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Florida building permit search: find the office

Start here

Pick the office that issued the permit, then open that office's search. A mailing city of Sarasota is not the City of Sarasota.

Sarasota County, unincorporated

Older records: building.scgov.net. Later records: the Sarasota County Accela portal. Use that Accela link. Another county's Accela page is the wrong office. The steps and the file dates are on the Sarasota County permit search.

Manatee County, unincorporated

Open the Manatee County Accela portal. Use Advanced Search. Lookup Property Information searches by address. Do not reuse the Sarasota steps. That route is unincorporated Manatee County.

City and town

The City of Sarasota, the City of Venice, the City of North Port, and the Town of Longboat Key each keep their own building office. A county search that misses a house inside one of those limits is the wrong office. On the Manatee side, the City of Bradenton, the City of Palmetto, and Anna Maria Island keep their own files. This page does not describe those files and does not give them a search address.

• City of Sarasota permit search
• Venice eTRAKiT
• North Port and Longboat Key keep their own offices. The phones and counters are under How to search. This page does not invent a portal URL for either.
• Bradenton, Palmetto, and Anna Maria Island are not given a portal here. The Manatee County link above is the unincorporated county file.

How to search that office

Sarasota County

Use this for unincorporated Sarasota County, and then check the city before you assume the county file is the file.

Permit Search, the older file: building.scgov.net. Accela Citizen Access: the Sarasota County Accela portal.

The older search runs through August 15, 2023. The Accela records in the file start September 18, 2023. The days between are not in that file. That is the file, not the day the portal stops.

The unincorporated county search, the two portals, and those file dates are also on the Sarasota County permit search.

The August 2026 guide

Sarasota County publishes "Building Permit Guidelines, When a Building Permit Is Required."

The copy fetched on October 3, 2026, the Sarasota County building permit guidelines (August 2026), is marked "UPDATED AUGUST 2026."

The guide's overview says permits are required for the construction, alteration, addition, or change in occupancy of any building or structure, or for work that involves any electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing system.

An application must be made to the Building Official and a permit must be issued before any work may commence.

It says Permit Center staff are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

Work the guide says needs a permit

On the required side, the guide lists, among other items: any construction, alteration, addition, or change in occupancy; construction, alteration, or replacement of any exterior walls; replacement or repair of structural components, with beams, joists, trusses, and roof sheathing as the examples; alteration or replacement of interior load-bearing or non-load-bearing walls; a raised deck on residential property and all decks on commercial property; enclosure of existing carports, porches, or screen rooms; replacement of soffits and/or exterior wall coverings (25 percent or more of existing soffits); repair or replacement of any stairs or guardrails, including stairlifts; replacement of windows, exterior doors, garage doors, skylights, or alterations to exterior wall openings; installation or repair of docks, boat lifts, seawalls, or bulkheads; removal or replacement of drywall of three sheets or more; motorized or electric-powered gates; repairs due to fire; hurricane shutters; mobile or manufactured home installation; and masonry and engineered Styrofoam components. It also lists alteration, addition, or removal of electrical, air conditioning, or plumbing systems.

Examples that may not need a permit

On the no-permit side, the guide gives examples, and then says the items above are examples.

It says some of those work items still require a licensed contractor.

It says that when a building or structure is in a flood zone, or the work item is part of a larger project, a building permit is required.

The examples include floor or wall tile; rugs or carpeting; wired or wireless residential home alarms; interior and exterior painting; wallpaper; replacing kitchen cabinets in the same layout with no electrical, plumbing, or mechanical changes; repair of small incidental roof leaks of one square and $500 or less; chain link, wood, or vinyl fences when the stated standards are met; repair of existing fascia or soffits on single-family homes and duplexes when the repair is less than 25 percent; decks or patios placed directly on grade without footings, with a permit still required for commercial or multi-family; plastic or rubber storage containers under 7 feet tall and under 65 square feet that meet setbacks, residential only; and temporary residential hurricane and flood protection barriers on single-family homes.

The guide points questions about the application to [email protected].

It points questions about building without a permit to Building Licensing and Enforcement, and it prints [email protected] and 941-861-5000.

It does not print a fine amount. This page does not add one.

The building division page

The Sarasota County building division is the office behind those searches.

It says the division covers permitting centers, plan review, inspections, and licensing and enforcement, including unlicensed and unpermitted enforcement.

It says that effective December 31, 2023, building applications are subject to the 8th Edition 2023 Florida Building Code and the National Electric Code 2020.

It says that as of March 23, 2026, Planning and Development Services that had been at 1001 Sarasota Center Blvd moved to the PDS One Stop at 870 Apex Road, Sarasota, Florida 34240.

The contact table on that same page lists Building at 870 Apex Road, hours Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays, phone 941-861-5000, email [email protected].

