This is a complete list of Florida building departments, listed by county, with the contact information you need to apply for a building permit. Every row was checked against the county’s own website in September 2026.
Your local building department, and specifically your county building official, is one of the most useful resources a contractor or developer has. Our geotechnical engineering firm has built strong relationships with the building officials across Southwest Florida, and they have helped us streamline our reporting and permit approvals considerably.
In many situations the local building official has full authority to interpret and apply the Florida Building Code. If you are planning a new development anywhere in the state, knowing the local building officials matters as much as knowing the code itself.
One caution before the list. Building officials turn over more often than most people expect. When we re-checked this directory in September 2026, 21 of the 67 counties had a different building official than they did the last time we published it, and several counties had moved their websites to new domains entirely. We have dated every row below so you can see what was confirmed and when. If you are about to make a call that matters, the department’s main line is the safer number.
Now, let’s dive in.
Who regulates builders in Florida?
1. The Florida Building Code — and the edition change coming December 31, 2026
Every permit in Florida is reviewed against the Florida Building Code. The 8th Edition (2023) is the code in force today, and it governs everything about your building plans, including geotechnical soil tests, foundation testing, septic plans, and water table measurements.
The purpose of this code is to establish the minimum requirements to provide a reasonable level of safety, public health and general welfare through structural strength, means of egress facilities, stability, sanitation, adequate light and ventilation, energy conservation, and safety to life and property from fire and other hazards attributed to the built environment and to provide a reasonable level of safety to fire fighters and emergency responders during emergency operations.
Florida Building Code
Here is the part worth putting in your calendar. The Florida Building Code runs on a three-year cycle, and the 9th Edition (2026) takes effect December 31, 2026. It is already published. That gives you roughly three months, at the time of writing, under the current edition.
- Permits applied for and issued before December 31, 2026 are generally reviewed under the 8th Edition. The edition in effect on your submittal date is the one that governs your project.
- Anything submitted on or after December 31, 2026 is reviewed under the 9th Edition. If you have a project sitting at 90% design, the submittal date is now a scheduling decision, not a formality.
- Permit expiration math changes too. Under HB 803 (below), single-family permits issued on or after July 1, 2026 generally expire one year from issuance or on the effective date of the next code edition, whichever is later.
Confirm which edition your permit will be reviewed under before you finalize a submittal schedule. The Florida Building Commission publishes the current edition, and the code text is available through ICC.
If you build on the coast, read the “Test Protocols for High Velocity Hurricane Zone” section as well. Miami-Dade and Broward are the HVHZ counties, and Broward maintains its own code amendments through its Board of Rules and Appeals.
2. What HB 803 changed on July 1, 2026
This is the biggest change to Florida permitting in years, and it is worth understanding before you plan a schedule around a building permit.
HB 803 took effect July 1, 2026. It puts hard statutory clocks on how long a local government can take to review a permit application, and it changes what a permit costs.
The review clocks. Once a local government receives a complete and sufficient application, it must approve, approve with conditions, or deny within:
| Project type | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Existing single-family residential work under $15,000 | 5 business days |
| Single-family dwellings under disaster recovery programs | 10 business days |
| Site-specific permits issued under a master building permit | 12 business days |
| Residential units under 7,500 square feet | 30 business days |
| Larger residential and commercial projects, and subdivisions | 60 business days |
Miss the window and the permit can be deemed approved by law. That is a real consequence for the department, and it is the reason these deadlines are now being taken seriously.
The permit exemption. Residential projects valued under $7,500 no longer require a building permit. Electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, gas, and flood-zone work still do, and you cannot split a larger project into pieces to get under the threshold.
Private providers. Local governments can no longer re-review plans a private provider has already approved, cannot discourage their use, and must register them electronically. Where a private provider performs plan review or inspections, commercial permit fees must be cut by at least 25%. Where a private provider does both, the cut is at least 50%.
For a commercial project on a tight schedule, the private provider route is now a genuine lever — on both timeline and cost — in a way it was not two years ago. We break the whole bill down in what HB 803 changed on July 1, 2026.
3. Florida building departments (county office)
Every Florida county can add stricter building requirements based on local geography, economy, and hurricane risk.
Meet semi-regularly with your county building official to catch upcoming changes or specific questions they may have. They have usually worked their way up through the construction ranks, but they may not be as familiar with newer testing techniques or technology. A little shop talk goes a long way toward a relationship that benefits you both.
4. Incorporated cities and municipalities
Planning to build inside a city? You will apply to that city’s building department, not the county’s.
The rule is simple: if the property is inside the limits of an incorporated city, town, or village, that municipality is your building department. If it is not, the county is. What trips people up is that Florida has enormous, heavily built places that are not incorporated at all and permit through their county.
For Southwest Florida, we maintain a separate municipality-level list covering all eight counties we work in: Southwest Florida Building Departments: Who You’ll Actually Be Permitting Through.
Either way, be prepared to show your work. The City of North Port, for example, requires sub-grade compaction testing for every construction project inside the city limits. That is not the kind of test you want to skip and redo on the second attempt.
