Florida permit review deadlines
How long does it take to get a building permit in Florida?
Florida has one of the strictest permit review deadlines in the country. Once an application is complete, the building department has 30 business days to approve or deny most home permits, and 60 for larger projects.
Every business day a review runs late costs the department 10% of the permit fee. Here is how the clock works, what changed in 2026, and how Miami, Orlando, and Tampa apply it.
See the deadlines ↓Current Florida state-level guidelines
The short answer
Most Florida home permits must be approved or denied within 30 business days after the application is complete. Homes of 7,500 square feet or more, commercial buildings under 25,000 square feet, and multifamily projects of up to 50 units get 60 business days. Since July 1, 2026, small jobs on an existing single-family home (work valued under $15,000) get 5 business days. The deadlines come from Florida Statute 553.792. If the department misses one, it must cut the permit fee by 10% for each business day it is late.
By project type
Florida permit review deadlines.
Florida Statute 553.792 sets a different deadline for each kind of project. Each one counts business days, starts when the application is complete, and applies when the city or county's own plans reviewer does the review.
| Project type | Deadline | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Small jobs on an existing single-family home | 5 business days | Work valued under $15,000: structural, roofing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, and similar permits. New on July 1, 2026. |
| Homes and residential permits, under 7,500 sq. ft. | 30 business days | Includes single-family homes, accessory structures, and trade permits. |
| Homes and residential permits, 7,500 sq. ft. or more | 60 business days | Same permit types, larger structures. |
| Signs and nonresidential buildings under 25,000 sq. ft. | 60 business days | |
| Multifamily residential, up to 50 units | 60 business days | Also covers site plans and plats that do not need a public hearing, plus lot grading and site work. |
| Site-specific permit under a master building permit | 12 business days | |
| Single-family home in a state disaster recovery program | 10 business days | Homes rebuilt through the state's federal disaster recovery grants. |
Not covered: nonresidential buildings of 25,000 square feet or more, multifamily projects over 50 units, and site plans or plats that need a public hearing. A city or county can set shorter deadlines by ordinance. It cannot set longer ones.
Step by step
How Florida's review clock works.
It must tell the applicant in writing what is missing. If it says nothing, the application counts as complete and the review clock starts.
The department must approve, approve with conditions, or deny the permit before the clock runs out. It cannot make an applicant waive the deadline as a condition of review.
If the department sends comments that cite the specific code sections before the deadline, no fee cut applies. The applicant then has 10 business days to send corrections.
Once corrected plans arrive, the department has 10 business days to approve or deny. Miss that deadline and the fee cut doubles to 20% for each business day.
What this means for a review team
- Intake decides whether the deadline is winnable. Silence in the first 5 business days makes an incomplete application count as complete.
- Every discipline works inside the same window. Building, fire, planning, and engineering comments all have to land before one deadline.
- The second review leaves the least room. Ten business days, with double the penalty, is not much time to find out who still owes comments.
- Waivers have to be the applicant's choice. A department needs a record showing the applicant asked for more time.
When the clock runs out
What happens when a Florida department misses the deadline.
Each business day past the deadline takes 10% off the original permit fee, and the statute sets no cap. In practice, most departments and applicants agree to a written extension before the cuts add up.
If the department misses the 10-business-day window on corrected plans, the cut is 20% of the original fee for each business day.
A written extension both sides agree to, a delay the applicant caused, or an event outside the department's control, like a hurricane.
Florida lets an owner hire a licensed architect, engineer, or building code administrator to review the plans. The building official then has 20 business days to issue the permit or list what is wrong, 10 if an architect or engineer seals the review. If the official does not answer, the permit is approved by law.
Faster permit approvals start with more efficient plan review.
See how your team can spend less time chasing comments, waiting on other disciplines, and tracking down the status of a review, without changing your permitting system or CDP.
Recent changes
What changed, and when.
January 1, 2025
HB 267 takes effectThe completeness check drops to 5 business days. The old 120-day window is replaced with deadlines of 30 and 60 business days, based on the size and type of project.
July 1, 2026
HB 803 takes effectSmall jobs on existing single-family homes (work under $15,000) get a 5-business-day deadline. Building permits for single-family homes now expire one year after they are issued, or when the next edition of the Florida Building Code takes effect, whichever is later.
July 1, 2027
Uniform permit applications are dueHB 803 also tells the Florida Building Commission to write one residential and one commercial permit application for the whole state.
City by city
How Florida cities apply the state deadline.
Every Florida city and county works under the same statute. What differs is how each one changed its process to keep up. Two of the three cities below answered the clock by splitting site and zoning review from building review.
