Florida Statute 553.791
Florida law gives building owners and contractors the right to choose a private provider for plan review and inspections. When you do, the local building department operates under strict, legally mandated deadlines.
The clock starts the day the local building official receives a complete permit application along with the signed affidavit from your private provider confirming plan review is complete.
Within 20 business days, the local building official must either issue the permit or provide written notice identifying specific plan deficiencies, citing the exact code chapters and sections at issue.
If the building official fails to act within the prescribed period, the permit application is deemed approved as a matter of law, and the permit must be issued on the next business day.
If deficiencies are cited and you resubmit, the building official has the remainder of the original 20-day period plus 5 additional business days. Any second review is limited only to the deficiencies already cited.
The 20-day obligation belongs entirely to the local building department, not to your private provider. Tew & Taylor's role is to deliver a complete, code-compliant plan review so your application is airtight from day one. Once submitted, the law works for you.
2025 Update
20 business days for the building department to issue or provide written deficiency notice after receiving a complete application with private provider affidavit.
Only 5 business days for the building department to act. HB 683 (2025) shortened the timeline specifically for single-trade residential plan reviews, including solar energy systems.
Commercial Projects
Developers using a private provider for both plan review and inspections receive a 50% discount on building permit fees for commercial projects. Using a private provider for inspections only qualifies for a 10% discount. This reduction applies to the building permit fee specifically and does not extend to other permit components.