553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.--
(1) After the effective date of the State Minimum Building Codes adopted as herein provided, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to construct, erect, alter, repair, or demolish any building within this state without first obtaining a permit therefor from the appropriate enforcing agency or from such persons as may, by appropriate resolution or regulation of the enforcing agency, be delegated authority to issue such permits, upon the payment of such reasonable fees adopted by the enforcing agency. The enforcing agency is empowered to revoke any such permit upon a determination by the agency that the construction, erection, alteration, repair, or demolition of the building for which the permit was issued is in violation of, or not in conformity with, the provisions of the State Minimum Building Codes. Installation, replacement, removal, or metering of any load management control device is exempt from and shall not be subject to the permit process and fees otherwise required by this section.
(2) After January 1, 1988, no enforcing agency may issue any permit for construction, erection, alteration, repair, or demolition until the local building code administrator or inspector, in conjunction with the appropriate firesafety inspector, has reviewed the plans and specifications for such proposal and both officials have found the plans to be in compliance with the applicable State Minimum Building Codes and the applicable firesafety standards as determined by the local authority in accordance with this chapter and chapter 633. Any building or structure which is not subject to a firesafety code and any building or structure which is exempt from the local building permit process shall not be required to have its plans reviewed by the local officials. Industrial construction on sites where design, construction, and firesafety are supervised by appropriate design and inspection professionals and which contain adequate in-house fire departments and rescue squads is exempt, subject to local government option, from review of plans and inspections, providing owners certify that applicable codes and standards have been met and supply appropriate approved drawings to local building and firesafety inspectors. The enforcing agency shall issue a permit to construct, erect, alter, repair, or demolish any building when the plans and specifications for such proposal comply with the provisions of the State Minimum Building Codes and the applicable firesafety standards as determined by the local authority in accordance with this chapter and chapter 633.
(3) The State Minimum Building Codes, after the effective date of their adoption pursuant to the provisions of this part, shall supersede all other building construction codes or ordinances in the state, whether at the local or state level and whether adopted by administrative regulation or by legislative enactment, unless such building construction codes or ordinances are more stringent than the State Minimum Building Codes and the conditions of s. 553.73(4) are met. However, this subsection does not apply to mobile homes as defined by chapter 320. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed as nullifying or divesting appropriate state or local agencies of authority to make inspections or to enforce the codes within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
(4) The State Minimum Building Codes, after the effective date of their adoption pursuant to the provisions of this part, may be modified by local governments to require more stringent standards than those specified in the State Minimum Building Codes, provided the conditions of s. 553.73(4) are met.
(5)
(a) The enforcing agency shall require a special inspector to perform structural inspections on a threshold building pursuant to a structural inspection plan prepared by the engineer or architect of record. The structural inspection plan must be submitted to the enforcing agency prior to the issuance of a building permit for the construction of a threshold building. The purpose of the structural inspection plan is to provide specific inspection procedures and schedules so that the building can be adequately inspected for compliance with the permitted documents. The special inspector shall inspect the shoring and reshoring for conformance with the shoring and reshoring plans submitted to the enforcing agency.
(b) The fee owner of a threshold building shall select and pay all costs of employing a special inspector, but the special inspector shall be responsible to the enforcement agency. The inspector shall be a person certified, licensed, or registered under chapter 471 as an engineer or under chapter 481 as an architect.
(c) The board shall, by rule, establish a qualification program for special inspectors and shall compile a list of persons qualified to be special inspectors. Special inspectors shall not be required to meet standards for qualification other than those established by the board, nor shall the fee owner of a threshold building be prohibited from selecting any person qualified by the board to be a special inspector. The architect or engineer of record may act as the special inspector provided she or he is on the list of persons qualified to be special inspectors. School boards may utilize employees as special inspectors provided such employees are on the list of persons qualified to be special inspectors.
(d) The licensed architect or registered engineer serving as the special inspector shall be permitted to send her or his duly authorized representative to the job site to perform the necessary inspections provided all required written reports are prepared by and bear the seal of the special inspector and are submitted to the enforcement agency.
(6) No permit may be issued for any building construction, erection, alteration, repair, or addition unless the applicant for such permit provides to the enforcing agency which issues the permit any of the following documents which apply to the construction for which the permit is to be issued:
(a) Electrical documents for any new building or addition which requires an aggregate service capacity of 600 amperes (240 volts) or more on a residential electrical system or 800 amperes (240 volts) or more on a commercial or industrial electrical system and which costs more than $50,000.
(b) Plumbing documents for any new building or addition which requires a plumbing system with more than 250 fixture units or which costs more than $50,000.
(c) Fire sprinkler documents for any new building or addition which includes a fire sprinkler system which contains 50 or more sprinkler heads. A Contractor I, Contractor II, or Contractor IV, certified under s. 633.521, may design a fire sprinkler system of 49 or fewer heads and may design the alteration of an existing fire sprinkler system if the alteration consists of the relocation, addition, or deletion of not more than 49 heads, notwithstanding the size of the existing fire sprinkler system.
(d) Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning documents for any new building or addition which requires more than a 15-ton-per-system capacity which is designed to accommodate 100 or more persons or for which the system costs more than $50,000. This paragraph does not include any document for the replacement or repair of an existing system in which the work does not require altering a structural part of the building or for work on a residential one-family, two-family, three-family, or four-family structure.
