Apply for a Building Permit

You can obtain a building permit to cover residential and commercial construction activities within unincorporated Hillsborough County. This includes permits for all construction on single-family and multifamily homes, pools, screen enclosures, signs and walls, and all commercial and industrial construction. It also includes permits for activities such as electrical, roofing, mechanical, and plumbing.

General Fees

• State surcharge for building permits: 3% or $4 min.

Permit Fees

See Fee Schedule

What you will need for the application:

• Property owner name, email, phone
• Folio number
• Address of the proposed work
• Section/township/range
• Scope of work
• Revision details (if applicable)
• Applicant name, phone, address, email and signature
• Contractor name, license #, address, phone, fax, email (if applicable)
• Square footage
• Job valuation
• Florida Building Code (FBC) occupancy type
• Construction type
• Complete checklists/applications for various types of building permits and programs:
  • Commercial interior finish building permit requirements
  • Commercial interior remodel building permit requirements
  • Commercial electrical permit requirements
  • New commercial building / addition permit requirements
  • New commercial shell building permit requirements
  • Mobile homes - private property checklist
  • Pool checklist
  • Residential addition checklist
  • Single-family residence or duplex checklist
  • Townhomes
  • Aluminum structure information form - printable | Aluminum Structure Information Sheet - fillable*
• Permits requested by owners
  • Owner Builder Disclosure Statement
  • Owner requirements

• A building permit is required by any owner, contractor or authorized agent of the contractor who desires to:
  • construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure
  • or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace any electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing system

• If your property lies within the City of Tampa, City of Temple Terrace, or Plant City, contact your respective building department

• Property Owners may only apply for a permit at their residential address – no rental or commercial properties. A licensed contractor must apply for all other permits. If the property is held by a corporation, LLC or other business/financial entity, only a licensed contractor can apply for the permit

• Permits are valid for 180 days after we issue them
  • The permit will extend for an additional 180 days when you request an inspection and it passes

• If you need to occupy the structure prior to completion or have a commercial stocking request, you must also fill out an Application for Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) and/or Commercial Stocking
  • TCO Application - printable
  • TCO Application - fillable*

• Submitted documents must meet the following requirements
  • All files must be in PDF format. Every plan and document file must be named based on what is contained within. For example, Architectural plan set, plumbing plan set, energy calculations, etc.
  • Plan sets that include multiple pages must be submitted as a single, combined, multi-page PDF file, per trade. For example, if an electrical plan set includes five (5) pages, then all five (5) pages must be submitted as a combined PDF file and not uploaded as five (5) individual pages. Multi-page plan sets submitted as part of the same project must also be separated from one another by category/ trade according to the following:

• Residential:
  • Architectural/ Structural/ MEP Plan (all trades can be submitted as one combined pdf)
  • Site Plan

• Commercial:
  
  • Architectural
  • Structural
  • Mechanical
  • Electrical
  • Plumbing
  • Other trades

• Supporting documents that consist of multiple sheets must be submitted as a combined pdf and labeled accordingly. For example, Energy Calculations, FEMA Substantial Improvement Documents, Threshold Reports, Private Provider Packet, etc.

• Plan files must be submitted with a cover page including index of sheets.

• All plans to be digitally signed and sealed. We cannot accept scanned copies of wet seal and signatures.

• Plans and documents prepared by design professionals must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Signatures must follow Florida Statues Chapter 668 – Electronic Commerce and Florida Administrative Code for Engineers and Architect
• Signatures must come from a trusted Certificate Authority
• Digital signed plans need to allow for annotations and comments by Hillsborough County
• Florida Statutes 471, 472 and 481 and Fl. Administrative Rules 61G15-23, 61G1-16 and 5J-17.062 outline acceptable methods for design professionals to digitally sign and seal plans and documents.

1. Complete the appropriate permit application.

• Ensure that you have all the required plans and documents necessary per the appropriate checklist. Also, ensure that all documents meet the requirements listed above.
• Please ensure all files are in .pdf format and contained within a single .zip file.
  • NOTE: If your total file size is less than 25 MB, you may email them to PlanReview@hcflgov.net. Please do not send payment information via email.

2. Highlight all files to be submitted and compress them into a single .zip file. Please ensure you label this file with the address of the property that corresponds to your submittal. If you need assistance creating a .zip file, a visual guide is available.

3. Upload your documents

• A visual guide on creating a zip file and uploading your documents is available.
• If you have questions regarding your file upload, please email Permitting@hcflgov.net or call (813) 272-5600.
• As an alternative to this process, you may also email files under 25 MB to PlanReview@hcflgov.net or mail a thumb drive containing all necessary files to:

Hillsborough County Development Services
Building Services Division
601 E Kennedy Blvd
19th Floor
Tampa, FL 33602

1. Staff will review the application, plans and any accompanying documentation. You can check the status of your permit online.

2. We will notify you if any corrections are needed

• If corrections are needed:
  • All sheets in trade must be resubmitted.
  • The combined trade pdf to be resubmitted with changes clouded.
  • Provide narrative indicating sheet number and changes associated.
  • Corrections must adhere to the requirements outlined in this document.
  • Upload your corrections

3. If no corrections, or corrections are completed satisfactorily, we will notify you when the permit is ready

4. Placard and approved plans will be made available online at the PGM store when payment has been made.

5. Email your notice of commencement (NOC) (if applicable) to mail to PlanReview@hcflgov.net. 

• You can't schedule an inspection unless a recorded and certified NOC is submitted to Building Services

6. Schedule inspections

7. Obtain a certificate of completion or occupancy (if applicable)

Forms and link

• Owner Builder Disclosure Statement
• Owner permit requirements
• Agent Authorization form - Fillable*
• Agent Authorization form - Printable
• Mail-in or faxed permits form
• Credit card authorization form - Fillable*
• Formulario de autorización de tarjeta de crédito - Rellenable*
• Formulario de autorización de tarjeta de crédito - Imprimible

*Fillable forms may not work with many browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc.) - if you have issues with the form, do one of the following:

• Download the form to your computer and open it up with a PDF viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Download the printable version of the form and fill it out by hand
• Try using the Internet Explorer browser to open the PDF

General permit resources

• Online permits and plan submittals
• Check permit status
• Plans and Permit Information PGM Store
• Building Inspection Codes
• Permit fee schedule
• Appendix 1 for permit fee schedule