Florida Building Officials by County (Verified September 22, 2026)
Last verified: September 22, 2026. Rows marked † could not be confirmed on the county’s own website — the county either blocks automated access or does not publish a named official. For those, use the department contact.
| County & Website | Building Official | Phone | Verified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alachua | See department | — | (352) 374-5243 | 2026-09-22 |
| Baker | Bryan Higginbotham | bryan.higginbotham@bakercountyfl.org | (904) 259-3354 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Bay | Robert Boulette | — | (850) 248-8140 | 2026-09-22 |
| Bradford | Rod Crawford | rod_crawford@bradfordcountyfl.gov | (904) 966-6223 | 2026-09-22 |
| Brevard | Mike McCaughin | — | (321) 633-2072 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Broward | See department | — | (954) 765-4400 | 2026-09-22 |
| Calhoun | See department | rfarris@calhouncountyfl.gov | (850) 674-8046 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Charlotte | Tom Robinson | Tom.Robinson@charlottecountyfl.gov | 941.743.1314 | 2026-09-22 |
| Citrus | Samuel Acosta | samuel.acosta@citrusbocc.com | (352) 527-5310 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Clay | Steve Schoeff | permits@claycountygov.com | (904) 269-6307 | 2026-09-22 |
| Collier | Fred Clum | Fred.Clum@collier.gov | (239) 252-4232 | 2026-09-22 |
| Columbia | See department | bldginfo@columbiacountyfla.com | (386) 758-1008 | 2026-09-22 |
| DeSoto | Lester Hornbake | l.hornbake@desotobocc.com | (863) 993-4811 | 2026-09-22 |
| Dixie | Leon Wright | building.official@dixie.fl.gov | (352) 498-1236 | 2026-09-22 |
| Duval (Jacksonville) | See department | BIDDocuments@coj.net | (904) 255-8500 | 2026-09-22 |
| Escambia | Tim Tolbert | permits@myescambia.com | (850) 595-3550 | 2026-09-22 |
| Flagler | Bo Snowden | bsnowden@flaglercounty.com | (386) 313-4027 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Franklin | See department | permits@franklincountyflorida.com | (850) 653-9783 | 2026-09-22 |
| Gadsden | Roosevelt Morris | buildinginspection@gadsdencountyfl.gov | (850) 875-8665 | 2026-09-22 |
| Gilchrist | Gene Stockman | permitting@gilchrist.fl.us | (352) 463-4620 | 2026-09-22 |
| Glades | See department | kfischer@myglades.com | (863) 946-6018 | 2026-09-22 |
| Gulf | Doug Crane | — | (850) 229-8944 | 2026-09-22 |
| Hamilton | Tony Hester | buildingdepartment@hamiltoncountyfl.org | (386) 792-1060 | 2026-09-22 |
| Hardee | Tom Fisher | tom.fisher@hardeecountyfl.gov | (863) 773-3236 | 2026-09-22 |
| Hendry | Eric Longshore | BuildingOfficial@hendryfla.net | (863) 675-5245 | 2026-09-22 |
| Hernando | See department | bldg@hernandocounty.us | (352) 754-4050 | 2026-09-22 |
| Highlands | Charles Dorman | — | (863) 402-6643 | 2026-09-22 |
| Hillsborough | See department | permitting@hcfl.gov | (813) 272-5600 | 2026-09-22 |
| Holmes | Keith Bennett | hcbd@holmescountyfl.org | (850) 547-1119 | 2026-09-22 |
| Indian River | Scott McAdam | smcadam@indianriver.gov | (772) 226-1268 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Jackson | Allen Biggs | biggsa@jacksoncountyfl.gov | (850) 482-9802 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Jefferson | John Ward | — | (850) 342-0223 | 2026-09-22 |
| Lafayette | Garret Land | lafcobldg@gmail.com | (386) 294-3611 | 2026-09-22 |
| Lake | See department | permitting@lakecountyfl.gov | (352) 343-9653 | 2026-09-22 |
| Lee | Thomas Delnay | TDelnay@leegov.com | (239) 533-8322 | 2026-09-22 |
| Leon | Justin Poole | PooleJ@leoncountyfl.gov | (850) 606-1333 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Levy | Bernard "Bo" Cox | — | (352) 486-5198 | 2026-09-22 |
| Liberty | Gary Millender | — | (850) 643-5463 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Madison | Dennis Pitts | bldgofficial@madisoncountyfl.com | (850) 973-6785 | 2026-09-22 |
| Manatee | See department | — | (941) 749-3012 | 2026-09-22 |
| Marion | Michael L. Savage, Sr. | buildingsafety@marionfl.org | (352) 438-2400 | 2026-09-22 |
| Martin | Jeffrey Dougherty | — | (772) 288-5491 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Miami-Dade | Sergio T. Ascunce | — | (786) 315-2338 | 2026-09-22 |
| Monroe | Rick Griffin | Griffin-rick@monroecounty-fl.gov | (305) 289-2521 | 2026-09-22 |
| Nassau | Keith Ellis | kellis@nassaucountyfl.com | (904) 530-6250 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Okaloosa | Purl Adams | padams@myokaloosa.com | (850) 651-7180 | 2026-09-22 |
| Okeechobee | Kevin Throop | kthroop@safebuilt.com | (863) 763-5548 | 2026-09-22 |
| Orange | See department | PermittingServices@ocfl.net | (407) 836-5550 | 2026-09-22 |
| Osceola | See department | Buildingmailbox@osceola.org | (407) 742-0200 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Palm Beach | See department | — | (561) 233-5100 | 2026-09-22 |
| Pasco | JP Murphy | bcscustomerservice@mypasco.net | (727) 847-8126 | 2026-09-22 |
| Pinellas | See department | Building@Pinellas.gov | (727) 464-3888 | 2026-09-22 |
