How to Apply for City of Orlando Building Permits

Planning new construction, renovation, or expansion can be an exciting venture. However, even before breaking ground, a building permit from your city or county is required to ensure that your project meets local safety regulations.

Even though you own the property, any project that changes the structure of your home or will be an addition to your land requires a building permit. Ignoring this requirement can result in a hefty fine or even a future lawsuit upon selling the property to a new owner.

The City of Orlando, Florida mandates building permits for changes to your property. This step-by-step guide will assist you in applying for to ensure your project stays within the city's ordinances.

While this process can be a tedious one, DoNotPay can cut through the government red tape to help you obtain your City of Orlando building permits in just a few easy steps.

How Do I Determine if I Need a Building Permit?

The State of Florida, by law, requires a building permit for most projects, no matter their size and scope. The City of Orlando provides an online questionnaire to determine the required permits for your project. Note that your project may require additional permits for jobs involving electrical, plumbing, and natural gas installations and upgrades.

To access the questionnaire, follow the procedure given below:

Navigate to the City of Orlando 's Permitting Services website.
From the menu on the right, click on Permitting Guide under the Resources section.
This will bring you to the Digital Permitting website. Under Residential Portal, click on Calculate my Permits.
Click Next on the bottom right to begin the questionnaire. Note: You will need the estimated costs for your project to enter into the survey.
Once you have answered all questions, your required permits, including the building permit, and associated fees are displayed.

What Documents Do I Need to Obtain a City of Orlando Building Permit?

Plans and surveys of the property where the work will be done.
Trade permits are required to cover any electrical, plumbing, gas, or other work included in the project.
If you are doing the work yourself, you must submit an Owner/Builder Declaration form with the building permit application. The form must be signed in person at the permitting office.
If a contractor is completing the work, their requirements are their license and worker's compensation insurance proof. Registered contractors need to show a surety bond and a competency card.

How Do I Obtain a Building Permit in the City of Orlando?

After completing the online questionnaire with the above procedure, you may begin the application process for your .

Click on Begin Permit Application on the bottom right side of the page.
You are now on the Create Your Account page. Create an account that will save and track your project progress from start to finish.
After creating your account, you are taken to the Set Up Your Project page. Enter a name for your project.
Your project page appears, containing the building permit download. Click on download to go to the next page.
Download the application on the Building Permit page.
Note: Parts of the application will also have to be completed by the contractor and notarized. When done, submit it to digitalpermits@cityoforlando.net

You may also schedule an in-person or virtual appointment to process your building permit application. Note that if you need to submit an Owner/Builder Declaration form, this must be signed in person at the office.

Check your eligibility by ensuring the property address is within the city limits of the Orange County Property Appraiser. Use theproperty search website to do this.
Compile the necessary forms for your project including the permit applications. The download links can be found here.
Schedule an appointment. Virtual appointments can also be scheduled.
For in-person appointments, be sure to arrive no more than 30 minutes prior to your appointment time. Arrivals more than 15 minutes past the appointment time will be canceled.

What Are the Fees for a City of Orlando Building Permit?

The fee for a City of Orlando building permit varies widely, as it depends on the scope and type of the project. As a result, the schedule of permit costs is lengthy and has a number of conditions. You can access the complete list here. However, by completing the questionnaire about your project as instructed above, you can obtain the exact cost of your building permit.

How Can DoNotPay Help You Obtain a City of Orlando Building Permit?

As you can see, applying for a City of Orlando building permit is a rather lengthy and detailed process. However, DoNotPay can help you apply for the permit more efficiently in just six easy steps:

Go to the Planning Permissions product on DoNotPay.
Choose one of the following options:
Check whether your project needs a building permit or if it's exempt
Generate a permission request letter to send to your HOA
Generate a guide on how to complete the building permit application
Choose the focus of your project (new ADU, pool, shed, fence, etc.) and answer a few questions about your plans, including the size of the structure and estimated cost.
Indicate whether you're hiring a contractor and include the estimated start date and timeline for the project.
Indicate whether any public sidewalk/street space will be used during construction.
And that's it! DoNotPay will help guide you through the building permit process by checking if your project needs a building permit, contacting any HOAs you're a part of to request building permission, or generating detailed instructions on how to start and complete your building permit application process.

DoNotPay can help in cities including Palm Beach , Los Angeles , Chicago , and Sarasota , and many, many more locations.

Why Use DoNotPay to Obtain a City of Orlando Building Permit

There are a lot of reasons why you should choose DoNotPay:

It’s Fast	You don't have to spend hours trying to obtain a building permit.
It’s Easy	You don't have to struggle to fill out tedious forms or keep track of all the steps involved in obtaining a permit.
It’s Successful	You can rest assured knowing we'll make the best case for you.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

Helping you obtain a building permit quickly and easily is just one of the many things DoNotPay can do. Here are just a few of the many other helpful features we cover:

With DoNotPay 's innovative platform, we help you cut through bureaucratic red tape and resolve many common administrative issues. Rather than trudging through pages of confusing information and application instructions, DoNotPay can get licenses, permits, and claims requests completed more efficiently.