COMcheck Florida Multifamily: Commercial Energy Code Certificates and When to Study First

On a Florida mixed-use, mid-rise, or high-rise multifamily building, the HERS or ERI rating is often only part of the permit set. Retail, amenity, lobby, corridor, garage, and other commercial portions still have to show commercial energy-code compliance, and in Florida that paperwork frequently means a COMcheck (or another Commission-approved commercial tool) against the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation. Teams get caught when they assume the dwelling-unit rating covers the whole building, or when they order a COMcheck before anyone has locked the edition and the occupancy split.

This page is the Florida COMcheck door for multifamily developers on the commercial / non-HERS paperwork path. For hire intent, see HERS rater Florida. For the Florida rating and ERI code-path deep dive, see Florida Building Energy Rating multifamily. For path economics before you buy documentation hours, see energy code feasibility study Florida. For rating fee framing, see HERS rating cost Florida. Parallel commercial-paperwork doors outside Florida: COMcheck Massachusetts mixed-use multifamily and ASHRAE COMcheck Texas multifamily.

What Code Edition Florida Uses Right Now

Per the Florida Building Commission and the official approved-software list on the Florida DBPR Building Codes and Standards - Energy page (primary sources; confirm with your AHJ before you file):

• The Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th Edition (2023) is the in-force statewide energy code for jobs filing under that edition. It became effective December 31, 2023.
• The commercial path is based on ASHRAE 90.1-2019 / 2021 IECC-based provisions with Florida amendments.
• COMcheck-Web (listed as COMCHECK.WEB-ASHRAE 90.1-2019) is Commission-approved commercial compliance software for the 8th Edition. On August 15, 2023 the Commission approved it 14-0 for Section 5.6 Envelope Trade-Off (ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Normative Appendix C) and for Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 using the prescriptive method.
• Other Commission-approved commercial tools for the 8th Edition include EnergyGauge Summit and IESVE. Full Energy Cost Budget, Appendix G, and some Florida Total Building Performance options are documented in those tools, not as a substitute for inventing a COMcheck scope COMcheck was never approved for.

Edition tables and approved-software lists change. Use floridabuilding.org Commission materials and the myfloridalicense energy page as the source of truth for your filing date, not a blog summary. Confirm any local amendments with the AHJ.

What a COMcheck Means on a Florida Multifamily Job

What is a COMcheck? It is the commercial energy-code compliance report, and the U.S. Department of Energy software that produces it, used to show that envelope (within the approved trade-off scope), interior lighting, exterior lighting, and mechanical systems meet the selected commercial standard. On a Florida mixed-use or mid-/high-rise product the AHJ treats as commercial (or as mixed residential plus commercial), that report is often the Florida building energy code compliance paperwork the department wants with the permit set for those portions.

A COMcheck is not a HERS certificate, not an FBEEA training credential, and not a generic file you download and stamp. The software is free from DOE. A filing-ready report is project-specific. The edition and ASHRAE year in the software have to match the edition the AHJ adopted. Pick the wrong year and a passing report is still the wrong filing.

Where can I get a COMcheck? Download COMcheck-Web from DOE if you want the tool. For a permit set, you want a report built from your drawings by someone who will stand behind the Florida edition, the occupancy split, and the inputs. ECC prepares COMcheck and related commercial documentation as permit paperwork once that scope is locked. If the path is already chosen, see ECC services.

Who Needs Commercial Paperwork vs a HERS / ERI Path

Florida multifamily is not one compliance story:

• Low-rise / dwelling-unit ERI or HERS scopes often document performance with Florida-approved residential software and a rating certificate. That hire and rating-code story lives on HERS rater Florida and Florida Building Energy Rating multifamily. ECC's published Florida multifamily rating fee band on ordinary scopes is about $150 to $400 per unit (HERS rating cost Florida); that is the rating line item, not the construction delta from picking the wrong commercial path.
• Commercial / mid-rise / mixed-use scopes commonly need COMcheck-Web (ASHRAE 90.1-2019 trade-off or Sections 6-10 prescriptive) or another Commission-approved commercial tool for the nonresidential and common portions. Lighting power, envelope trade-offs, and mechanical certificates do not reduce to a dwelling-unit HERS Index.
• Voluntary programs such as ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction can ride the same models when you enroll, but they do not replace the Florida commercial filing for the portions that owe it.

So a building can be fully on a HERS or ERI path for its apartments and still owe COMcheck (or EnergyGauge Summit / IESVE) certificates for everything that is not an apartment. Guessing that split after glass and HVAC are bought is an expensive rewrite.

