Sarasota, FL Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Sarasota City Code § 11-1 places permitting authority with a building official appointed by the director of neighborhood and development services, subject to the city manager's approval. That official must be certified under Fla. ch. 468, Part XII (Building Code Administrators and Inspectors), and is charged with administering, supervising, directing, enforcing or performing the permitting and inspection of construction, alteration, repair, remodeling or demolition of structures and installation of building systems within the city whenever permitting is required, so as to ensure compliance with the state building code and any applicable local technical amendment.

The official's additional duties trace to Fla. 604 and ch. 553, Part VII. Article II backs this up: § 11-2(a) adopts the City of Sarasota Administrative Amendments to the Florida Building Code (Fla. ch. 553, part IV) by reference, with the official copy filed with the city auditor and clerk on January 7, 2013. Enforcement runs through § 11-11: it is unlawful to construct, alter, repair or demolish any building, structure or swimming pool in the city in a way that does not comply with the state building code or the city's local amendments, with the fine set under § 1-11 of the Code, or through referral to the code enforcement special master under Chapter 2, Article V, Division 5.

Appeals from a building official's permitting decision go to the seven-member board of rules and appeals under § 11-9 and § 11-10; a property owner or authorized agent must file a written appeal with the department of building, zoning and code enforcement within 60 days of the decision, and a further appeal from the board goes to the circuit court by petition for writ of certiorari.