We find lower bounds on the minimum distance and characterize codewords of small weight in low-density parity check (LDPC) codes defined by (dual) classical generalized quadrangles. We analyze the geometry of the non-singular parabolic quadric in PG(4, q) to find information about the LDPC codes defined by Q(4, q), W(q) and H(3, q 2 ). For W(q), and H(3, q 2 ), we are able to describe small weight codewords geometrically. For Q(4, q), q odd, and for H(4, q 2 ) D , we improve the best known lower bounds on the minimum distance, again only using geometric arguments. Similar results are also presented for the LDPC codes LU(3, q) given in [10]