It also lists a second counter at the R.L. Anderson Administration Center, 4000 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice, FL 34293, with the same hours and the same phone and email.

The inspections hotline on that page is 941-861-3271 or 941-861-3273, email [email protected].

The street number does not match across official pages. The permit-search site and the county hurricane-preparedness footer print 1 Apex Road. The building division's move notice and contact table print 870 Apex Road. This page does not choose between them.

Other facts on that building page that are easy to mix into the permit file, and do not belong there: exterior appliances such as HVAC units in a flood hazard area that are damaged by flooding must be elevated when replaced, and the page cites Florida Building Code sections for that; milestone inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or taller are tied to Florida Statute 553.899, with questions to [email protected]; virtual inspections through VuSpex are listed for specific inspection types, including one opening only, size for size, for a window or door replacement.

Those are office programs. They are not a house grade.

House Bill 803 on the county page

On the July 1, 2026 changes, the same page says several provisions of Florida House Bill 803 will affect permitting.

Besides the under-$7,500 item in the trades chapter, it says building inspection fees will no longer be based on the value of the work performed, that temporary flood proofing on single-family residences is exempt from permitting, and that permits for work less than $15,000 on an existing single-family residence will receive expedited reviews.

Those are the county's words. The statute's matching fee sentence, section 553.79(1)(f), says inspection fees may not be based on the total cost of a project and may not exceed the actual inspection costs.

The statute's temporary-barrier exemption, section 553.79(1)(h), is narrower than a blanket phrase: the barrier has to be nonhabitable and non-load-bearing, on a single-family, two-family, or townhouse residential property, built to mitigate or prevent storm surge or floodwaters, installed by a contractor licensed under part I of chapter 489, and in compliance with local zoning, drainage, easement, and setback rules. It does not apply in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code, and it still requires a written exemption request.

The county page does not reprint those conditions. Use the statute for the conditions. Use the county page for what the county says to read next, which is Bulletin 2026-0002 for the dollar exemption.

City and town offices are not the county file

A mailing city of Sarasota is not the City of Sarasota. The two county links above are unincorporated Sarasota County. Longboat Key also crosses into Manatee County.

City of Sarasota. The city's Building and Permitting page, opened October 3, 2026, says staff review plans and inspect projects in the city.

It says that effective December 31, 2023, applications are subject to the 8th Edition 2023 Florida Building Code and the National Electric Code 2020, and that effective December 31, 2026, applications will be subject to the 9th Edition 2026 Florida Building Code.

As of October 4, 2026, that second date has not arrived. The page lists permit types that include residential and commercial new construction, demolition, and renovation, and says single trades can qualify for over-the-counter permits such as air-conditioning changeouts, plumbing, electrical, roofing, windows, and some fire-system replacements.

"Some fire-system replacements" is the city's phrase for a permit type. It is not a fire-claim record.

The permitting phone on the page is (941) 263-6494.

The inspections line is (941) 263-6418, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., email [email protected]. Permitting email is [email protected].

The location printed for permitting is 1575 2nd Street, 2nd Floor, Sarasota, FL 34236.

The page links a building-permit lookup and the city's online submission.

A separate city portal, the City of Sarasota permit search, appeared as its own result in the October 3, 2026 search results for Sarasota permit searches.

City of Venice. The city's permitting page says a permit is required when an owner or authorized agent intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to do electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing work of the kinds the sentence lists.

Permit technicians are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at City Hall, 401 West Venice Avenue.

The main phone on that page is (941) 882-7547 and the email is [email protected].

As of October 1, 2021, the department no longer accepts paper applications.

On how long a permit stays valid, the city's own FAQ says a permit becomes invalid unless the work starts within six months after issuance, or if the work is suspended or abandoned for six months after it starts. It says work is in active progress when the permit has received an approved inspection within 180 days.

That is the City of Venice rule as printed there. It is not the county guide, and it is not the one-year single-family period in section 553.79(1)(c), which says a building permit a local government issues for a single-family dwelling expires one year after issuance or on the effective date of the next edition of the Florida Building Code, whichever is later, and that a local government may extend it.

The city's public search is Venice eTRAKiT. As returned on October 3, 2026, it offers search by permit number, parcel ID, address, permit type, and permit subtype.

City of North Port. The city's permitting page lists a Permit Lookup and an Accela Citizen Portal.

It says an account is required to use Accela, that creating the account is free, and that application fees are paid in the portal.

Office address: Development Services Department, 4970 City Hall Boulevard, North Port, FL 34286.

Building questions: [email protected]. Office phone printed on the page: (941) 429-7044.

Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with walk-in hours to 3:45 p.m.

On House Bill 803, North Port's page is more specific than the county's "may."

