Palm Beach Gardens, FL Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Sec. 78-112 states the core rule plainly: 'A building or other structure shall not be erected, moved, added to, or structurally altered unless a building permit is issued by the city,' and the building official cannot issue that permit unless it complies with the zoning chapter's requirements, which sit alongside Sec. 78-111's broader compliance rule that no permit, certificate, license, or approval document may issue until the growth management director or designee confirms the use complies with the chapter. On the construction-code side, Sec. 86-26 adopts the Florida Building Code, as updated by the Florida Building Commission, along with the city's own local amendments, as the building code of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, and sets permit fees, charges, and expenses by council resolution, collected when the permit is issued.

Sec. 86-27 layers in local wind-speed amendments to Florida Building Code chapter 16: design wind speeds of 170 mph for Category II buildings, 180 mph for Category III and IV buildings, and 160 mph for Category I buildings, reflecting the city's coastal Palm Beach County location. Because chapter 86 and chapter 78 both govern permits, a project has to satisfy the zoning-side setback, height, and use standards under Sec. 78-112 as well as the construction-code requirements under Sec. 86-26 before the building department will issue anything.

Enforcement of chapter 86 sits with the code enforcement board rather than a separate building court: Sec. 86-1 gives that board jurisdiction under Florida Statutes Section 162.09 and lets it fine violators up to $250 per day, with every day a violation continues counted as a separate offense.