Panama City, Bay County
Blower Door Testing in Panama City, Florida
Air leakage tests for new Panama City houses, one house at a time or a whole list.
Blower door tests for Panama City builders
Big Bend Services, Inc. runs the blower door test that the Florida energy code requires on newly built houses, and a Panama City builder can put one house or a whole list of them on a single booking. We test new homes in ZIP codes 32401, 32404, 32405 and 32409.
Call (850) 819-6031, Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or put the list on the form.
Several houses
Booking tests for more than one Panama City house
Its own test
Every house on the list is measured by itself and gets its own reading.
Dates follow each shell
A house gets its date from the day its own shell is complete, so one list can run across several dates.
What to send
The details each house needs
Address
The street address. On a new street where numbers are not assigned yet, give the lot and the street name.
Permit number
The building permit number for that house, which ties the test to the right job when several permits are open at once.
Ready date
The day you expect that house to be ready for the test.
Site contact
The superintendent, or whoever can open the house on the day and set it up for the test.
When each house is ready to test
The code allows the test at any time after every opening through the building shell has been made. On a new house, that means the last plumbing vent through the roof, the last wire into the attic, the dryer vent, the bath fan ducts and the air conditioning lines are all in, and every window and exterior door is set. Paint, flooring, trim, cabinets and countertops can still be unfinished, since none of them change the reading.
What the test measures on each house
A fan fitted in an exterior doorway holds the house at the test pressure while the leakage is measured. The result comes as air changes per hour: how many times the air inside the house would be swapped for outside air in one hour at that pressure. Because the figure is set against the volume of each house, a larger plan and a smaller plan on the same list are held to the same number.
Test day
How each house is set up on its date
The code fixes this setup for every test, so it is the same on each house on the list.
Outside openings shut
Exterior windows and doors closed, with nothing taped over them.
Fireplace and stove doors
Closed, on any house that has them.
Dampers shut
Every exhaust, intake and flue damper closed.
Inside doors open
Interior doors left standing open wherever they are hung.
Equipment off, registers open
Heating and cooling switched off, and supply and return registers fully open where they are installed.
Attics and garages across different plans
A builder working from several plans can have some houses with vented attics and others sealed at the roof deck. With a vented attic, the attic is not part of the test. With an attic sealed and insulated at the roof deck, the attic is opened to the house on test day and measured with it, so note which houses on the list are built that way.
An attached garage that is not heated or cooled is outside the test on every plan. The wall and the door between it and the living area are part of what is measured, whichever plan the house follows.
Before test day
Openings a superintendent can check on each house
The reading depends on how each opening in the shell was sealed, not on the floor plan, which is why houses built alike can land on different numbers.
Attic access
A hatch or pull-down stair in the ceiling below a vented attic needs weatherstripping and a latch that holds it shut.
Top plates
Openings drilled through the top of a wall for wires and pipes lead straight into the attic until they are sealed.
Ceiling fixtures
Recessed lights, bath fans and duct boots set into the ceiling each leave a gap around the housing.
Under tubs and sinks
Drain and supply lines through the floor or an outside wall leave gaps behind the tub and inside the sink cabinet.
Outside walls
The electric service, hose bibs and the gap around each window and door frame all pass air until they are closed.
Soffits and chases
A framed soffit over the kitchen cabinets, or a chase carrying ducts, can open into the attic above.
Over the limit
If one Panama City house reads over the limit
New houses in Bay County are held to 7 air changes per hour at 50 pascals by section R402.4.1.2 of the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th Edition (2023).
Corrected, then retested
A house over the limit has its leaks corrected and is tested again.
Same setup
The retest uses the same test-day conditions, so the two readings compare.
After every correction
Book the retest once all the corrections on that house are finished, so one retest covers them.
Crews on site during a test
Crews working inside should either stay put or step out before the fan starts, rather than coming and going while it runs, since an opened door changes the reading. Work that needs a door propped open, such as carrying in flooring or cabinets, can pick up again as soon as the test on that house is over.
Additions on existing Panama City houses
The code makes an exception for additions and alterations that make up less than 85 percent of the building shell, so they are not required to be tested. A project at or above that share is tested the same way as a new house.
Booking from Panama City
Our office is at 511 S Highway 71 in Wewahitchka, and Panama City tests are booked through it by phone or the form on this page. If a house on your list will not be ready on the date you gave, call the office and a new date is set for that house. Booking each house well ahead of the date you need its result leaves room for corrections and a retest.
Same county
Blower door testing in other Bay County towns
What to expect
How a Panama City test is booked and run
- 1
Send the build details
Address, permit number and when the house will be ready.
- 2
Test booked
We give you a date for the test.
- 3
Test run
The house is tested once it is ready.
- 4
After a failed test
Corrections are made and the house is tested again.
Can a house be tested before the driveway and landscaping are done?
Do spec houses and model homes need the test too?
Can we add houses to the list later?
Do the appliances need to be in?
Is a two-story house held to the same limit?
Is a detached garage tested with the house?
Get a quote
Request a Blower Door Test in Panama City
Tell us how many Panama City houses are on the list and when the first one will be ready.
