General building work permit checklist — St. Petersburg, Florida
Assembled from St. Petersburg’s own published permit rules. Every line below is quoted from a city document and linked to it. Nothing here is generated, estimated, or inferred from another jurisdiction.
Do you need a permit?
St. Petersburg requires a permit for general building work.
Since July 1, 2026 Florida Statutes Section 553.79(1)(g), enacted through Chapter 2026-63, Laws of Florida (CS/CS/HB 803, 2026 Regular Session), has required Florida permitting agencies to exempt work worth under $7,500 on a single-family dwelling when the owner or the owner's contractor performs it. St. Petersburg administers this through a Permit Exemption form issued by the Building Department. The form collects the project site, owner and contractor details, the parcel identification number and a written scope, records the property flood zone and an EBP number, and caps the declared value at $7,500. The applicant signs under oath before a notary or a permit technician. Filing goes to the Building Department at One Fourth Street North or by email to Permits@stpete.org. The city excludes mechanical, electrical, plumbing and gas work, and it reads structural components to take in window and door replacement, roofing, soffit and fascia, and siding. A property in a flood hazard area cannot use the form. Work that was already exempt under the city List of Exempted Permits does not need this form at all. The form warns that Zoning, Historic Preservation and Water Resources may still require plan review, that deed restrictions and other agencies may impose requirements of their own, and that everything built has to meet the Florida Building Code. It also carries the statutory notice that the local government owes no legal duty to the owner, contractor or their successors for exempted work.
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Sources
- building — permit rules ↗verified August 2026
Other permits St. Petersburg publishes rules for
Listed because the city publishes a separate rule for each type — not because this project necessarily triggers one. Whether it does depends on your scope of work.
- Deck permit checklist
- Fence permit checklist
- Shed permit checklist
- Water heater permit checklist
- Re-roof permit checklist
- Electrical work permit checklist
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with St. Petersburg before you build.