No. SB 968
Filed under Development & Land Use.
Home Backup Power Systems; Prohibiting a local government from adopting a technical amendment to the Florida Building Code which requires a permit or any functionally equivalent local review or approval for certain backup power systems; prohibiting a local government that issues building permits from requiring an owner of a single-family dwelling or such owner’s contractor to obtain a building permit to perform work on the single-family lot valued at less than a specified sum; prohibiting a local enforcement agency from requiring a permit or any functionally equivalent local review or approval for the installation, relocation, replacement, or repair of an eligible residential backup power system; defining the term “backup power system”, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA local government that issues building permits cannot require a permit for any work under $7,500 on a single-family lot, though it may still require one for electrical, plumbing, or structural work regardless of cost.
That electrical, plumbing, and structural carve-out excludes repairing or replacing exterior doors and windows, so that work stays under the $7,500 no-permit threshold like any other minor job.
Separately, a local enforcement agency cannot require a permit or equivalent review for installing, relocating, replacing, or repairing an eligible backup power system -- generators or battery systems up to 50 kilowatts or 100 kilowatt-hours -- when installed by a licensed contractor.
Local governments also lose the power to regulate backup power installation beyond what the state building and fire codes already require, and several new limits constrain how enforcement agencies may inspect and penalize this work.
AIA local government that issues building permits may not require a single-family homeowner or their contractor to obtain a permit for any work valued under $7,500 on the dwelling's lot. This threshold is not limited to backup power work -- it applies to lot work generally.
AIA local enforcement agency may not require a permit, or any functionally equivalent local review or approval, for the design, installation, relocation, replacement, or repair of a backup power system installed by a properly licensed contractor or an exempt public utility.
AICounties, municipalities, and special districts may not adopt or enforce any ordinance, rule, or other measure regulating backup power system installation that goes beyond the standards already set in the Florida Building Code or Fire Prevention Code.
AIEven under the new $7,500 threshold, a local government may still require a permit for electrical, plumbing, or structural work no matter its cost -- except it may not require one for repairing or replacing exterior doors or windows, which stay under the $7,500 exemption instead.
AIA local government cannot use a 'technical amendment' to the Florida Building Code to require a permit, or an equivalent local review, for a backup power system that otherwise qualifies for the new exemption.
AIThe permit exemption only covers backup power systems able to provide no more than 50 kilowatts of output, or, if they store energy, no more than 100 kilowatt-hours of storage capacity. Larger systems fall outside the exemption and presumably still need a permit.
AIFor an existing occupied home, a failed inspection of a backup power system cannot, by itself, be used to withhold or revoke the certificate of occupancy; the only remedy is withholding authorization to energize the system until it is fixed.