It says that effective July 1, 2026, the city is required by state law to exempt owners of single-family dwellings and their contractors from a permit for work valued at less than $7,500, and then it lists work that is not eligible regardless of cost: electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, and structural work.

The page's structural examples include railings, guards, pool barriers, windows and doors, siding, soffits, roofing, elevated decks, structural screen enclosures, and sheds.

It says detached sheds of 50 square feet or less do not require a building permit.

It says any work on property partly or entirely in a flood hazard area still needs a permit.

It says the city has no legal duty for work done under the exemption.

The temporary flood-barrier exemption on the same page applies only to property that is not in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and all five conditions the page lists have to be met.

This is the city's writing. It is not a second copy of the county guide. The page names a Permit Lookup and an Accela Citizen Portal. It does not print a URL this hub can label, so none is added.

Town of Longboat Key. The town's Building Division page says the division implements the Florida Building Code through plan review, permitting, and inspections, and that it implements FEMA standards for membership in the National Flood Insurance Program.

It says the 8th Edition (2023) Florida Building Code is effective January 1, 2024, for applications submitted on or after that date.

That date is not the December 31, 2023 date on Sarasota County's building page.

The town's page says certain work must be permitted under Chapter 150, Buildings, Section 150.30, and that questions go to the Building Official at 941-316-1966, extension 2521.

As of April 22, 2025, the town says it has transitioned to Accela. The town's own online permit search page says the search is for permit records that have been issued, tells the reader to use the Accela Citizen Portal and search under Building, Planning, or Code Enforcement, and says that a permit processed under the previous program, BS&A, or a search problem, should go to Planning, Zoning and Building at 941-316-1966.

The street address on both town pages is 501 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key, FL 34228.

Town Hall hours printed there are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If the house is inside the town, the file to open is the town's file, not Sarasota County's and not Manatee County's. The town's pages do not print a portal URL this hub can label, so none is added.

Manatee County

Manatee County's building search is a different office, a different address pair, a different computer system, and a different cutoff for old records. Do not reuse the Sarasota steps. There is no Manatee spoke on this site.

The county page "Apply, Search and Manage Building Permits," opened October 3, 2026, says Permitting does the completeness review of permit packages, processes applications, routes them, and issues permits.

Phone: 941-748-4501, extension 3800. Email: [email protected].

The address on that page is Manatee County Administration Building, East Campus, 9000 Town Center Parkway, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202.

It says you need an Online Services account to apply. The portal can be used to submit applications and payments and to search permits and track a project from submittal through final approval. Hours for the online service are printed as 24/7. Eligibility is printed as homeowners and registered contractors with a portal account.

A second county page, "Search Permit Records," prints a different street address for the same phone and email: Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave W, Bradenton, FL 34205. Both addresses are on county pages opened the same day. This page does not collapse them into one lobby.

That page says status can be checked using the address, the permit number, or the parcel ID. Eligibility on that page is printed as property owners and general contractors.

The Manatee County Accela portal carries a banner that the Development Services Department is reviewing legislative bills recently signed by the Governor, that formal guidance is not ready, and that more information will follow. People protected under section 119 exemptions need to contact Building and Development Services directly to start an application.

The home page offers Lookup Property Information under General Information, and Search Applications under Building. The county's Online Services instructions say the search bar was removed from the home page to comply with changes to Florida Statute 119.071. Search is by Advanced Search. For a record you are on, the instructions say to log in, open My Records, choose Building, Planning, or License, and open the record number. If you do not know the record number, use Advanced Search, then Lookup Property Information, to search by address. If you do not know the address, the instructions say Advanced Search, then Search Records/Applications, then Building, Planning, Licenses, or Complaint and Service Requests, and search by record number, record type, date range, address, and parcel number.

Records closed before February 28, 2018, which the page says is before Online Services went live, are in View Historical Permitting Data, CSV files of permits issued since 1991. The page says those files include data only. Documents are requested from the Records department. Reviewer-on-call hours on that resource page are printed as 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with (941) 749-3012 and [email protected], and (941) 748-4501 extension 6894.

The county's answer to "What if my building permit expires?" says permits expire after 180 days if no required inspections have been approved. It says a project is complete when it has passed final inspection or inspections, fees are paid, and all conditions are met. It says that if a new permit is not obtained within 180 days from the date the initial permit became null and void, the building official is authorized to require that work which has been commenced or completed be removed, or a new permit may be issued under the conditions the page states. It also says an extension can be requested before expiration through online services. That 180-day sentence is Manatee County's FAQ. It is not Venice's six-month sentence, and it is not section 553.79(1)(c)'s one-year period for a single-family permit. A tour notes the office on the permit, then the rule that office printed.

