The Florida Senate

As used in this section, the term:

Notwithstanding any other law or local government ordinance or local policy, the fee owner of a building or structure, or the fee owner’s contractor upon written authorization from the fee owner, may choose to use a private provider to provide building code inspection services with regard to such building or structure and may make payment directly to the private provider for the provision of such services. All such services shall be the subject of a written contract between the private provider, or the private provider’s firm, and the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor, upon written authorization of the fee owner. The fee owner may elect to use a private provider to provide plans review or required building inspections, or both. However, if the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor uses a private provider to provide plans review, the local building official, in his or her discretion and pursuant to duly adopted policies of the local enforcement agency, may require the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor to use a private provider to also provide required building inspections.

A private provider and any duly authorized representative may only perform building code inspection services that are within the disciplines covered by that person’s licensure or certification under chapter 468, chapter 471, or chapter 481. A private provider may not provide building code inspection services pursuant to this section upon any building designed or constructed by the private provider or the private provider’s firm.

A fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor using a private provider to provide building code inspection services shall notify the local building official at the time of permit application, or no less than 7 business days prior to the first scheduled inspection by the local building official or building code enforcement agency for a private provider performing required inspections of construction under this section, on a form to be adopted by the commission. This notice shall include the following information:

After construction has commenced and if the local building official is unable to provide inspection services in a timely manner, the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor may elect to use a private provider to provide inspection services by notifying the local building official of the owner’s or contractor’s intention to do so no less than 7 business days prior to the next scheduled inspection using the notice provided for in paragraphs (4)(a)-(c).

A private provider performing plans review under this section shall review construction plans to determine compliance with the applicable codes. Upon determining that the plans reviewed comply with the applicable codes, the private provider shall prepare an affidavit or affidavits on a form adopted by the commission certifying, under oath, that the following is true and correct to the best of the private provider’s knowledge and belief:

A private provider performing required inspections under this section shall inspect each phase of construction as required by the applicable codes. The private provider shall be permitted to send a duly authorized representative to the building site to perform the required inspections, provided all required reports are prepared by and bear the signature of the private provider or the private provider’s duly authorized representative. The duly authorized representative must be an employee of the private provider entitled to receive unemployment compensation benefits under chapter 443. The contractor’s contractual or legal obligations are not relieved by any action of the private provider.

A private provider performing required inspections under this section shall provide notice to the local building official of the date and approximate time of any such inspection no later than the prior business day by 2 p.m. local time or by any later time permitted by the local building official in that jurisdiction. The local building official may visit the building site as often as necessary to verify that the private provider is performing all required inspections. A deficiency notice must be posted at the job site by the private provider, the duly authorized representative of the private provider, or the building department whenever a noncomplying item related to the building code or the permitted documents is found. After corrections are made, the item must be reinspected by the private provider or representative before being concealed. Reinspection or reaudit fees shall not be charged by the local jurisdiction as a result of the local jurisdiction’s audit inspection occurring before the performance of the private provider’s inspection or for any other administrative matter not involving the detection of a violation of the building code or a permit requirement.

Upon completing the required inspections at each applicable phase of construction, the private provider shall record such inspections on a form acceptable to the local building official. The form must be signed by the provider or the provider’s duly authorized representative. These inspection records shall reflect those inspections required by the applicable codes of each phase of construction for which permitting by a local enforcement agency is required. The private provider, before leaving the project site, shall post each completed inspection record, indicating pass or fail, at the site and provide the record to the local building official within 2 business days. The local building official may waive the requirement to provide a record of each inspection within 2 business days if the record is posted at the project site and all such inspection records are submitted with the certificate of compliance. Records of all required and completed inspections shall be maintained at the building site at all times and made available for review by the local building official. The private provider shall report to the local enforcement agency any condition that poses an immediate threat to public safety and welfare.

Upon completion of all required inspections, the private provider shall prepare a certificate of compliance, on a form acceptable to the local building official, summarizing the inspections performed and including a written representation, under oath, that the stated inspections have been performed and that, to the best of the private provider’s knowledge and belief, the building construction inspected complies with the approved plans and applicable codes. The statement required of the private provider shall be substantially in the following form and shall be signed and sealed by a private provider as established in subsection (1):

To the best of my knowledge and belief, the building components and site improvements outlined herein and inspected under my authority have been completed in conformance with the approved plans and the applicable codes.

No more than 2 business days after receipt of a request for a certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion and the applicant’s presentation of a certificate of compliance and approval of all other government approvals required by law, the local building official shall issue the certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion or provide a notice to the applicant identifying the specific deficiencies, as well as the specific code chapters and sections. If the local building official does not provide notice of the deficiencies within the prescribed 2-day period, the request for a certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion shall be deemed granted and the certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion shall be issued by the local building official on the next business day. To resolve any identified deficiencies, the applicant may elect to dispute the deficiencies pursuant to subsection (13) or to submit a corrected request for a certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion.

If the local building official determines that the building construction or plans do not comply with the applicable codes, the official may deny the permit or request for a certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion, as appropriate, or may issue a stop-work order for the project or any portion thereof as provided by law, if the official determines that the noncompliance poses an immediate threat to public safety and welfare, subject to the following:

For the purposes of this section, any notice to be provided by the local building official shall be deemed to be provided to the person or entity when successfully transmitted to the facsimile number listed for that person or entity in the permit application or revised permit application, or, if no facsimile number is stated, when actually received by that person or entity.

A private provider may perform building code inspection services on a building project under this section only if the private provider maintains insurance for professional liability covering all services performed as a private provider. Such insurance shall have minimum policy limits of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million in the aggregate for any project with a construction cost of $5 million or less and $2 million per occurrence and $4 million in the aggregate for any project with a construction cost of over $5 million. Nothing in this section limits the ability of a fee owner to require additional insurance or higher policy limits. For these purposes, the term “construction cost” means the total cost of building construction as stated in the building permit application. If the private provider chooses to secure claims-made coverage to fulfill this requirement, the private provider must also maintain coverage for a minimum of 5 years subsequent to the performance of building code inspection services. The insurance required under this subsection shall be written only by insurers authorized to do business in this state with a minimum A.M. Best’s rating of A. Before providing building code inspection services within a local building official’s jurisdiction, a private provider must provide to the local building official a certificate of insurance evidencing that the coverages required under this subsection are in force.

When performing building code inspection services, a private provider is subject to the disciplinary guidelines of the applicable professional board with jurisdiction over his or her license or certification under chapter 468, chapter 471, or chapter 481. All private providers shall be subject to the disciplinary guidelines of s. 468.621(1)(c)-(h). Any complaint processing, investigation, and discipline that arise out of a private provider’s performance of building code inspection services shall be conducted by the applicable professional board.

Each local building code enforcement agency may audit the performance of building code inspection services by private providers operating within the local jurisdiction. Work on a building or structure may proceed after inspection and approval by a private provider if the provider has given notice of the inspection pursuant to subsection (9) and, subsequent to such inspection and approval, the work shall not be delayed for completion of an inspection audit by the local building code enforcement agency.

The local government, the local building official, and their building code enforcement personnel shall be immune from liability to any person or party for any action or inaction by a fee owner of a building, or by a private provider or its duly authorized representative, in connection with building code inspection services as authorized in this act.