How to Read a Building Permit Record

A permit record tells you who did what work, at which address, and whether an inspector signed off. This guide explains the fields on a Florida county or city permit record and where to look them up.

Florida law makes it unlawful to build, alter, modify, repair or demolish a building without first getting a permit.¹ Single-family owners get an exemption for work valued under $7,500. That exemption does not cover any electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical or gas work.¹ So for plumbing, a permit record is where the job should show up.

The Fields on a Permit Record

Each county and city uses its own software, so labels vary. The Pinellas County Access Portal is a good model. Its record page shows a record number, record type, record status, expiration date, work location, project description and owner.⁶ A menu on the same page opens processing status, attachments and inspections.⁶

Status words differ by office. In one Pinellas search, residential plumbing records showed statuses such as "Plans Received", "In Review", "Awaiting Plans" and "Incomplete Submittal".⁶ Those are early stages. None of them means the work was approved.

Some jobs also have a notice of commencement. Florida requires most owners to record one in the clerk's office before an improvement starts.³ Pinellas County asks for the recorded notice with permit submittals above set project values.⁵

Final or Closed vs Expired

A permit can end in two very different ways. It can pass its final inspection and close. Or it can run out of time first.

A single-family permit expires 1 year after issue or when the next Florida Building Code edition takes effect, whichever is later.¹ A local government may extend it.¹ It may also send the owner and contractor a written notice at least 30 days before expiration.¹

What "Expired Without Final Inspection" Means

It means the permit's time ran out before an inspector recorded a passed final. The record does not show that the finished work was approved. Maybe the work was never done. Maybe it was done and nobody called for the final. The record alone cannot tell you which.

Florida gives owners ways to close such permits. An owner may close a permit with the original contractor, a new licensed contractor, or as an owner-builder.¹ If the work was substantially completed, an expired permit can be closed without a new permit.¹ A local agency may also close a permit 6 years after issue without a final inspection, if it finds no apparent safety hazard.¹

Pinellas County lets an expired permit be reinstated through the Access Portal, and takes extension requests by form before expiration.⁵

Where to Look Up Permits

Start by finding which office covers the address. Cities and counties issue permits separately.

Pinellas County

The Pinellas County Access Portal covers unincorporated Pinellas and six cities: Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore, Indian Rocks Beach, Kenneth City, Safety Harbor and Oldsmar.⁵ You can search by address, licensed professional or record information.⁶ Results cover the past two years by default; change the start date to see older records.⁶

City of St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg issues its own permits. Its online system, Click2Gov Building Permit, lets you view permit history and inspection results without an account.^7,8

Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County uses HillsGovHub for permits, licensing and inspections.⁹ A general search needs no login. Like Pinellas, the record search defaults to the past two years.¹⁰ Records from the older PGM Store system were converted and can be found by folio number.¹⁰ The county also tells homeowners to check permit status on HillsGovHub.¹¹

Why Permits Matter for Water Heaters and Repipes

Plumbing work on a single-family home is outside Florida's $7,500 permit exemption.¹ The Florida Building Code has narrow plumbing exemptions. Stopping a leak is exempt. But if a concealed pipe is defective and must be replaced with new material, that is new work and needs a permit and inspection.⁴ A repipe replaces pipe with new material by definition.

For water heaters, the Florida Building Commission answered the question in 2009. It was asked if a water heater could be replaced without a permit. Its answer was "No."¹² Pinellas County's portal now offers virtual inspections for water heater replacement permits.⁶

Hillsborough County warns that starting work without a permit can bring a citation of up to $500 per violation.¹¹ A permit record with a passed final is your proof the work was inspected.

Checklist for Reading a Permit Record

• Find the office that covers the address: county or city.⁵
• Widen the date range; the default search may show only two years.^6,10
• Check that the record type and description match the job.
• Match the contractor's license number to the DBPR license record.²
• Open the inspections tab and look for a passed final.
• Read the status: final or closed is done; expired is not.
• If it expired without a final, ask the contractor to close it.¹
• Save the permit number with your invoice and warranty papers.

For the other records worth checking, see Which Business Records Are Public. License codes are explained in Florida Contractor License Types, and hiring steps in Before You Hire.