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Orange County Permits
Orange County permits involve more than the building department. Zoning, environmental, floodplain, fire and impact fee reviews can all touch one project. We put the package together, file it as your authorized agent and follow each review through to issuance.
Orange County’s Division of Building Safety reviews plans, issues permits and performs inspections for vertical construction under its jurisdiction. Several cities run their own building departments, including the City of Orlando, the City of Winter Park and the City of Apopka, and an Orlando-area address does not tell you which one applies.
Some smaller municipalities add their own step. Orange County notes, for example, that properties inside the City of Edgewood need city approval before applying through the county. Because the rules vary town by town, we verify the permitting authority for the specific parcel before we scope the work.
The county’s online services for permit applications, electronic plan submittals, review status and inspection scheduling. Applications and electronic plans require a Fast Track Member Services account.
Orlando accepts construction plans digitally for review through ProjectDox, with applications prepared from the city’s permitting forms.
Winter Park runs its own online self-service portal for building permitting, separate from the county system.
What saves time here is a complete, correctly routed submittal, not a counter visit.
Handles setbacks and placement of structures, and issues some permits on its own. Fences six feet or under are permitted by Zoning, and pavers require a Zoning permit only.
Reviews and permits activities affecting wetlands, lakeshores, docks and seawalls. EPD issues lakeshore protection permits for unincorporated Orange County and several towns, while cities such as Orlando, Winter Park and Apopka handle their own.
Development within the FEMA-designated floodplain typically needs a floodplain permit from the county’s Stormwater Management Division, with an elevation certificate.
Performs construction and fire protection system plan examination and inspections under the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
Two more items tend to come up. First, impact fees: Orange County assesses transportation, school, fire/rescue, law enforcement and parks fees, generally at building permit issuance, with water and sewer capital charges where applicable. Second, the county notes that the Ranger Drainage District requires its own District Permit for certain projects within its boundaries.
On the technical side, Orange County is inland and outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, but drawings still need to meet Florida Building Code wind design for the site, and exterior products such as windows, doors and roofing should carry Florida Product Approval that matches those design pressures.
Notices of Commencement in Orange County are recorded in the Official Records maintained by the Orange County Comptroller. Florida law requires a copy of the recorded notice to be filed with the building department before the first inspection when the direct contract is over $5,000, with a higher threshold for A/C repair or replacement. The county’s Division of Building Safety will not schedule the first inspection until the certified recorded copy is on file, and the City of Orlando has the same sequence: record with the Comptroller, submit to the city, then schedule. We handle that paperwork so the first inspection is not held up.
Owner-builder permits are available in unincorporated Orange County when the property is for the owner’s own use or occupancy, and owner-builders can apply online. Property held by a corporation, LLC or trust must use a Florida-licensed contractor. If that applies to you, we can refer you to a licensed contractor.
Orange County projects most often slow down when a submittal satisfies the building review but misses another division: a fence or paver job sent to the wrong permit type, a lakeside project without an EPD permit, floodplain work without an elevation certificate, or an LLC-owned property filed as owner-builder. Recorded Notices of Commencement that never reach the permit file are another frequent cause of a missed first inspection.
Older records can also cause trouble. Fast Track’s permit search treats permits issued before June 4, 2012 through a separate historical search, which is easy to miss when checking a property’s history. Our permit research and due diligence service covers that, and our open and expired permit work deals with what it turns up.
We take on residential permits, commercial permits, quick over-the-counter permits and special permits. See how it all fits together on our Florida permit expediting page.
Orange County has 13 municipalities, plus unincorporated Orange County, which is permitted by the county through Fast Track. We handle permits in all of them:
Only if the parcel is inside Orlando city limits. Some Orlando-area addresses are in unincorporated Orange County, where permits go through Fast Track, or in another city with its own department. We confirm this before preparing anything.
In unincorporated Orange County, fences six feet or under are permitted through the Zoning Division, and pavers require a Zoning permit only rather than a building permit.
Work on lakeshores, docks, seawalls or wetlands can require an Environmental Protection Division permit, and seawalls require Board of County Commissioners approval. Some cities handle lakeshore permits themselves, and a state permit may also apply. We identify these before the building submittal.
No. Orange County requires properties owned by a corporation, LLC or trust to use a Florida-licensed contractor. Owner-builder permits are for owners building for their own use or occupancy.
Generally when the building permit is issued, although for certain land uses payment can be tied to pre-power authorization or the certificate of occupancy. We will tell you which fees apply to your project, but we do not quote fee amounts on this page.
Send us the property address and a short description of the scope. We will identify the reviewing offices and send a flat-rate quote.