Florida's New Permit Law (HB 803): What Changed for Rehabs on July 1

04 September 2026 · SFR Capital

HB 803, “Building Permits and Inspections,” was signed in early May 2026 after passing both chambers unanimously. Most of it took effect July 1, 2026. If you rehab houses in Florida, this is the law behind the “no permit under $7,500” headlines. The exemption is real, but it is narrower than reported, and the rest of the bill will change more of your projects than the exemption will.

The $7,500 exemption, and its limits

Local governments that issue building permits must exempt the owner of a single-family dwelling, or the owner’s contractor, from pulling a permit for work valued under $7,500 on that property. Four limits:

• It is not automatic. The owner or contractor must submit a written request for exemption to the local building official, with documentation of the scope and value of the work.
• Local governments can still require permits for electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work, and for any property partly or wholly inside a designated flood hazard area. That last clause removes a large share of South Florida.
• Splitting a job into smaller pieces to stay under $7,500 is expressly prohibited.
• Code still applies. The exemption does not touch zoning, setbacks, fence or landscaping rules, or code compliance. The work must meet code; it simply is not reviewed up front.

The rest of the bill, which matters more for volume work

• Faster review deadlines. A new five-business-day review window applies to permits on existing single-family homes where the work is under $15,000: structural, accessory structure, alarm, electrical, gas, irrigation, landscaping, mechanical, plumbing, and roofing. The existing 10, 12, 30, and 60-day windows remain. Missing a statutory window can result in the permit being deemed approved by operation of law.
• Private providers get more room. Local governments generally cannot re-review plans a licensed private provider has already approved. Their review is limited to document completeness plus local ordinance, floodplain, site, administrative, and certain life-safety items. Local agencies must maintain electronic private-provider registration, cannot require extra licensure or insurance verification, cannot bar virtual inspections, and must give five business days’ notice before auditing private-provider work.
• Mandatory commercial fee cuts. At least 25% off the commercial permit fee when a private provider does either plan review or inspections, and at least 50% when they do both.
• Fees tied to cost, not project value. Inspection fees must reflect the actual cost of performing the inspection and cannot exceed what the local agency incurs. Several counties have had to rebuild fee schedules. Seminole is one example, and some line items there, such as roofing, electrical service changeouts, and A/C changeouts, went up as a result.
• Permit duration. Single-family permits expire one year after issuance or on the effective date of the next Florida Building Code edition, whichever is later.
• Coming in 2027. The Florida Building Commission must develop standardized statewide residential and commercial permit applications by July 1, 2027.

A related bill worth knowing: HB 399 requires development application fees to be based on actual review and processing cost rather than project valuation, effective January 1, 2027.

What this means at resale and in underwriting

Unpermitted work, even legitimately exempt work, can still create friction at resale and with a lender. The exemption letter lives in the local building department’s file; it does not show up as a closed permit in the property record. Keep the written exemption request and the building official’s response with the property records for every job you run under this rule. When we underwrite a property that has had recent work, that paper is what turns “unpermitted” into “exempt.”

One more date for the calendar: the 9th Edition of the Florida Building Code takes effect December 31, 2026. Permits pulled under the 8th Edition carry the longer of one year or the new code’s effective date, so a rehab permitted this fall is not caught by the changeover.

This is a summary for investors, not legal advice. Confirm the rules with the building department in the county where the property sits, because local ordinances and flood-zone maps decide what the exemption actually covers.

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SFR Capital LLC (SFR) is a private lender, license exempt under Fla. Stat. § 494.00115. SFR only makes business purpose mortgage loans on non-owner occupied Florida investment property. Nothing here is an offer or commitment to lend. All loans are subject to SFR approval of the sponsor, property collateral, title and documentation.