(e) Any specialized mechanical, electrical, or plumbing document for any new
building or addition which includes a medical gas, oxygen, steam, vacuum, toxic air
filtration, halon, or fire detection and alarm system which costs more than $5,000.
No such document shall be valid unless a professional engineer who possesses a valid
certificate of registration has signed, dated, and stamped such document as provided in s.
471.025.
(7) Each enforcement agency shall require that, on every threshold building:
(a) The special inspector, upon completion of the building and prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, file a signed and sealed statement with the enforcement agency in substantially the following form: To the best of my knowledge and belief, the above-described construction of all structural load-bearing components complies with the permitted documents, and the shoring and reshoring conforms with the shoring and reshoring plans submitted to the enforcement agency.
(b) Any proposal to install an alternate structural product or system to which building codes apply be submitted to the enforcement agency for review for compliance with the codes and made part of the enforcement agency's recorded set of permit documents.
(c) All shoring and reshoring procedures, plans, and details be submitted to the enforcement agency for recordkeeping. Each shoring and reshoring installation shall be supervised, inspected, and certified to be in compliance with the shoring documents by the contractor.
(d) All plans for the building which are required to be signed and sealed by the architect or engineer of record contain a statement that, to the best of the architect's or engineer's knowledge, the plans and specifications comply with the applicable minimum building codes and the applicable firesafety standards as determined by the local authority in accordance with this chapter and chapter 633.
(8) No enforcing agency may issue a building permit for construction of any threshold building except to a licensed general contractor, as defined in s. 489.105(3)(a), or to a licensed building contractor, as defined in s. 489.105(3)(b), within the scope of her or his license. The named contractor to whom the building permit is issued shall have the responsibility for supervision, direction, management, and control of the construction activities on the project for which the building permit was issued.
(9) Any state agency with building construction responsibility may enter into an agreement with any other unit of government to delegate its responsibility to enforce the delegate's building code governing the construction, erection, alteration, repair, or demolition of any state building and is authorized to expend public funds for permit and inspection fees, which fees may be no greater than the fees charged others.
(10) An enforcing authority may not issue a building permit for any building construction, erection, alteration, repair, or addition unless the permit either includes on its face or there is attached to the permit the following statement: "NOTICE: In addition to the requirements of this permit, there may be additional restrictions applicable to this property that may be found in the public records of this county, and there may be additional permits required from other governmental entities such as water management districts, state agencies, or federal agencies."
(11) The enforcing agency shall require each building permit for the demolition or renovation of an existing structure to contain an asbestos notification statement which indicates the owner's or operator's responsibility to comply with the provisions of s. 469.003 and to notify the Department of Environmental Protection of her or his intentions to remove asbestos, when applicable, in accordance with state and federal law.
(12) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or supplement the provisions of part IV of this chapter relating to factory-built housing.
(13) One-family and two-family detached residential dwelling units are not subject to plan review by the local fire official as described in this section or inspection by the local fire official as described in s. 633.081, unless expressly made subject to said plan review or inspection by local ordinance.
(14) A building permit for a single-family residential dwelling must be issued within 30 working days of application therefor unless unusual circumstances require a longer time for processing the application or unless the permit application fails to satisfy the enforcing agency's laws, ordinances, or codes.
(15) Certifications by contractors authorized under the provisions of s. 489.115(4)(b) shall be considered equivalent to sealed plans and specifications by a person licensed under chapter 471 or chapter 481 by local enforcement agencies for plans review for permitting purposes relating to compliance with the wind resistance provisions of the code or alternate methodologies approved by the board for one and two family dwellings. Local enforcement agencies may rely upon such certification by contractors that the plans and specifications submitted conform to the requirements of the code for wind resistance. Upon good cause shown, local government code enforcement agencies may accept or reject plans sealed by persons licensed under chapter 471, chapter 481, or chapter 489.
(16)
(a) Residential buildings or structures moved into or within a county or municipality shall not be required to be brought into compliance with the state minimum building code in force at the time the building or structure is moved, provided:
1. The building or structure is structurally sound and in occupiable condition for its intended use;
2. The occupancy use classification for the building or structure is not changed as a result of the move;
3. The building is not substantially remodeled;
4. Current fire code requirements for ingress and egress are met;
5. Electrical, gas, and plumbing systems meet the codes in force at the time of construction and are operational and safe for reconnection; and
6. Foundation plans are sealed by a professional engineer or architect licensed to practice in this state, if required by the building code for all residential buildings or structures of the same occupancy class;
(b) The building official shall apply the same standard to a moved residential building or structure as that applied to the remodeling of any comparable residential building or structure to determine whether the moved structure is substantially remodeled. The cost of the foundation on which the moved building or structure is placed shall not be included in the cost of remodeling for purposes of determining whether a moved building or structure has been substantially remodeled.
History.--s. 10, ch. 74-167; s. 4, ch. 77-365; s. 10, ch. 83-160; s. 1, ch. 83-352; s. 2, ch. 84-24; s. 3, ch. 84-365; s. 2, ch. 85-97; s. 2, ch. 86-135; s. 2, ch. 87-287; s. 5, ch. 87-349; s. 2, ch. 88-142; s. 1, ch. 88-378; s. 1, ch. 91-7; s. 4, ch. 93-249; ss. 57, 260, ch. 94-119; s. 7, ch. 94-284; s. 461, ch. 94-356; s. 72, ch. 95-144; s. 2, ch. 95-379; s. 14, ch. 96-298; s. 73, ch. 96-388; s. 1175, ch. 97-103.