Do I need a permit for interior remodeling in St. Petersburg?

Local and county notes for St. Petersburg

Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, and structural work still need a permit regardless of cost. HB 803 bars splitting a project to stay under $7,500 and does not apply in flood-hazard areas. Local departments implement HB 803 individually, so confirm the policy in your jurisdiction. Purely cosmetic work (paint, flooring, trim, and cabinets in the same location with no new wiring or plumbing) is generally exempt, but moving a wall or adding or relocating electrical, plumbing, or mechanical needs a City of St. Petersburg permit. In the Special Flood Hazard Area even interior finishes can count toward the city's 49% substantial improvement rule, and the city notes that storm-repair work such as drywall, floors, doors, cabinetry, and finishes does require a permit. The Florida HB 803 $7,500 exemption never applies to structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or gas work, and it does not apply at all to properties in a flood hazard area. A remodel that moves walls or includes electrical, plumbing, or mechanical work falls outside cosmetic exemptions, which cover finishes such as paint, flooring, trim, and cabinets. Each trade normally needs its own permit and inspection on top of the building permit, and removing or altering a load bearing wall usually requires a beam detail or engineering before the work is approved. Opening walls in an older home can trigger separate lead paint, asbestos, and smoke alarm requirements, so raise those with your department at application time. Pinellas County's own permitting office is the Building and Development Review Services Department, reachable on (727) 464-3888 at https://pinellas.gov/applying-for-a-building-permit/. Its online permit portal is https://aca-prod.accela.com/pinellas/default.aspx. It issues permits for the unincorporated county. If your city does not run its own building department, this is the office that will handle the job. Contractor licensing here is countywide, which is unusual. The Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board, established in 1973, regulates construction and home improvement contractors practicing in Pinellas County including all local municipalities, so whoever you hire needs to be licensed through it no matter which city you are in. Reach it on (727) 582-3100 or pcclb@pinellas.gov, 440 Court St, 1st Floor, Clearwater. State legislation has been changing which specialty trades are licensed locally rather than by the state, so confirm the current licence type your trade needs before signing a contract.