Home permits and project costs in Palm Beach County, FL

Whoever governs your address. If you are inside city limits, the city building department usually issues the permit. If you are in an unincorporated area — about half of Florida households — the county building department is the permit authority.

Usually yes, under the owner-builder exemption in Fla. Stat. § 489.103(7), if you own and occupy the home, sign the disclosure statement, and do the work yourself or with employees you directly hire. You also cannot sell the home within one year of completion without explaining the work.

Unpermitted work commonly draws double or triple permit fees, a stop-work order, and an open code case. It also surfaces at resale and can cause an insurance claim on that system to be denied.

Florida is on the 8th Edition (2023) Florida Building Code, effective December 31, 2023. The Florida Building Commission updates the code on a three-year cycle, and the 2026 update is currently in process, so local amendments and product approval lists should be rechecked before a job starts.

Yes. Florida allows local amendments under defined conditions, and the Florida Building Commission maintains a searchable local amendment database. Cities also set their own fee schedules, zoning setbacks, fence heights and review timelines.