The same apply page says any person who is not licensed and registered with the Construction Industry Licensing Board is working illegally, and that the State Attorney General's Office has stated that contracts made with an unlicensed contractor are not enforceable. This page does not add a citation or a year for that statement. The page also says a license is some protection against being charged for work and materials that were not provided, or paying twice, because material suppliers and subcontractors can place a lien if they are not paid by the contractor. That is the county's reason. It is not a title search.

On spray foam, the apply page says Manatee County Development Services requires an alteration permit for residential and commercial jobs before spray foam is applied, citing Florida Building Code Section 2603 for commercial and R316 for residential, and that the application needs three sets of the manufacturer specifications. That requirement is not in the Sarasota guide text above.

One sentence on that apply page is about mobile food vending: the county says it only has jurisdiction over the unincorporated area of the county and does not issue vending permits or licenses. This page does not describe the City of Bradenton, the City of Palmetto, or the Anna Maria Island permit files, and it does not turn that vending sentence into a rule that the county never permits inside a city.

An empty search is not an all-clear

An empty search is not an all-clear. The statute requires a permit before the work it names, and it also creates exemptions. It does not say that a search with no rows means no work was ever done, or that the work you can see was done with a permit, or that the house is fit to buy.

Sarasota County's August 2026 guide and Manatee County's educational list both say their lists are examples or are not every scope of work. Work that never needed a permit, work done inside a city that keeps its own file, work done before the current computer system, and work done with no application at all can all leave a county search looking blank.

On the Sarasota County file, the older search and the Accela portal do not cover the same days. That date line is in the Sarasota County section above. Manatee records closed before February 28, 2018 are the CSV files named in the Manatee route.

A blank screen is a statement about the file you searched. It is not a statement about the house.

There is not one Florida form that searches every address. On October 3, 2026, the first live result for "Florida building permit search" was a private site, BuildZoom. That is one result, not a state address form, and it is not the office that issued the permit.

What shows up in the file

Roof, electrical, plumbing, and openings show up in that file when they were the kind of work the office requires a permit for and someone applied. They are not a topic called "year built," and they are not a complete inventory. Year built, flood, and marine work are in the next chapter.

Roofs

On roofs, Sarasota County's August 2026 guide puts replacement or repair of structural components, and it gives roof sheathing as an example, on the permit-required side. The same guide puts "repair of small, incidental roof leaks (one (1) square and $500 or less)" on the no-permit side.

Manatee County's educational permit list, fetched live on October 3, 2026, lists "new roofs and re-roofs" among work that requires a licensed contractor and a building permit, with a stated exception for the mobile home itself.

A roof line in a permit search is evidence of an application the office has. It is not a survey of every patch.

Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical

On electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work, the statute's exemption for some single-family jobs under $7,500 does not apply.

Section 553.79(1)(g) says a local government that issues building permits shall exempt an owner of a single-family dwelling, or the owner's contractor, from a building permit for work valued at less than $7,500 on the owner's property.

Subparagraph (g)2 then says that exemption does not apply to work on property partly or entirely in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code, and does not apply to any electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work on property containing a single-family dwelling.

A project may not be split to get under the dollar line.

To use the exemption, the owner or contractor must submit a written request with a contract or other documentation of the nature and value of the work.

The same paragraph says the local government has no legal duty to the owner, contractor, or later owners for work done under the exemption.

Sarasota County's building page, opened the same day, does not restate that statute as a flat exemption. It says that beginning July 1, 2026, specific types of work less than $7,500 on single-family homes may be exempt, that there are specific requirements, and that Bulletin 2026-0002 is where to see whether you qualify.

Do not read the county's "may" as the statute's "shall," or the reverse.

Manatee's educational list, on the permit-required side, includes any alteration of electrical, with a stated exception that residential low voltage needs no permit unless the cost exceeds $5,000 in any 12-month period. Mechanical: replacement and new air conditioners, and replacement and new duct work. Plumbing: water-heater replacement or new install, with a pointer to an exemption, re-pipe, new water service, and new or replacement sewer. Gas: natural gas line install, propane tank install, and gas water-heater or pool-heater install.

On the no-permit side of that list: a ceiling fan plugged into an existing outlet; water-heater change-out that is electric to electric only, same size, same location; and window air-conditioning unit replacement. A ceiling fan needs a permit if new wires are installed or wires are connected to existing wires.

Openings

Openings are the same kind of file, not a guarantee. Sarasota's August 2026 guide lists replacement of windows, exterior doors, garage doors, skylights, or alterations to exterior wall openings as permit-required.

Manatee's educational list covers windows and doors, including new openings and closing of an existing opening, as permit-required.

Neither document says the search result is every opening in the house.

What Manatee's list puts on each side

The Manatee County educational permit list says it is educational, that it does not include all scopes of work, and that it is not every requirement. It says to contact Building and Development Services at 941-748-4501, extension 6893, or Manatee County. The permitting office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The PDF's filename and body do not say "updated August 2026." The Accela banner says new legislation is still under review. Treat this PDF as the county's published educational list that was still at that URL on October 3, 2026, not as a revision that already absorbs House Bill 803. Where it and section 553.79 disagree, the statute is the newer text. This page will not merge them into one checklist.

