City gears up for permitting changes
Some small residential construction projects may not need permits
On July 1, House Bill 803 will go into effect, exempting certain small home construction projects from local building requirements,
Deputy Development Services Director Matthew Grambow went over the changes to the state legislation during Cape Coral City Council’s June 3 meeting saying there are some big changes.
The legislation “restricts local jurisdictions from creating arbitrary municipal application forms or uncodified construction standards.”
Among the changes is the $7,500 permitting exemption. For permitting applications, or low risk residential projects with a total contract value under $7,500, the legislation bypasses the traditional building permit process.
This isn’t necessarily a positive for either the city or the property owner, city officials said, adding it also does not apply to most residential sites in the city and many common permits.
“What the state has done, it provided an exemption for permits that require people to ask us to get it,” City Manager Michael Ilczyczyn said. They have to “come to us to seek it. Now we are reviewing contracts to make sure they are underneath $7,500. The government is even further into your business than before.”
Grambow said they must submit a formal written request accompanied by a signed contract that can detail the scope of the work and evaluation of the work to be eligible.
Properties deemed ineligible are those that are partially or entirely located in a flood hazard area.
“Just under 60% of the city is located in special flood hazard area,” Grambow said, adding that such properties are legally disqualified from using the $7,500 permit exemption.
In addition, any electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical or gas work performed on property containing a single-family dwelling is also ineligible.
“That type of work still needs to go through permitting processes and anything within the special flood hazard area still needs to go through the permitting process,” he said.
Grambow said they are working actively with other building officials in Southwest Florida to ensure they are consistent with other jurisdictions with the scope of work.
Potential exempted residential work can include interior and exterior cosmetic painting, baseboards, crown molding, and internal trim work, replacement of flooring, excluding wet-area waterproofing/shower pans, additional blown-in insulation within existing attic spaces, minor stucco or plaster repairs on existing masonry walls, shed structures under 6’x6’x6′ without utility connections and minor driveway/walkway flatwork.
Work that is strictly subject to permitting and inspection, regardless of cost, includes core utility systems – all electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas work, structural work, foundation modifications, and structural load paths, complete roofing replacements and structure roofing re-covers, window and door replacements requiring structural product anchoring, any level of alteration, swimming pool construction, safety barriers and bonding/grounding and any work within a regulated flood hazard area.
Grambow said it exempts residential hurricane barriers and storm surge walls.
“It has a series of exemptions that need to take into consideration prior to deploying on residential property. The special flood hazard area is not an eligible area,” he said.
The House Bill 803 also has limited statutory exemption for temporary flood protection barriers and storm surge walls. They are exempt from permitting only if they satisfy all statutory criteria and are completely uninhabitable.
Grambow said the city is also taking very seriously the mandated review timelines for common residential properties under $15,000. He said there is a new shot clock related to simple residential permits for existing single-family dwelling properties.
There is now a maximum of five business days to approve, conditionally approve or deny a permit.
“The current standard is 30-business days. It prevents local government any type of waiver,” Grambow said.
In addition, House Bill 803 also creates a new default approval trigger. He said there was a permit fee refund based on the number of days, but a change to the legislation was made.
“The permit will be deemed approved if the response is not provided to the applicant,” Grambow said. “The application is legally approved by law, and the permitting agency issues the permit.”
He said it is actually legally approved by law and the permit is issued to the contractor the next business day.
Other new maximum review times include 12 business days for master building permits, 30 business days for small residential structures, 60 business days for large residential/commercial structures and 10 business days for CDBG-Disaster Recovery.
Grambow said another major change is that the state is changing how municipalities approach expirations of permits.
According to the bill, local governments may expire single-family dwelling building permits one year after the issuance of the permit, or the next edition of the Florida Building Code – whichever is later. Prior to this permits automatically expired after 180 days of inactivity.
In other words, a single-family residential permit that was issued on Jan. 1, 2027, would not expire until Dec. 1, 2029.
Ilczyczyn said there will also be “ghost homes” floating around the city because they don’t believe they can expire permits that don’t have work on them.
The bill, Grambow said, also requires the Florida Building Commission to develop a state-wide standard permit application for both commercial and residential permit types by July 1, 2027, and it restricts utilizing project valuation to calculate the permit fees.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com