Walton County, FL Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 6-29(a)(1) of the Walton County Code states the core trigger: a permit is required when an owner, authorized agent or contractor desires to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure. The same section defines a building as any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering a use or occupancy, and a structure as anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on or below the ground and measuring 30 inches above natural grade, whether a wall, deck, sign, billboard, liquid storage tank, antenna, or tower.

Before filing, an applicant must present the building official a certified survey or a notarized plot plan under Section 6-27 showing the boundaries and proposed improvements, and any construction that will use a septic tank cannot get its building permit until the county health department issues a septic tank permit under Section 6-28. Plans review fees are due at submittal, permit fees at issuance, with the actual amounts fixed by resolution of the Board rather than printed in the Code. Section 6-29(c) then backstops the whole system: anyone who commences work on a building or structure before obtaining the necessary permit is subject to a penalty of 100 percent of the usual permit fee, on top of that fee. A building official who rejects a mode of construction can be appealed to the county board of adjustments/code enforcement board under Section 6-37.