Besides the trades above, the permit-required side includes attached decks of 120 square feet or larger and 30 inches or higher, with or without a roof; new or replacement siding; a kitchen remodel only if it adds or alters electrical, plumbing, building, or walls; new or replacement fascia and soffits; additions; swimming pools, including aboveground pools that exceed 24 inches in height; and demolition of structures or pools.

The no-permit side also includes painting, wallpaper, flooring, cabinet installation, and replacement of drywall when the contract does not include load-bearing walls or plumbing, electrical, or air-conditioning work. Prefabricated sheds used as tool and storage, playhouses, and similar uses are listed as exempt when the floor area does not exceed 120 square feet and the height is not over 8 feet from mean roof height, and the list says zoning and flood regulations still apply. Non-structural residential fences of wood, chain link, and vinyl are listed as exempt on a one- or two-family lot that is not in the regulatory floodplain.

Those thresholds are Manatee's list. They are not Sarasota's. Sarasota's guide uses three sheets of drywall, 25 percent of soffits, one roofing square and $500, and a 65-square-foot storage container. Manatee's list uses 120 square feet and 30 inches for decks, 120 square feet and 8 feet for those sheds, and a $5,000 low-voltage line. Copying one county's numbers onto the other county would be a false file.

The list also says an owner can serve as contractor when the building is for the owner's own use or occupancy and is not built or substantially improved for sale or lease, and it cites section 489.103 for the presumption if the property is sold or leased within one year. It says Manatee County does not reciprocate registered licenses, and that registered license holders must be current and active in Manatee County. License checks go to [email protected] or 941-748-4501, extension 6893.

What's usually elsewhere

Flood, year built, and marine work are not a row on the county permit search. Each one has its own office. This chapter points at those offices. It does not open a separate flood page or a marine page.

Flood zone

Flood does not come from the permit file.

Sarasota County's building division page tells a reader who wants to know whether a structure is in a flood zone to use the Sarasota County Property Appraiser site, enter the address, and look for the required elevation at the bottom of that page.

The same building page has a separate heading, "FEMA New Flood Maps," for maps it says became effective March 2024. Those are not fields described on the county permit-search page at building.scgov.net, which describes a property search and then a permit type or a date range.

Evacuation level

Manatee County Emergency Management's "Know your Evacuation Level" page, opened October 3, 2026, says evacuation levels are not the same as flood zones and do not correlate to the category of a hurricane.

Levels on that page are letters A through E. Level A is evacuated first.

The page says the levels are based on hypothetical storm scenarios and potential saltwater storm surge, not freshwater or rainfall flooding.

That page is Emergency Management. It is not the Accela building search. Mobile homes, manufactured homes, RVs, and travel trailers evacuate when Level A is issued no matter where they are.

The same page says Manatee County building codes have changed, that homes built on or after March 2012 are required to be built to sustain 150 mph winds, homes built between March 2002 and March 2012 were required to be built to sustain 130 mph winds, and homes built before March 2002 were built to sustain 110 mph winds on the coast and as low as 90 mph in places like Duette.

It says that if the roof has been replaced, it should have been built to newer codes, and it points the reader to a wind-mitigation report. Those sentences are Emergency Management's. They are not a line on the permit-search page. "Should" is the page's word. This page does not turn it into a statement that a replaced roof on a given house was built to a newer code, and it does not turn a wind-mitigation report into an insurance decision.

This page does not describe Sarasota County evacuation levels.

Year built

Year built sits beside the permit record. It is not another trade in the file. In Manatee County, the Property Appraiser's tax-parcel data dictionary, opened October 3, 2026, names BLDG_R1_YRBUILT as "Main Residential Building's Actual Year Built" and BLDG_C1_YRBUILT as "Main Commercial Building's Actual Year Built."

The same dictionary keeps permit attributes in a different prefix: PERMIT1 is "the latest permit that was pulled," and the field notes say that permit is the newest one that "MAY/WILL Impact the Current Tax Roll."

PERMIT1_NUMBER, PERMIT1_AP_DATE, PERMIT1_CO_DATE, PERMIT1_STATUS, and PERMIT1_TYPE are attributes of that newest permit. PERMIT1_CO_DATE is defined there as the permit closure, "CO or Final," date. PERMS_CNT_AO_PO is the count of permits that may or will affect the current tax roll and are still open at the permit agency and at the Property Appraiser. "Open" in that field is the appraiser's status flag for tax-roll impact. It is not, by itself, the building department's inspection result.