Miami
Applicants who want the state deadline get reviews in sequence: zoning, fire, public works, and other non-building-code reviews come first. To have every discipline review at the same time, the applicant must sign a notarized waiver. Corrections are due in 10 business days, or the application is denied.
Read the source →Orlando
Orlando posts the state deadlines by permit type, including the new 5-business-day rule for small jobs on existing homes. An application counts as complete once fees are paid, documents are in, and prescreen is approved. Applicants can waive the clock with a city form or inside the city's online plan review system.
Read the source →Tampa
Tampa publishes separate sufficiency checklists for site and building applications so applicants can pass the 5-day check. Since January 6, 2025, site and building reviews no longer run together: site, natural resources, and zoning approval come first, then the building permit. A waiver form is available for applicants who need more time.
Read the source →City details come from each city's public pages as of November 12, 2026. Cities change their targets and processes often, so check the linked source for the current version.
Common questions
Florida building permit deadlines, answered.
How long does it take to get a building permit in Florida?
For most homes, the building department has 30 business days to approve or deny the permit once the application is complete. Homes of 7,500 square feet or more, small commercial buildings, and multifamily projects of up to 50 units get 60 business days.
Small jobs on an existing single-family home, with work valued under $15,000, get 5 business days as of July 1, 2026.
Those are the legal limits. Your real timeline also depends on how complete your application is and how many rounds of corrections it needs.
What is Florida Statute 553.792?
It is the state law that sets deadlines for local governments to review building permit applications. It gives departments 5 business days to say what is missing, sets review deadlines by project type, and cuts the permit fee when a department runs late.
It applies to every city and county in Florida. A local government can set shorter deadlines, but not longer ones.
What happens if a Florida building department misses the deadline?
The department must cut the permit fee by 10% of the original fee for each business day it is late. If it misses the 10-business-day deadline on corrected plans, the cut is 20% for each business day.
The fee cut does not apply if both sides agree in writing to an extension, if the applicant caused the delay, or if something outside the department's control caused it.
What did HB 803 change in 2026?
HB 803 took effect on July 1, 2026. It added a 5-business-day deadline for permits on existing single-family homes when the work is valued under $15,000. That covers structural, accessory structure, alarm, electrical, gas, irrigation, landscaping, mechanical, plumbing, and roofing permits.
It also made single-family building permits expire one year after issuance, or when the next edition of the Florida Building Code takes effect, whichever is later. And it told the Florida Building Commission to write uniform permit applications by July 1, 2027.
Does the clock stop when the department sends comments?
In effect, yes. If the department sends written comments that cite the specific code sections before the deadline, the fee cut does not apply. The applicant has 10 business days to send corrections.
After the corrections arrive, the department has 10 business days to approve or deny the permit.
Can a Florida city make me waive the deadline?
No. The statute says a local government cannot require a waiver as a condition of reviewing an application. An applicant can choose to waive the deadline in writing, and many cities offer a form for it.
Some cities tie a waiver to how they review. In Miami, for example, applicants sign a waiver to have all reviews run at the same time.
What does Florida's review clock not cover?
The statute sets a deadline to approve or deny a building permit application. It does not promise a permit in hand by that date.
Zoning, site plan, and other approvals often come before the building permit. In Tampa and Miami, those reviews happen first, so the total time from first submittal to permit can run longer than 30 business days. Time the applicant spends on corrections is also outside the department's deadline.
Can I use a private provider instead of the city's plan reviewer?
Yes. Florida lets a property owner hire a licensed architect, engineer, or building code administrator to review plans. The owner pays the private provider, and the city must lower its permit fee by what it saves.
After the private provider signs off, the building official has 20 business days to issue the permit or list the problems. That drops to 10 business days when an architect or engineer seals the review, and 5 for single-trade work on a one- or two-family home. If the official does not respond, the permit is approved by law.
How do Florida building departments keep up with these deadlines?
Three habits show up in the departments that hit the clock. They check applications for missing items in the first few days. They let building, fire, planning, and engineering review the same plans at the same time. And they track the days left on every review, so a manager can step in before a deadline passes.
Read it for yourself
Sources.
State law
Keep exploring
Deadlines in other states.
If you review plans in Florida
Working under Florida's review clock? See how e-PlanSoft can help you hit it consistently.
Meeting a review deadline starts with a good intake process, disciplines that work together, and a clear view of every review in progress.
Book a demoSee how collaborative review works →This page summarizes public laws, rules, and city review practices in Florida as of November 12, 2026. Deadlines vary by location and permit type. These summaries are for reference, not legal advice. Check the linked sources and local requirements for the rules that apply to your project.