Florida HB 803: The 2026 Building Permit Reform Law

Florida House Bill 803 was signed by Governor DeSantis on May 6, 2026, and is enrolled as Chapter 2026-63, Laws of Florida. Its official title is 'Building Permits and Inspections.' It primarily amends Florida Statutes §553.791 (alternative plans review and building code inspection services by private providers), §553.792 (permit processing), and related sections of Chapter 553 (Florida Building Code) and Chapter 720 (Homeowners' Associations).

When referencing this law in contracts, correspondence, or permit applications after July 1, 2026, you may cite it as 'Chapter 2026-63, Laws of Florida' or 'Section 553.791, Florida Statutes (2026)' depending on the specific provision at issue. The bill number 'HB 803' remains the most commonly recognized shorthand, but the enrolled chapter number is the authoritative legal citation.

The centerpiece of HB 803 is a set of mandatory plan review deadlines that building departments must meet or face automatic permit approval. Prior to HB 803, Florida law encouraged timely review but did not impose hard deadlines with real consequences. That changes on July 1, 2026.

The following table shows the mandatory review windows by project type:

These deadlines apply to the building department's initial review and to each subsequent resubmittal. The clock starts when a complete application is submitted — incomplete submissions do not start the clock. The building department may toll the clock by issuing a timely written deficiency notice, but only for the specific items identified.

For contractors who have dealt with building departments that routinely take 6–10 weeks for commercial plan review, these deadlines represent a fundamental change. The practical question is whether building departments have the staffing to meet them — and what happens when they do not.

If a building department fails to complete plan review within the mandatory window, the permit is deemed approved by law. The building department must issue the permit by the next business day after the deadline expires. This is not discretionary — it is a statutory mandate.

Deemed approval is a significant enforcement mechanism. It means a contractor or developer who submits a complete, code-compliant application and waits out the review window can legally proceed with the permit even if the building department has not affirmatively approved the drawings.

There are important caveats. Deemed approval does not override substantive code requirements — the work must still comply with the Florida Building Code. If the building department later discovers a code violation during inspection, the permit holder is still responsible for correcting it. Deemed approval simply prevents the building department from using administrative delay as a de facto permit denial.

HB 803 also provides a fee forfeiture mechanism: if a building department misses the review deadline, it forfeits the plan review fee for that submission. This creates a financial incentive for building departments to staff adequately and prioritize timely review.

For contractors, the practical implication is to document submission dates carefully. If you submit a complete application and the building department does not act within the statutory window, you have a legal basis to demand permit issuance — and the building department forfeits its fees.

One of the most practically significant provisions of HB 803 is a prohibition on local governments demanding certain financial documents as a condition of permit issuance. Effective July 1, 2026, a local enforcement agency may not require any of the following as a condition of issuing a building permit:

— Construction contracts or letters of intent
— Labor and material cost breakdowns
— Profit and overhead statements
— Any similar financial documentation not directly required for code compliance review

Prior to HB 803, some Florida building departments — particularly in South Florida — routinely demanded construction contracts and itemized cost breakdowns, ostensibly to verify project valuation for permit fee calculations. In practice, this gave building departments leverage to delay permits and extract financial information from contractors and developers that had no legitimate permitting purpose.

HB 803 closes this door. A building department may still assess permit fees, but it may not use the permit process as a mechanism to compel disclosure of contract pricing, profit margins, or business terms.

This provision pairs with a related restriction on inspection fees: under HB 803, inspection fees may not be calculated as a percentage of total project cost and may not exceed the agency's actual cost to perform and approve the required inspection. Valuation-based inspection fees — a common practice in Florida — are prohibited after July 1, 2026.

If a building department requests your construction contract or a cost breakdown as a condition of permit issuance after July 1, 2026, that request is unlawful under Chapter 2026-63.

HB 803 creates a new exemption from the permit requirement for repair or replacement work with a total cost of $7,500 or less on single-family residential properties. This is intended to reduce the permit burden for minor homeowner repairs. However, the exemption comes with carve-outs that eliminate it for most properties in South Florida and coastal areas.

To use the exemption, the owner or contractor must still submit a written request for exemption to the local enforcement agency along with documentation of the nature and value of the work. The exemption is not self-executing.

The $7,500 exemption does NOT apply to:

— Work in FEMA flood hazard areas as defined by the Florida Building Code. This eliminates the exemption for virtually all properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe, and large portions of Lee, Collier, Charlotte, and Palm Beach counties.

— Work in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ). This eliminates the exemption for all properties in Miami-Dade and Broward counties regardless of flood zone status.

— Structural work of any kind, regardless of cost.

— Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or gas work.

— Work on buildings with four or more units.

The law also explicitly prohibits dividing a larger project into multiple smaller projects to fall below the $7,500 threshold.

The practical result: the $7,500 exemption primarily benefits inland homeowners in lower-risk areas doing minor cosmetic repairs — painting, cabinetry, flooring, drywall finishing. For the vast majority of Florida's coastal and South Florida market — where Pineland Engineering operates — the exemption does not apply. Do not assume this exemption covers your project without first confirming your property is not in a flood hazard area or HVHZ.