The dictionary says the feature class is for general reference, is not warranted for any particular use, and should not be used for site-specific evaluation. A tour can look at the number. It should not treat the GIS table as the inspection.

The Sarasota County Property Appraiser search landing page, opened October 3, 2026, did not show a year-built label, so this page does not name a Sarasota field.

Marine and waterfront

A dock, a boat lift, a seawall, or a bulkhead is not the same file in both counties. The pages opened on October 4, 2026 do not use one permit name for both. This stays a section of the hub. There is no separate marine page.

Sarasota County puts this work on a building accessory record and on a Water and Navigation Control Authority permit. Manatee County lists a Waterfront Structure on the building application. The Manatee environmental pages, quoted later in this section, generally require an Administrative Permit, then name general-permit requirements, a general-consent rule, and separate permits for specific structures. This page does not copy one county's permit onto the other.

Sarasota County. The August 2026 building guide lists installation or repair of docks, boat lifts, seawalls, or bulkheads as work that needs a building permit. That sentence is the building guide. It is not the environmental permit.

The county's Accela user guide, marked "Update: 2023" and fetched October 4, 2026, says Accessory Permits are for, among other work, "Dock, Pier, Boat Lift" and "Sea Wall, Bulkhead." The same guide says an incorrect record type has to be canceled and started again. The express-permit list in that guide does not include a dock, a pier, a boat lift, a seawall, or a bulkhead.

The Environmental Permitting page, opened the same day, says the Environmental Protection Division reviews applications and issues permits for the construction of docks, boat lifts, personal watercraft lifts, rock revetments and bulkheads, and similar structures, as well as maintenance dredges. It sorts that work three ways, and it uses "typically" on the first two:

• General Permits are typically for repair and replacement of existing permitted structures or installation of a boat lift at an existing dock.
• Minor Work Permits are typically required for new dock construction, modifications to existing dock structures, and for any proposed maintenance dredge projects.
• Major Work Permits are required for any project that does not meet the standards for a General or Minor Work Permit.

The page says the standards are in the WNCA Code, Chapter 54, Article XX. It does not restate a width, a length, a setback, or a fee.

The two Sarasota pages do not say the accessory building record is the WNCA permit. This page does not merge them.

Sarasota's environmental page says a Manatee Protection Plan review is required if a development proposal includes spaces for 5 or more motorized boats, wet or dry slips. It says the plan does not apply to single-family docks. That is Sarasota's page. It is not Manatee County's building search.

On mangroves, that page says the county received delegation from the state in 2016 to administer local mangrove trimming and alteration permits, and that many trimming activities require a permit. That is a mangrove sentence. It is not a dock permit.

The page also says owners are responsible for obtaining any permit approvals that may be required by federal, state, or Sarasota County laws before work seaward of the Gulf Beach Setback Line or waterward of the Barrier Island Pass Twenty-Year Hazard Line, and that state, federal, and other local permits may also be required there. For that coastal-setback question it prints the Florida Department of Environmental Protection South District Office in Fort Myers, 239-344-5600, and the Office of Beaches and Coastal Systems in Tallahassee, 850-245-7669.

The environmental page's contact line is 311 or 941-861-5000. It does not say whether a dock inside the City of Sarasota, the City of North Port, the City of Venice, or the Town of Longboat Key is in the county WNCA file. This page does not fill that in.

Manatee County. The county page "Apply, Search and Manage Building Permits," opened October 4, 2026, lists Waterfront Structure as its own standard-permit type. Always required: building plans, and site plans or a survey. Conditionally required: a Notice to Building Official, and a Private Provider Plan Compliance Affidavit. Waterfront Structure is not on the express-permit list printed on that page. The express list there is a residential air-conditioning change-out, residential electrical, a residential roof, residential plumbing, and a door and window.

That list is the building application. It is not Section 511.17.

The Environmental Planning Section page, opened the same day, says waterfront structures, including boat docks, seawalls, and rip rap, are regulated under Section 511.17 of the Manatee County Land Development Code. Its question on permissions says that, generally, construction, expansion, or reconstruction of a waterfront or erosion control structure requires an Administrative Permit, plus the general-permit requirements of the Army Corps of Engineers, the general consent criteria of the Department of Environmental Protection, which the page cites as section 403.813(2), Florida Statutes, and separate permits from the Department of Environmental Protection, the Army Corps, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District for specific waterfront structures, obtained before construction begins. A county article published December 27, 2024, still on the county site when opened October 4, 2026, uses its own sentence: generally, no waterfront or erosion control structure shall be erected, expanded, or reconstructed except in accordance with an Administrative Permit and those same three provisions, and the separate permits must be obtained prior to construction.

It does not restate what that statute allows. A county PDF whose file name includes "v67-comments" turned up in search and was not used. That file is a comments copy, not the code quoted here.

The building page and the environmental pages do not say the Waterfront Structure application is the Administrative Permit. This page does not merge them.

