Short answer. A new house is not the same thing as a finished roof-water route. Some eaves are guttered, some are bare, and a downspout can still stop at the slab. Ask, through your agent and the builder’s process, whether that route will be completed or credited before you accept the home. This page does not state certificate-of-occupancy rules.
New does not mean every eave has a finished water route.
Builders do not all include the same gutter package. A house can close with landscaping in place and a rear roof, a lanai edge, or a valley still bare. It can also have a trough that does not match the roof plane above it, or a downspout that ends at the slab. Orlando and Sarasota new-construction pages both start from what is actually on the house, not from the word “new.” Do not assume the eaves were guttered. Walk them.
- Bare edges the allowance skipped, especially rear roofs and small porch planes.
- A valley dumping onto one short section.
- Downspouts that stop at the wall, a fresh bed, or a walk.
- A profile that looks small for the roof feeding it. Size is still a measured question, not a guess from the curb.
Put the note on the punch list or the inspection while you can still ask.
The useful moment is before you accept the home as complete. Write the missing edges, the undersized-looking run, or the poor discharge in the punch list or the inspection response your agent uses. Ask whether the builder will complete that route or offer a credit. Get the answer in writing. A builder does not have to agree because a website said so. Your realtor knows the builder’s process. This page is not legal advice, and it does not explain certificate-of-occupancy rules for any city. Those questions go to the building official for the address. The permit guide is the way to frame that ask without treating Orlando and Sarasota as the same counter.
Completion and a credit are different handoffs.
Completion means the builder’s crew, or a contractor they accept, finishes the route before you close, and you can look at it. A credit means you handle the work after closing, with money or a concession that may or may not match the real scope. The seller-paid guide walks through that same split for resales. On a new home, also ask who picks the installer, whether you may bring your own scope, and who holds the warranty after closing. If PrimeFlow does the work, warranty terms follow our written agreement. A builder warranty is a different document.
Ask for outlets and downspouts, not only a trough.
Building America pairs the gutter with the downspout. SMACNA’s sizing method counts roof area, rainfall, gutter length, and the number of downspouts together. This page does not run that calculator for your roof. Three-by-four and four-by-five downspouts are both options PrimeFlow reviews. The larger pipe is used when the roof and the route support it. It is not automatic because the house is new, and it is not skipped because the house is new. Six-inch is a common residential starting point. Seven-inch is a demand decision for a large plane or a valley, not a rule for every new Florida roof.
Florida storms are the reason to plan the exit
National Weather Service Melbourne describes heavy summer storms on the east-central coast. The Tampa Bay office covers the Sarasota coast. Those pages are forecasts and climate pattern, not a design rainfall and not a product order. A hurricane-season checklist is for the hardware you can see from the ground. It is not surge protection, and a new gutter is not a shutter.
Discharge has to work with the finished lot.
New beds, cage posts, walks, and a tight side yard change where a downspout can land. Plans can start the conversation. The finished roof edge and the finished grade are what get measured. Do not aim a pipe onto a neighbor’s lot or into a public inlet because the side yard is narrow. If the inspection mentions soil at the slab, remember a gutter reduces roof-water splash. It does not replace a grading or structural review by a licensed contractor or engineer.
Confirm it on the walkthrough, then book only what you still need.
Before closing, look from the ground. Edges in the punch list should be guttered if the builder agreed to that. Downspouts should be fastened and released where the scope said. If the builder’s answer was a credit, or the route is still open, request a free estimate. Call Orlando at (407) 902-7639 or Sarasota at (941) 404-3901, or use the form for that market. The estimate is free. Installation is scheduled after the written scope and the required deposit, unless a written waiver says otherwise.