Helpful guides, forms, and answers to common questions about Florida's private provider process.
We believe in empowering our clients with knowledge. Browse our collection of resources to learn more about private provider inspections, Florida Building Code requirements, and our processes.
Florida law lets owners and contractors hire a licensed private provider for plan review and building inspections instead of waiting on the building department.
Read more What Is a Private Provider? A Plain-English Guide for Florida ProjectsA permit expediter moves your application through the building department's queue. A private provider replaces the department's plan review and inspections.
Read more Private Provider vs. Permit Expediter: Which Do You Need?Same Florida Building Code, different process. Compare who reviews your plans, who inspects, what it costs, and how the timelines work.
Read more Private Provider vs. Building Department: What’s the Difference?Threshold buildings need a special inspector for structural work, in addition to standard building code inspections. Here is how the two roles differ and fit together.
Read more Private Provider Inspection vs. Threshold Special InspectionA section-by-section guide to Florida's private provider law: who qualifies, required notices, building official deadlines, fee reductions, audits and the 2026 changes.
Read more Florida Statute 553.791 Explained (2026 Update)
A quick tour of the Florida Building Code chapters that come up on almost every project, plus a few that quietly catch teams off guard.
Read more Navigating the Florida Building Code: Key Chapters Every Project TouchesFrom signing on with a private provider to your certificate of occupancy: the documents, deadlines and inspections involved under Florida law.
Read more How Private Provider Inspections Work, Step by StepThe NTBO tells the local building official that a private provider will perform plan review or inspections. Here is when it is due and what it must include.
Read more What Is a Notice to Building Official (NTBO)?Yes. Florida law requires building departments to reduce permit fees when a private provider performs plan review or inspections, with minimum reductions on commercial projects.
Read more Does Using a Private Provider Reduce Your Permit Fees?
The specific things that separate a plan set that sails through review from one that comes back with a page of comments. Use this before every submission.
Read more A Builder’s Checklist for Faster Plan ReviewsA private provider is a Florida-licensed building code administrator, engineer or architect who performs plan review and building inspections under Florida Statutes §553.791 in place of the local building department. Read the full guide.
Yes. Once the Notice to Building Official is filed, the building official may not re-review plans the private provider found compliant (except for local ordinances, floodplain, site and other non-building-code matters) and may not perform the required inspections the private provider performs, except in limited cases set out in the statute.
A Florida jurisdiction can't refuse your choice to use a private provider. The statute applies notwithstanding any local ordinance or policy, and local governments may not adopt rules more stringent than §553.791 or prohibit or discourage the use of private providers. Jurisdictions do require the private provider to be registered with insurance on file and the Notice to Building Official to be filed. They can still deny a permit for specific code deficiencies, enforce local ordinances and floodplain rules, audit private providers (up to 4 times per year with 5 business days' notice), and issue stop-work orders for immediate threats to public safety.
No. The private provider covers the Florida Building Code and local technical amendments. The statute specifically excludes the fire prevention and firesafety codes adopted under Chapter 633, so fire plan review and fire inspections stay with your local fire official.
The Notice to Building Official (NTBO) tells the building department that a private provider will perform plan review and/or inspections. It's filed on the Florida Building Commission's form at permit application, or by 2 p.m. two business days before the first scheduled inspection. Learn what the NTBO includes.
Under §553.791 as amended by Chapter 2026-63 (effective July 1, 2026): the building official has 10 business days to flag incomplete permit documents (5 for single-trade reviews on one- and two-family homes) or the permit is deemed approved; resubmittals get the remaining time plus 5 business days; inspection records are due within 4 business days; and after the certificate of compliance, the certificate of occupancy is due within 10 business days (2 for one- and two-family homes) or it's automatically granted. See the full 2026 breakdown.
You need a special (threshold) inspector if your building is greater than three stories or 50 feet in height, or is an assembly occupancy over 5,000 square feet with more than 500 occupants, and you are building new or modifying its structure. The threshold inspector handles structural inspections; a private provider can handle the other required building code inspections. Compare the two.
Yes. Florida law lets the owner choose a private provider at any time. The notice is filed before the next scheduled inspection. Inspections already completed by the department stay on record, and the private provider takes over the remaining inspections. Call us before your next inspection and we'll coordinate the handoff.
Yes. The jurisdiction must reduce permit fees by its cost savings and may not charge for plan review or inspections the private provider performs. Commercial projects get at least a 25% reduction of those fees, or 50% when the private provider handles all plan review and inspections. How fee reductions work.
We offer 3-day plan review. Send us your plans, project location, scope and municipality to get started.
All 67 Florida counties. Our office is in Sarasota, and we perform plan reviews and inspections statewide.
Costs depend on the scope and complexity of your project. Statutory permit fee reductions and fewer days of delay often offset much of the cost. Contact us for a free quote.
Yes. The building department still issues your permit and your certificate of occupancy or completion. The private provider performs the plan review and/or inspections the department would otherwise do.
