Call us: 1-800-366-7515

Second Best Elite Permits Logo

Elite Permits

Blogs , Videos, News & Updates

Building Permits Records

july 2022, issue 2

ELITE PERMITS

BRIEFING ON CONSTRUCTION & Some other stuff

Written by TATIANA gUSt

When you build a new house or go through a remodel process there is a set of construction documents that are processed at the local building department prior to proceeding with the work, unless someone did work without a permit! These historical documents are called “Building permit records. In my experience, these records are available at the local building department for projects done within the last 10 years (after writing this post I found that Florida requires a minimum of 10 year of records retention); however, older projects also may be available depending on the records keeping policy that each jurisdiction currently has 

Some building departments have amazing documentation. I have been able to find records very well maintained in the City of Naples for buildings built in 1960s, just when the building department was founded in that area. Most of these old archives are kept in microfilm and you have to dig through them, but most records custodians are very helpful in the process. With todays technology, building departments have much more accurate records than they used to, and with the years, they also will have libraries with longer time span, since most of the building departments are processing permits in an electronic format now 

Building departments are government agencies, and as such, they have a way to process public records request. Our corporate office is located in the State of Florida, the “Sunshine State”; our legislators believe in government transparency, therefore all government agencies in our state are regulated by the Sunshine Law. Other states have similar laws and regulations. The Sunshine Law provides access to governmental procedures and records at both state and local levels. Therefore, local government must maintain records available, and these include the records of approved construction drawings and specifications, which if they have them, they have to be made available to you. 

So, if you are looking to do a remodel on your recently acquired home, make sure to start by requesting the records available at the building department. In this way, you have a starting point, and at the same time you can verify if anything was done without a permit by a previous owner (this happens when you receive the records and your floor plan is different than the actual building). You don’t know how many times we have seen this, and the new owner is responsible for bringing the unpermitted work into compliance. 

I hope this article is helpful to you or someone you may know.  

Let me know if you have additional questions about the building codes or construction process. Follow us for more and share our blog here! 

Share this Post

Related Articles

home vs building inspector

Understanding the differences between Building Inspectors and Home Inspectors

Building inspectors and home inspectors may have similar backgrounds, but they serve different roles. A building inspector works for a municipal entity or private company and inspects buildings during the construction process, whereas a home inspector is usually an independent contractor hired by buyers to evaluate existing buildings for safety and soundness. In this blog, we’ll delve deeper into the differences between the two professions.

Read More »
What inspectors look for at final inspection.

What inspectors look for at final inspection.

Today we will be discussing about inspections related to a building permit from a building code point of view. As we have discussed in other blogs, there are different departments that also review and inspect as part of the building process. There could be other inspections such as final site inspections, final fire inspection, or final health inspection, etc.

Read More »
building codes

Base Building Codes

Base Building Codes

As a code consulting professional, I like to explain how the state-specific codes are developed and how to use them.

I live in the beautiful state of Florida, and before 2002 there were building codes in the state, but pretty much each jurisdiction had their own codes and local requirements regarding the building portion of the code.

Read More »
what is a storm surge

Understanding Storm Surge

With another storm on the horizon, I want to take this time to explain storm surges:
The news in their desire to provide information, often do so in a context that is not clear for everyone. I have been working in construction and everything associated to the building codes for over 18 years, I’m accustomed to the language and what it meant, but never thought about explaining it to the people closest to me.

Read More »
ONLINE RESOURCES

Online Resources for Codes

Today I want to share some helpful information about what is available to anyone online. In our last blog we talked about the zoning codes and the building codes, so I decided to provide helpful links here to the resources for those codes. I will start with the simple single statewide code, the Florida Building Code. This link allows you to see all the building codes which includes about eight books, all of which you can electronically search and read about what applies under each category.

Read More »
Elite Permit Favorites
Social Media

Like Us On Facebook

Explore
Stay in Touch

Subscribe to our newsletter for more updates

icon About
Exposure represents the adjustments due the characteristics of the terrain surrounding the building.

Exposure B.For buildings with a mean roof height of less than or equal to 30 feet (9144 mm), Exposure B shall apply where the ground surface roughness, as defined by Surface Roughness B, prevails in the upwind direction for a distance of at least 1,500 feet (457 m). For buildings with a mean roof height greater than 30 feet (9144 mm), Exposure B shall apply where Surface Roughness B prevails in the upwind direction for a distance of at least 2,600 feet (792 m) or 20 times the height of the building, whichever is greater.

Exposure C.Exposure C shall apply for all cases where Exposure B or D does not apply.

Exposure D.Exposure D shall apply where the ground surface roughness, as defined by Surface Roughness D, prevails in the upwind direction for a distance of at least 5,000 feet (1524 m) or 20 times the height of the building, whichever is greater. Exposure D shall also apply where the ground surface roughness immediately upwind of the site is B or C, and the site is within a distance of 600 feet (183 m) or 20 times the building height, whichever is greater, from an Exposure D condition as defined in the previous sentence.