Palm Coast, FL Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Article III of Chapter 15, the City's Property Maintenance Code, applies to all existing residential and nonresidential structures and premises and sets minimum standards for light, ventilation, sanitation, heating and safe occupancy (Sec. 15-101(b), 15-102). For rental housing specifically, Sec. 15-121(a) requires every dwelling unit to contain its own bathtub or shower, lavatory, water closet and kitchen sink, each maintained in a sanitary, safe working condition, and it bars using a kitchen sink as a substitute for the required lavatory. Sec. 15-124 requires every fixture to connect to a public or approved private water system and requires hot or tempered water at every kitchen sink, lavatory, laundry facility, bathtub and shower; water heaters must be able to deliver water at not less than 110 degrees Fahrenheit (Sec.

15-124(d)). Heat is a separate, numeric standard: Sec. 15-127(b) requires dwellings to maintain a room temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit in all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms, measured, per Sec. 15-127(d), three feet above the floor near the center of the room, and cooking appliances cannot be used to meet that heating requirement. Electrical service must meet a floor too: Sec. 15-129(b) requires dwelling units to be served by a three-wire, 120/240 volt, single-phase electrical service rated at not less than 60 amperes. The owner of the structure, not the tenant, is responsible for providing and maintaining these plumbing, mechanical and electrical facilities (Sec.

15-120(b), 15-126(b)), and a person may not occupy, or let another occupy, a structure that does not comply. Violations of the Maintenance Code are strict liability offenses that the city can pursue by any means the Code or general law allows (Sec. 15-102(l)).