On mangroves, both Manatee pages say the county has not been granted delegated authority by the Department of Environmental Protection. Mangrove areas are regulated as other wetland areas, under Land Development Code Section 706. That is the opposite of the delegation sentence on Sarasota's environmental page. It is not a second copy of Sarasota's mangrove permit.

The educational list uses the word "Marine" once in the text extracted for this section. It sits in a list of specialty contractor licenses from the Division of Business and Professional Regulation, beside "Gas Line" and "Swimming Pool Layout." That line is a license category. It is not a dock rule, a seawall rule, or a bulkhead rule. The extracted text does not use the words dock, seawall, bulkhead, or waterfront.

The environmental page prints Environmental Planning at (941) 749-3012 and [email protected]. A banner on that page says Development Services has moved to 9000 Town Center Parkway. The footer still prints 1112 Manatee Ave West. This section does not pick one door.

No page opened for this section prints a marine-permit fee or a fine. None is added here.

What the record doesn't say

What section 553.79 calls a permit

A building permit, in Florida statute, is the thing you get from the local enforcing agency before listed work starts.

Section 553.79(1)(a), Florida Statutes, as printed on Online Sunshine when this page was opened on October 3, 2026, says it is unlawful to construct, erect, alter, modify, repair, or demolish any building in this state without first obtaining a permit from the appropriate enforcing agency, unless otherwise provided by law, after payment of the fees that agency has adopted. The same subsection says that agency may revoke the permit if it determines the work is in violation of, or not in conformity with, the Florida Building Code.

That is a permission to do a described job, reviewed against the code, and later inspected for that job.

The notice the permit has to carry

The face of the permit is also not the whole public record of the property. Section 553.79(12) requires the permit, or an attachment, to carry this notice: "In addition to the requirements of this permit, there may be additional restrictions applicable to this property that may be found in the public records of this county, and there may be additional permits required from other governmental entities such as water management districts, state agencies, or federal agencies."

Not a grade and not a whole-house inspection

It is not a grade of the house. No statute or county page cited here calls a permit file a score.

It is not a whole-house inspection. Section 553.79(21)(a), still printed on that same statute page, says a local enforcing agency may not require, as a condition of a one- or two-family residential building permit, the inspection of any portion of a building or real property that is not directly impacted by the work the permit is for.

Subsection (21)(d) says that limit is repealed only after the Secretary of State receives a written certification that the Florida Building Commission has adopted the same limit into the Florida Building Code and the amendment has taken effect.

This page does not confirm whether that certification has been filed.

Read the subsection with its repeal sentence, not as a promise that every Florida inspection today stops at the permitted work.

• It does not grade the house.
• It does not inspect rooms the permit does not touch, subject to the repeal sentence in section 553.79(21)(d) noted above.
• It does not become an all-clear when the search returns nothing.
• It does not state the flood zone. Sarasota's building page sends that question to the property appraiser and to the FEMA map note. Manatee's evacuation page says an evacuation level is not a flood zone.
• It does not state the evacuation level. This page does not describe Sarasota County evacuation zones. Manatee's levels are on the Emergency Management page cited above.
• It is not a fire-claim history. Sarasota's August 2026 guide lists "repairs due to fire" among work that requires a permit. That is a category of construction work. It is not a record of an insurance claim.

What close means

Closing a permit has a statutory meaning that is easy to over-read on a tour.

Section 553.79(16) says "close" means the requirements of the permit have been satisfied.

A property owner may close a permit by keeping the original contractor, hiring a different licensed contractor for the work needed to satisfy the permit and obtain the inspections, or assuming the owner-builder role under the statutes named there.

If a different contractor is hired only to close it, that contractor is not liable for defects in the original contractor's work and is liable for the work he or she performs.

The same section says a local enforcement agency may close a building permit six years after issuance, even without a final inspection, if the agency determines that no apparent safety hazard exists.

Section 553.79(17)(a) says the local enforcement agency may not deny a new building permit to, or fine, an arms-length purchaser for value solely because a previous owner applied for a permit and did not close it. The agency keeps its rights against the owner and contractor listed on that permit.

None of that is a promise that an open file is harmless, or that a closed file means every part of the house was inspected.

What Hurricane Six does

Hurricane Six puts the permit record next to year built and flood zone on an address you type.

That is the product. It is not Sarasota County's search, not Manatee County's search, and not the city or town searches named above.

It does not grade the house, does not perform the inspection, and does not turn an empty file into an all-clear.

It does not say a carrier will insure the house.

It does not say Hurricane Six covers Longboat Key. The town's file stays on the town's search.

Check an address in Hurricane Six

FAQ

Questions only. The title of the page stays a search.

How do I look up a building permit in Florida?

There is not one state form that searches every Florida address.

