The question arrives with every mid-size job: "does this need a permit?" And the uncomfortable answer is that in Florida the exact answer lives at your county — every building department has its own table. But the working rule that decides 90% of cases can be learned, and so can the cost ranges. Let's take it in parts. (This is trade reference, not legal advice: your county's website always wins.)
The working rule
If the job touches structure, electrical, plumbing, or air conditioning, it almost certainly needs a permit. If it's cosmetic, or a minor repair of what already exists, it almost certainly doesn't.
Jobs that typically DO need a permit in Florida:
- Replacing the water heater (yes, even "same unit, same spot" — it's plumbing and sometimes electrical).
- Replacing or installing A/C (mechanical and electrical).
- Roofing: full replacement or major repair.
- Moving, opening, or closing walls — anything structural.
- Exterior windows and doors, especially impact-rated — in South Florida the hurricane code requires it, with inspection.
- New electrical circuits, panel, subpanel.
- New plumbing or moving lines.
- Additions, covered patios, and fences in some counties (yes, fences — check yours).
Jobs that typically do NOT need a permit:
- Interior and exterior painting.
- Surface flooring: laminate, vinyl, carpet (tile in some counties is a different story if the subfloor is involved — check).
- Drywall patches and minor repair.
- Cabinets and countertops (without moving plumbing or electrical).
- Like-for-like repair of what's there: a hinge, a faucet swapped for an equal one (many counties exempt simple fixture replacement — again: check yours).
Who can pull the permit (and this one is about you)
In Florida, a permit gets pulled by a licensed contractor in the matching trade, or by the homeowner as an owner-builder — with conditions: they live in the property, they're not flipping it right away, and they answer for the work.
The part that needs saying in full: an unlicensed handyman cannot perform or contract work that requires a permit. In Florida, unlicensed work in regulated trades (electrical, plumbing, A/C, structural, roofing) brings serious fines, and on a repeat offense the matter turns criminal. "The owner pulls the permit and I do the work" isn't the shortcut it looks like either: the owner-builder declares the work is done by them or by legally hired people. The honest path for a handyman is clear: stay inside the scope your registration allows, and for the rest, team up with a licensed contractor who pulls the permit — you bill your part, you sleep fine.
What it costs
It depends on the county and the job's value. The general South Florida patterns:
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Minimum permit (small jobs) | $100 – $250 |
| Mid-size jobs (water heater, A/C) | $150 – $400 |
| As % of value on larger jobs | 1% – 3% of the contract |
| Plan review (when it applies) | separate, per county |
Two costs that don't show on the county's fee table but exist anyway: the time to process it (portal, documents, sometimes a visit) and the inspections — permitted work gets scheduled around the inspection, and a failed inspection is another visit.
How long does it take? A simple permit on an electronic portal: days to two weeks. Structural or with plan review: longer. In high season (after a storm) everything stretches.
What happens if you skip it
The list is well known and all of it is expensive:
- Stop-work order: the inspector drives by, the job stops, and it doesn't restart until it's legalized.
- The fine: many counties charge the after-the-fact permit at double the normal fee, plus the penalty.
- The home sale digs it up: unpermitted work surfaces in the sale inspection years later, and the owner remembers exactly who did it.
- Insurance can deny a claim tied to unpermitted work — and that conversation is no longer with you, it's against you.
How to quote it
The permit goes on the estimate as its own line: the county fee on one side, and your processing hours on the other (they're work hours, same as store runs). And the estimate says in writing who pulls it — you, the licensed partner, or the owner. A clear "not included: permit" is worth the same as any other scope clause: one argument fewer, already won in writing.