Permits & Contractor Guides for Florida Homes

In Florida, renovations that touch the structure, roof, windows and doors, wiring, plumbing, gas or air conditioning generally need a building permit and a contractor licensed for that work. On the Space Coast, two questions come first: which office issues the permit for your address, and whether your contractor is in that office's records as well as the state's. Then get a written contract and tie payments to passed inspections.

What's different on the Space Coast

• Your address decides the permit office. Brevard County Planning and Development issues permits only in unincorporated areas, such as Viera, Suntree and Merritt Island. Inside city or town limits, including Melbourne, Palm Bay, West Melbourne and the beach towns, the city or town issues them, whatever your mailing address says.
• Expect more than one license check. Look up the state license at MyFloridaLicense.com, then Brevard County's Licensed Contractor Search, which lists a contractor only with a current license, liability insurance and workers' comp or an exemption on file. Palm Bay also requires state-licensed contractors to register with the city before pulling permits there.
• Brevard has no handyman license. Roofing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and structural work needs a licensed contractor.
• Water changes the rules. In a flood zone on the barrier island or along the Indian River Lagoon, a large remodel can trigger the FEMA 50% rule. Work seaward of the state's coastal construction control line generally needs state approval, with certain exceptions.

Where to start

• About to hire in Melbourne or Brevard? Read how to hire a contractor in Melbourne, then run the license and insurance checks on each bidder. Elsewhere, use our statewide hiring checklist.
• Not sure your project needs a permit? Find it in our Brevard County permit guide. For a small job, check whether the $7,500 permit exemption really applies.
• Holding a quote or contract? Use the renovation contract checklist and our guide to contractor deposits before you sign or pay.
• Planning an addition or a whole-house remodel? Read home addition costs in Brevard or whole-house remodel costs in Melbourne, which cover the permit, septic and flood questions at that scale.
• Living in an older home? Read renovating an older Florida home before anyone draws plans.
• Adding backup power? Our standby generator guide covers permits, fuel and placement in Brevard.

The rules that protect your money

These apply statewide:

• License scope. A certified license is valid anywhere in Florida; a registered license only where it's registered. A general, building or residential contractor must subcontract electrical, plumbing, roofing and air conditioning work unless they hold those licenses too.
• Contract notices. Residential contracts over $2,500 must include the construction lien law notice and the Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund notice.
• Deposits. Florida doesn't cap them, but a contractor who takes more than 10% up front must apply for permits within 30 days and start within 90 days after the permits are issued, unless you agree in writing to more time.
• Notice of Commencement. On a direct contract over $5,000, a recorded Notice of Commencement is needed before the first inspection. With lien releases, it helps keep you from paying twice under Florida's construction lien law.
• The $7,500 exemption. Since July 1, 2026, owners can ask in writing to skip the permit for some small single-family jobs under $7,500. It never covers electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas or structural work, or homes in a flood hazard area.
• Owner-builder requests. If a contractor asks you to pull the permit for work they'll do, they're shifting their legal responsibilities to you.
• After a storm. Contracting without a license during a declared state of emergency is a third-degree felony.

What drives cost and schedule on bigger jobs

Permit fees are usually small. The rules behind them matter more:

• The flood zone. If the improvement costs 50% or more of the building's pre-work market value, the whole home generally has to meet current flood rules, which can mean elevating it. See the 50% rule.
• Septic. Adding a bedroom to a home on septic usually means a health department review, and an upgrade near the lagoon may have to be a nitrogen-reducing system. See septic and sewer rules.
• Several permits. A whole-house remodel usually needs more than one. Brevard County says remodels and additions to an existing home don't require additional impact fees; inside a city, ask the city.
• The calendar. Palm Bay registration, HOA review and hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) can push a start date. Since July 1, 2026, an HOA can't require a building permit before it reviews your application.

Published Space Coast prices for these projects are scarce, so these cost guides use our Florida planning ranges and show the math.