Do you need a permit for a home addition in Orlando or Seminole County?

Since July 1, 2026, Florida law (HB 803, now in F.S. 553.79) requires local governments to exempt single-family homeowners and their contractors from a building permit for work valued under $7,500, after a written request with the contract. The same law lists what the exemption never covers: any electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical or gas work, and any property in a flood hazard area. A project may not be split into pieces to get under the threshold.

An addition is structural by definition — a new foundation, new walls, a new roof tied into the old one — and almost always brings wiring, ductwork and often plumbing with it. So the exemption does not apply, and the full permit path does: a building permit reviewed against the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), with the trade permits issued alongside it. The 9th Edition is in development and not yet in effect; we confirm the edition in force when the permit is submitted.

The practical consequence is that the drawings come first. The permit office reviews a site plan showing the setbacks, floor plans and elevations, sealed structural engineering for the foundation, the roof tie-in and the wind design for your address, and energy calculations for the new conditioned space. Review comments, if any, are answered before the permit is issued, and inspections follow each stage of the build until the permit is closed.

The city issues the permit when the property is inside city limits; the county does when it is unincorporated. A mailing address does not settle it — many homes with an Orlando address are in unincorporated Orange County, and addresses on the rural edge of Oviedo are in unincorporated Seminole County. We check the parcel before anything is filed. The table gives the office for each place we build in; the city pages carry the same information with the planning ranges.

Office names from each jurisdiction's building department pages; the full list with ADU rules is in who issues your permit.

Design wind speed is not one number for the region: it is set per address under the code, and windows and exterior doors must carry Florida Product Approval for the pressures that result. None of Seminole, Orange or Osceola County is in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, which covers Broward and Miami-Dade only, so a Miami-Dade product approval is not required here by statute.

• Site plan and survey — the footprint against the zoning setbacks and lot-coverage limit; a boundary survey where the setbacks are tight.
• Floor plans and elevations — the new space and how its roofline and exterior finish meet the existing house.
• Structural engineering — sealed drawings for the footing and slab or raised floor, the wall and roof framing, the tie-in to the existing structure and the wind design for your address under the Florida Building Code.
• Energy calculations — the insulation, glazing and heating and cooling for the new conditioned space.
• Trade permits — electrical, plumbing and mechanical, issued with the building permit and inspected separately.
• Flood information — the flood zone for the parcel and, where it applies, the value of the work against the building's value.

Almost always. Under F.S. 713.135, the permit office must require a copy of the Notice of Commencement before the first inspection when the direct contract is greater than $5,000, and the notice has to be recorded and posted on the site before that inspection. Every addition we build is above that threshold. The owner signs the notice; we prepare it with the permit paperwork so it is recorded and posted before the first inspection is called, and we close it out with the permit.

Two related contract rules apply at the same time. A residential contract where labor and materials exceed $2,500 must carry the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund notice (F.S. 489.1425) and, for work on a one- to four-unit home, the construction lien law disclosure (F.S. 713.015). Our written contracts include both.

Florida does not cap the deposit, but it does tie a large one to the permit. Under F.S. 489.126, a contractor who receives an initial payment of more than 10% of the contract price for residential work must apply for the necessary permits within 30 days and start the work within 90 days after the permits are issued, unless there is just cause or a written agreement to a longer period. If a contractor asks for a large deposit and then goes quiet, that statute is the first thing to check.

The licence number must appear on every offer, proposal, bid, contract and advertisement (F.S. 489.119). Ours is CGC1539321, and you can verify it on the DBPR licence search before you sign.

Look the address up on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center first. In a mapped special flood hazard area, work costing 50% or more of the building's market value before the work is a substantial improvement (44 CFR 59.1), and the existing building must then meet the flood standards for new construction — which typically means raising the living area. Florida law (F.S. 163.31795) bars local governments from adding projects together over several years to reach the threshold, so the test is per project.

The valuation method is local. Seminole County applies the test to an addition or other improvement that costs 50% or more of the building's market value; the City of Orlando applies its substantial improvement and damage rules to existing buildings in the Special Flood Hazard Area, which can require the finished floor to be raised. Because the threshold is a share of the building's value, a large addition on a lower-value house crosses it sooner than a modest one on a newer house. We check the zone and the local method before design, and the exemption above never applies in a flood hazard area in any case.

HOA and architectural review is separate from the permit. In Baldwin Park, Lake Nona, Celebration and most planned communities in Seminole County, the association's review board approves the elevations, roofline and materials, and that approval usually has to be in hand before the building department will issue the permit. The drawings for the association come from the same design set.

Property taxes follow the new value. Under Florida's Save Our Homes rules (F.S. 193.155), changes, additions and improvements are assessed at just value when they are added, while the yearly increase on the existing homestead stays capped. The county property appraiser sets the figure. If the addition is an accessory dwelling unit inside the City of Orlando, the city's ADU Incentive Program rebates up to $10,000 toward construction plus impact and permit fees after the certificate of occupancy, when the unit is rented at or below 120% of area median income for 12 of the first 24 months.

1. Site visit: we measure, check the structure and utilities, and confirm the parcel's jurisdiction, zoning setbacks, flood zone and any HOA review.
2. Design and a written, itemised estimate, with the permit and engineering fees shown separately.
3. Structural engineering and energy calculations for the permit set; HOA or architectural review submitted where it applies.
4. Permit application to the city or county for your address; review comments answered.
5. Contract signed, Notice of Commencement recorded and posted, permit issued — then construction starts within the statutory window.
6. Inspections at each stage, the permit closed, and a final walkthrough. about 3–5 months from permit to finish for a room addition; second stories and ADUs take longer is the typical span from permit to finish.