and inspection records for your own opening. Here is the order to work in.
Start with the product label or etching, but know what it does not prove
Photograph every permanent marking you can find. Do not remove or scrape anything. Look for:
- An etching in a glass corner with a manufacturer name or logo
- A model or series name on the frame, sash or jamb
- An FL number from the Florida Product Approval system
- An NOA number from Miami-Dade Product Control
- Any sticker left on the frame from the installer or inspector
A label is the best lead you have. It is also not proof on its own. A safety glazing mark such as SGCC or ANSI says the glass met a safety glazing standard, not that the whole assembly carries a hurricane impact approval. Labels also get painted over or moved, and glass can be swapped later. Treat the marking as the name of a record you still have to look up.
Find the permit and product approval documents
The paperwork ties a tested product to your actual opening. Look for:
- The building permit for the window or door work
- The product approval package submitted with that permit
- The final inspection record
- The contract, invoice or closeout package from the builder or installer
If you do not have copies, your building department keeps permit history by address. In Miami-Dade County, start at the county’s permits and inspections portal. Cities inside the county run their own building departments, so check yours too.
How to search a Florida Product Approval or Miami-Dade NOA
Once you have a number, look up the record itself.
- For an FL number, use the Florida Building Commission Product Approval search.
- For an NOA number, use the Miami-Dade Product Control search. The county describes this system as its “Product Control Search.”
Match all of the record, not just the brand:
- Product type, such as a single hung window, a sliding glass door or a swing door
- Model or series, exactly as written
- Whether the record covers an impact rating or a non impact product
- Approval status and dates, since approvals get revised, renewed or withdrawn
- Sizes and configurations covered, compared with your measured opening
- Limits of use, including installation and anchoring conditions
A record covering a different size, configuration or installation condition than what is in your wall does not confirm your opening.
Why glass type alone does not make a window impact-resistant
Glass terms get mixed up constantly, so here is the plain version.
- Tempered glass is heat treated and breaks into small blunt pieces. It is a safety glazing product, and it is not the same as an impact rating.
- Laminated glass has an interlayer bonding two panes, so it tends to hold together when it cracks.
- An impact-resistant system is a tested assembly of glass, frame, hardware and anchoring that passed a specific test protocol and holds an approval.
Laminated glass is common in impact-resistant products, but it does not by itself make an opening impact-resistant. The approval belongs to the tested system and its installation conditions, not to a material.
What tap tests and feel cannot tell you
Common advice says to tap the glass and listen for a dull tone, check whether the sash rattles or judge the weight of the frame. Those are observations, not verification. They cannot tell you the model, the approval number, the approval status or whether the unit was installed within its limits of use. If a sound or a rattle is your only evidence, you do not yet have an answer.
What to do when labels or records are missing
Older homes and staged renovations leave gaps. If you have hit a wall, work down this list:
- Ask the builder, installer or previous owner for the closeout paperwork
- Ask the building department that issued permits for your address for the permit and inspection history
- Ask the manufacturer whether a series name matches an approval record
- Bring an unclear case to the local building authority or a qualified licensed professional
Do not fill the gap with a guess. If the records cannot be reconciled, the opening is unverified, and it should be treated that way in your storm planning.
A home can have a mix of impact-resistant and non impact openings
Windows and doors get replaced in stages. It is normal to find a verified impact-resistant slider on one wall and an original non impact window two rooms away. Verify opening by opening and keep the paperwork together by address.
If some openings are protected and others are not, read up before you spend: what protects a sliding glass door during a storm and our South Florida permit and HVHZ code guide.
Our scope: replacement installation, not impact glass repair
DreamGuard handles impact window installation and impact door installation, plus accordion and roll down hurricane shutters. Both product paths are on our impact windows and doors page.
We do not repair or service existing impact windows and doors, we do not certify products for a building department and we do not supply wind mitigation inspection paperwork.
If the documents show an opening is not impact-resistant, or the records simply cannot be reconciled, DreamGuard can measure the opening and quote a replacement impact window or door installation. Call (786) 320-6405 to set up a measurement visit.