Section 553.79 puts the permit at the appropriate enforcing agency.

For a house in unincorporated Sarasota County, use the Sarasota County permit search. For a house inside the City of Sarasota, use the City of Sarasota permit search. For Venice, use Venice eTRAKiT. For North Port or Longboat Key, use that city's or town's office, described under How to search. A mailing city of Sarasota is not the City of Sarasota.

For unincorporated Manatee County, start at the Manatee County Accela portal.

This page does not give Bradenton or Palmetto a search address.

How do I look up a permit in Sarasota County?

Use the Sarasota County permit search. That page has the county portals and the file dates.

If the house is inside a city or on Longboat Key, the county search is the wrong file. A mailing city of Sarasota is not the City of Sarasota.

How do I look up a permit in Manatee County?

For unincorporated Manatee County, open the Manatee County Accela portal. The county's Online Services page says the home-page search bar was removed because of Florida Statute 119.071. The City of Bradenton, the City of Palmetto, and Anna Maria Island keep their own files. This page does not describe them and does not give them a search address.

Use Advanced Search. Lookup Property Information searches by address.

Search Records/Applications can take a record number, a record type, a date range, an address, or a parcel number. The Search Permit Records page also says status can be checked with the address, the permit number, or the parcel ID.

Records closed before February 28, 2018 are data in CSV files of permits issued since 1991.

The page says those files are data only, and that documents come from the Records department.

The Accela home page says people covered by a section 119 exemption have to contact the department to start an application.

Are building permits public record in Florida?

Florida's building-permit statute requires the local enforcement agency to post each type of application and to post and update the status of every received application on its website until the permit is issued.

Manatee County's own portal says it removed the home-page search bar to comply with changes to section 119.071, and that people protected by a section 119 exemption contact the department directly.

It does not say every attachment in a permit file is public, and it does not say the file is secret.

Do building permits expire in Florida?

It depends on which rule the office is applying, and the pages cited here do not all use the same clock.

Section 553.79(1)(c) says a building permit a local government issues for a single-family dwelling expires one year after issuance, or on the effective date of the next Florida Building Code edition, whichever is later, and that the local government may extend it.

The same statute says a local government may send a written notice at least 30 days before a permit is set to expire.

Manatee County's FAQ says permits expire after 180 days if no required inspections have been approved.

The City of Venice's FAQ says a permit becomes invalid unless work starts within six months, or if work is suspended or abandoned for six months, and that active progress means an approved inspection within 180 days.

Use the clock printed by the office that issued the permit. This page does not pick one number for every house.

What work can be done without a building permit?

There is no complete statewide list in the sources opened here.

Section 553.79(1)(g) and (1)(h) are the statewide exemptions quoted above, and both have exclusions, a written request, and a sentence that the local government has no legal duty for the exempted work.

Sarasota County's August 2026 guide gives examples and says that a flood zone, or a larger project, puts a permit back on the job.

Manatee County's list says it is not every scope of work.

North Port prints its own House Bill 803 exceptions, including windows, doors, and roofing as structural work that is not eligible for the under-$7,500 exemption.

Match the house to the office. Do not copy one list onto the other county.

What does an open permit mean?

Section 553.79(16) says "close" means the requirements of the permit have been satisfied.

Manatee County's FAQ says a project is complete when it has passed the final inspection or inspections, fees are paid, and all conditions are met.

An open item is a permit that has not reached that close. It is not a grade of the rest of the house.

The statute also says an agency may close a permit six years after issuance without a final inspection if it finds no apparent safety hazard, and that an arms-length purchaser for value is not denied a new permit, and is not fined, solely because a previous owner's permit was not closed.

Manatee County's Property Appraiser data dictionary uses "open" as a tax-roll status on permits that may affect the roll. That flag is not the building department's inspection report.

If the search shows no permit, is the work legal?

No source cited here says that.

A permit is required before the work the statute and the local guide name, unless an exemption applies.

An empty search can mean the work did not require a permit, the application is in another office, the record is on the Sarasota County permit search or in the pre-February 28, 2018 Manatee data file, or the work was done with no application.

Sarasota's guide tells you to contact Building Licensing and Enforcement about building without a permit. It does not print a fine.

This page does not invent one.

Is the evacuation level the flood zone?

Not in Manatee County. Emergency Management says evacuation levels are not the same as flood zones and do not correlate to hurricane category.

Sarasota County's building page sends the flood-zone question to the property appraiser and keeps a separate note on FEMA flood maps that became effective March 2024.

This page does not describe Sarasota County evacuation levels.

Will this file tell me if a carrier will insure the house?

No. A permit file is the enforcing agency's record of applications, reviews, and inspections for the work that was permitted.

It is not an insurance decision. This page does not say a carrier will insure the house, and it does not say a carrier will deny a claim.