Lighting, Mechanical, and Envelope Certificates

People search "comcheck florida," "what is a comcheck," and "where can i get a comcheck" as if one PDF covered everything. On commercial scopes the project file usually produces several certificates:

• Lighting COMcheck. Interior lighting power space by space, lighting controls, and exterior lighting against the edition allowance.
• Mechanical COMcheck. Equipment efficiencies, controls, ventilation, energy recovery where required, duct and pipe insulation, and economizer rules for systems serving nonresidential and common spaces.
• Envelope. Under the Commission approval for COMcheck-Web on the 8th Edition, envelope compliance through the software is the Section 5.6 trade-off path using ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Appendix C (plus the Sections 6-10 prescriptive path for the other disciplines). Full performance modeling (Energy Cost Budget, Appendix G, or Florida Total Building Performance) belongs in the approved whole-building tools, not as a stretch of COMcheck beyond what the Commission approved.

The Massachusetts mixed-use pattern is useful as method contrast, not as Florida fees. On ECC's 112-unit Revere, MA study (CS57), a seven-story mixed-use building kept dwelling units on a Stretch HERS path and still called for a COMcheck report for all common and support areas, ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation calculations, and lighting power density calculations (common-area interior LPD about 0.41 / 0.90 / 0.49 / 0.18 / 0.42 W/sf by space type). The recommended ductless path landed at about $42.52/sf net. On 30-unit Boston (CS82), HERS/ERI for the units sat next to COMcheck for common areas and retail (retail sales LPD 1.05 W/sf; economizer basis recorded on the mechanical certificate), at about $58.11/sf net. Those are Massachusetts outcomes. We cite them as proof that mixed-use paperwork splits before modeling hours, not as a Florida invoice.

Florida vs Massachusetts vs Texas COMcheck Doors

Three ECC commercial-paperwork doors teams should not mash together:

• Florida (this page). Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th Edition (2023); Commission-approved COMcheck-Web for ASHRAE 90.1-2019 envelope trade-off and Sections 6-10 prescriptive; dwelling-unit ERI/HERS still a separate Florida rating story.
• Massachusetts. 225 CMR 23 Stretch / Specialized split with a 20,000 sf COMcheck submittal rule and HERS or Passive House for dwelling units. See COMcheck Massachusetts mixed-use multifamily.
• Texas. Statewide commercial floor and city adoptions where mid-rise is often ASHRAE/COMcheck-first rather than HERS-first. See ASHRAE COMcheck Texas multifamily.

The principle is the same: lock the jurisdiction, edition, and occupancy split first. The forms and approved software are not.

Common Mistakes on Florida Multifamily Commercial Filings

• Assuming the HERS or ERI path covers the whole building. It covers the dwelling units. Retail, amenity, and other commercial portions still show their own compliance.
• Running COMcheck beyond the Commission-approved scope. Envelope trade-off and Sections 6-10 prescriptive are what COMcheck-Web was approved for on the 8th Edition. Do not treat it as a stand-in for full Energy Cost Budget or Appendix G when the AHJ expects those.
• Ordering COMcheck before the edition and split are locked. Wrong ASHRAE year, wrong occupancy split, and frozen glass or HVAC that a cheaper compliant package did not need are the usual rewrites.
• Confusing this door with the Florida hire, rating-code, study, or cost pages. Those pages stay the hire, FBEEA/ERI framing, study, and fee doors. This page is commercial COMcheck paperwork only.
• Letting the certificate drift from the drawings. Plan review and inspections check what was installed against the certificates.

When to Study First

Settle the Florida commercial path before anyone buys COMcheck or whole-building modeling hours:

1. Confirm the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation edition at the permit address (8th Edition / 2023 unless the AHJ says otherwise) and any local amendments
2. Split the building by use type: dwelling units, common areas, retail or office, garage
3. Pick the dwelling-unit pathway (ERI/HERS or other approved residential path) and the commercial pathway for each nonresidential portion (COMcheck-Web trade-off / prescriptive vs EnergyGauge Summit / IESVE performance)
4. Select the matching approved software pack (COMCHECK.WEB-ASHRAE 90.1-2019 for the COMcheck route on the 8th Edition)
5. Model envelope and HVAC packages side by side, including ENERGY STAR MFNC where you plan to enroll
6. Then produce the COMcheck certificates, rating models, and checklists against that locked plan

That comparison is what a free feasibility study produces. For the Florida study method, see energy code feasibility study Florida. If the path is already chosen and you need COMchecks, HERS/ERI modeling, inspections, or testing, see ECC services.

Bottom Line

COMcheck for Florida multifamily is the commercial energy-code paperwork door for mixed-use, mid-rise, and other non-HERS portions under the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th Edition (2023) (effective December 31, 2023). The Florida Building Commission approved COMcheck-Web for ASHRAE 90.1-2019 envelope trade-off (Section 5.6 / Appendix C) and Sections 6-10 prescriptive compliance. It is not the hire page, not the FBEEA rating-code page, not the study door, and not the fee page. Lock the edition and the occupancy split first, then buy the certificates that match the plan.