Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 1128 By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senator Ingoglia 578-02304-25 20251128c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to building permits for a single 3 family dwelling; amending ss. 125.56 and 553.79, F.S.; 4 prohibiting the expiration of certain building permits 5 issued by a county or a local government, 6 respectively, before a specified event; amending s. 7 553.792, F.S.; specifying that certain permit 8 applications are deemed in compliance; requiring the 9 local government to issue such permit within a certain 10 timeframe; requiring certain attestations supporting 11 permit applications; indemnifying local governments in 12 certain circumstances; providing an effective date. 13 14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15 16 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section 17 125.56, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 18 125.56 Enforcement and amendment of the Florida Building 19 Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code; inspection fees; 20 inspectors; etc.— 21 (4) 22 (d) A county that issues building permits may send a 23 written notice of expiration, by e-mail or United States Postal 24 Service, to the owner of the property and the contractor listed 25 on the permit, no less than 30 days before a building permit is 26 set to expire. The written notice must identify the permit that 27 is set to expire and the date the permit will expire. A building 28 permit processed and approved by a county for a single-family 29 dwelling may not expire before the effective date of the next 30 edition of the Florida Building Code, which is updated every 3 31 years pursuant to s. 553.73(7)(a), regardless of whether the 32 permit has been issued to or accepted by the applicant. 33 Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 34 553.79, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 35 553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.— 36 (1) 37 (c) A local government that issues building permits may 38 send a written notice of expiration, by e-mail or United States 39 Postal Service, to the owner of the property and the contractor 40 listed on the permit, no less than 30 days before a building 41 permit is set to expire. The written notice must identify the 42 permit that is set to expire and the date the permit will 43 expire. A building permit processed and approved by a local 44 government under this section for a single-family dwelling may 45 not expire before the effective date of the next edition of the 46 Florida Building Code, which is updated every 3 years pursuant 47 to s. 553.73(7)(a), regardless of whether the permit has been 48 issued to or accepted by the applicant. 49 Section 3. Present paragraphs (b) through (g) of subsection 50 (1) of section 553.792, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 51 paragraphs (c) through (h), respectively, and a new paragraph 52 (b) is added to that subsection, to read: 53 553.792 Building permit application to local government.— 54 (1) 55 (b) 1. A permit application for the construction of a 56 single-family dwelling in a jurisdiction for which a state of 57 emergency was issued within the 24 months before the 58 application, and which is signed and sealed with an attestation 59 by an architect licensed under chapter 481 or an engineer 60 licensed under chapter 471 that the plans in the permit comply 61 with the Florida Building Code, is deemed in compliance with the 62 Florida Building Code without further local government review. 63 The local government must approve or deny such an application 64 within 2 business days after receipt. This section does not 65 preclude local government review for compliance with zoning and 66 land use regulations. 67 2. An attestation for such an application must include 68 proof of the architect’s or engineer’s good standing with their 69 respective applicable regulatory bodies and proof of insurance 70 for professional liability covering all services performed in 71 plans review under this section. 72 3. A local government must be held harmless and indemnified 73 from claims arising from plans review deemed in compliance under 74 this subsection. 75 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.