| Polk | Benjamin Dunn | benjamindunn@polk-county.net | (863) 534-6080 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Putnam | John Cioffi | — | (386) 329-1768 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Santa Rosa | Lee Tambre | tambrel@santarosa.fl.gov | (850) 981-7042 | 2026-09-22 |
| Sarasota | See department | building@scgov.net | (941) 861-5000 | 2026-09-22 |
| Seminole | Bob Pike | BPCustomerservice@seminolecountyfl.gov | (407) 665-7050 | 2026-09-22 † |
| St. Johns | Howard White | bldcodes@sjcfl.us | (904) 827-6800 | 2026-09-22 |
| St. Lucie | Michael Jerrahian | — | (772) 462-2186 | 2026-09-22 |
| Sumter | Jeanette Keller | building@sumtercountyfl.gov | (352) 689-4400 | 2026-09-22 |
| Suwannee | Mack Hinkle | permits@suwcountyfl.gov | (386) 364-3407 | 2026-09-22 † |
| Taylor | Terry McKeever | building.director@taylorcountygov.com | (850) 838-3500 | 2026-09-22 |
| Union | Wilson Whidden | buildingdept@unioncounty-fl.gov | (386) 496-2676 | 2026-09-22 |
| Volusia | Nicholas Ventura | nventura@volusia.gov | (386) 736-5925 | 2026-09-22 |
| Wakulla | Clyde Collins | ccollins@mywakulla.com | (850) 926-0919 ext. 710 | 2026-09-22 |
| Walton | Billy Bearden | beabilly@co.walton.fl.us | (850) 892-8160 ext. 1421 | 2026-09-22 |
| Washington | Charles Vannatter | dwhipple@washingtonfl.com | (850) 638-6195 | 2026-09-22 |
FAQs About Florida Building Permits
How do you apply for a building permit in Florida?
- Get the application. Most are on the county’s website and can be completed online.
- Complete the application. The details matter.
- Submit it with your plans and required reports. Include the full building plans and any foundation or soil testing the county requires.
- Get approved. Wait for the green light from the building official before starting construction.
How long does a building permit take in Florida?
Since July 1, 2026 this is set by statute rather than by local practice. Once a county or city has a complete and sufficient application, it has 5 business days for existing single-family work under $15,000, 10 for single-family under disaster recovery programs, 12 for a site-specific permit under a master permit, 30 for residential under 7,500 square feet, and 60 for larger residential, commercial, and subdivision projects. If the department misses the window, the permit can be deemed approved by law.
Two things to watch. The clock does not start until your application is complete and sufficient, so an incomplete submittal does not buy you the deadline. And using a private provider for plan review or inspections is a separate route that can move faster still.
How much does a building permit cost in Florida?
It depends on the county and on the size and type of the build, and commercial permits run well above residential. Three things changed in 2026 that affect the number:
- Residential projects valued under $7,500 no longer require a building permit at all, though electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, gas, and flood-zone work still do.
- Commercial permit fees must be reduced by at least 25% when a private provider performs plan review or inspections, and at least 50% when a private provider does both.
- Several counties, Okeechobee among them, adopted new fee schedules effective July 1, 2026.
Check the current fee schedule on your county’s page in the table above — the 2024 numbers that still circulate online are out of date.
When should you contact your local building official?
Earlier than you think, and especially if you are building in an area for the first time or putting up a type of structure the department does not see often. The statutory clocks above run from a complete application, so the fastest way to a permit is a submittal that does not come back for corrections. A short introductory call is the cheapest insurance there is.
Who is the building official for my county?
Use the table above. One caveat worth repeating: 21 of Florida’s 67 county building officials changed between our 2024 list and this September 2026 update. If the name matters — a code interpretation, an appeal, a variance — call the department’s main line and confirm before you write the letter.
Septic Engineering & Geotechnical Testing for Your Florida Project
With more than two decades of experience working alongside county building officials, inspectors, and office managers, we understand the value of a strong relationship with your local building department.
Confusing site plans or a half-finished geotechnical report mean postponed projects, frustrated clients, and lost revenue. If you are planning a residential development or commercial building in Southwest Florida, we would like to hear about your goals and see whether there is a fit.
Creek Engineering is a civil, geotechnical, environmental, and septic engineering firm based in Port Charlotte, serving Southwest Florida developers, contractors, and commercial builders since 2002. If you’re planning a project anywhere in our eight counties, we’d like to hear about it.