HB 803 significantly expands the use of private providers — licensed engineers or architects who perform plan review and inspections in place of the building department. Private providers have been available in Florida under §553.791 since 2002, but HB 803 makes them more accessible, more financially attractive, and better protected from local government interference.

Under HB 803, when a private provider is used:

— The building department must reduce its commercial permit fee by at least 25% if the private provider performs plan review or inspections.
— The building department must reduce its commercial permit fee by at least 50% if the private provider performs both plan review and inspections. Failure to apply the required reduction results in forfeiture of all fees for the project.
— The building department may not re-review plans that a private provider has determined to be code-compliant, except for local ordinance compliance, floodplain management, site review, and life-safety issues.
— The building department may not require additional licensure or insurance verification beyond the registration process.
— The building department may not discourage applicants from using private providers or create unnecessary barriers.
— The building department must maintain an electronic registration system for private providers.
— The building department must give at least 5 business days' notice before auditing a private provider's work.

For commercial projects with large permit fees, the 50% fee reduction for full private provider services can represent significant savings. A $10,000 permit fee becomes $5,000 when a private provider handles both review and inspections.

Pineland Engineering can serve as a private provider for structural and architectural review on qualifying projects. Contact us to discuss whether private provider services make sense for your project.

HB 803 requires all Florida building departments to offer virtual inspections as an option for all inspection types where virtual inspection is technically feasible. Prior to HB 803, virtual inspection availability was inconsistent — some building departments offered it, others refused.

Under HB 803:

— Building departments cannot categorically prohibit virtual inspections for any inspection type.
— Virtual inspections can be performed by private providers outside of normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, without requiring building department approval.
— The building department must accept a virtual inspection performed by a private provider if it meets the technical requirements.
— Building departments may not limit private providers' use of virtual inspections.

For contractors managing tight schedules, the ability to schedule virtual inspections outside business hours — including weekends — can meaningfully reduce project timelines. A framing inspection that previously required waiting for a building department inspector during a narrow weekday window can now be scheduled for Saturday morning with a private provider.

Virtual inspections are particularly valuable for projects in remote areas where building department inspectors have long travel times, and for projects with multiple inspection stages that need to proceed quickly.

HB 803 introduces new permit expiration rules specifically for single-family dwelling permits. Under the new law, single-family dwelling permits expire one year after issuance if no Certificate of Occupancy has been issued — or upon the effective date of the next edition of the Florida Building Code, whichever is later.

Critically, HB 803 adds a mandatory 30-day advance notice requirement. Before a single-family dwelling permit expires, the building department must provide written notice to both the property owner and the contractor at least 30 days before the expiration date. Notice must be provided by both email (if an email address was provided at application) and USPS mail.

Local governments retain the authority to grant extensions beyond the one-year period for good cause. The extension authority is discretionary — building departments are not required to grant extensions, but they may do so.

For residential contractors and developers, the one-year expiration rule creates a hard deadline for completing single-family construction and obtaining a CO. Projects that stall due to financing, supply chain issues, or other delays need to either obtain an extension or face permit expiration and the need to reapply.

This is one of the most common questions we receive about HB 803. The short answer: yes, for most commercial projects and complex residential projects, a permit expeditor still adds value — but the nature of that value has shifted.

Before HB 803, a permit expeditor's primary value was relationship-based: knowing the right people at the building department, understanding unwritten preferences for how drawings should be formatted, and physically walking documents through the review process. In a world with no statutory deadlines, those relationships could shave weeks off a permit timeline.

After HB 803, the deemed-approval mechanism changes the leverage dynamic. A complete, code-compliant application that sits past the statutory deadline is legally entitled to a permit — no relationship required. The building department's failure to act on time becomes a legal right to proceed, not a problem to navigate around.

However, permit expeditors still add value in several ways:

— Pre-submission review: Catching errors and omissions before submission prevents the clock from not starting (incomplete applications do not trigger the deadline). A good expeditor reviews your package for completeness before you submit.

— Navigating complex jurisdictions: Miami-Dade, Broward, and the City of Miami have layered review processes (zoning, historic, flood, HVHZ) that go beyond the building department. HB 803 does not simplify those layers.

— Resubmittal management: When plan review comments come back, responding quickly and correctly resets the clock for the next review window. An expeditor who understands what the plans examiner is asking for can turn around a resubmittal in days rather than weeks.

— Private provider coordination: If you are using a private provider to take advantage of the fee reductions and speed benefits under HB 803, coordinating between the private provider and the building department is a task that benefits from an experienced hand.

The bottom line: HB 803 reduces the value of pure relationship-based permit expediting. It increases the value of technical permit expediting — people who can prepare complete, code-compliant submissions, respond to comments quickly, and coordinate private provider services effectively. Pineland Engineering provides this type of technical permitting support for projects throughout Florida.