Building Permits in Fort Pierce

The City of Fort Pierce Building Department issues building permits inside city limits, from an office at 300 Orange Avenue, 3rd Floor, open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Fort Pierce Building Department page).

The department lists its work as permit review, contractor licensing verification, floodplain management, field inspections and public records on permits and inspections. Its main phone is 772.467.3718, and mail goes to 100 N. U.S. Highway 1, P.O. Box 1480, Fort Pierce, FL 34954, the City Hall mailing address (Building Department contact block). City Hall itself, at 100 N U.S. Highway 1, answers general calls at 772-467-3000.

The Building page news feed carries notices such as the city's annual Community Rating System recertification to support flood insurance discounts and a fee study for House Bill 803 compliance, both posted as Building Department news (Building page news items).

Applications go through the city's Enterprise Permitting and Licensing system, an online Civic Access portal where applicants submit building permit applications, pay invoices, schedule inspections and track a permit's status (Enterprise Permitting and Licensing page).

The Fort Pierce EPL page says the portal also takes planning and zoning applications, right of way permits and resubmittals, and it posts step by step PDF manuals and videos for creating an account, applying for a permit and scheduling an inspection, with Spanish and Creole translation instructions. The city recommends Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome for the portal on both desktop and mobile (EPL page).

Before uploading, the Building Permit Submittal Checklists page lists one checklist per project type, from above ground pools, additions and air conditioning to roofs, seawalls, solar electric, water heaters and windows and doors. The city says the checklists also show whether a development permit compliance review, or DPCR, approval is required, and several refer to the Historic Districts and Architectural Design Areas maps linked on the same page (Building Permit Submittal Checklists page).

The Permit Forms page collects the paperwork itself: the Building Permit Application under the current Florida Building Code, the Owner Builder Affidavit Disclosure Statement, the Notice of Commencement, the Debris Affidavit, a Materials Cost Form, a Revision Form, a Request for Building Permit Extension or Renewal and a Request to Close Out a Permit Over 6 Years Old (Fort Pierce Permit Forms page). It also carries the SLC Fire District Building Permit Checklist.

The Fort Pierce FAQ gives same day review for roof permits when product approval is submitted, 30 days for fences, sheds and signs, 45 days for mobile homes and 60 days for all other projects (city FAQ on permit timing).

The same answer warns that when an application is incomplete, or the construction documents do not meet code minimums, the revisions take as long as a new submittal, so a 60 day timeline may become 120 or 180 days (city FAQ). The fee schedule adds a cost to repeated rejections: a third or later plan revision to correct the same code violation is charged four times the plan review fee assessed (Building Department Fee Schedule, effective 7/8/2025).

New homes carry one extra step. The FAQ says a new home does not need a separate driveway permit because the Department of Engineering approves the driveway location before the building permit is issued, but the Engineering Department must be called 48 hours ahead to inspect the driveway forms before concrete is poured (city FAQ on driveways).

For faster turnaround the Fort Pierce fee schedule offers expedited plan review at $500.00 for the first hour on work valued under $200,000, or $1,000.00 for the first hour at $200,000 or more, plus $250.00 for each additional hour (fee schedule, incentive fees).

Most Fort Pierce permits are priced from the project valuation, with flat fees for common residential jobs, under the Building Department Fee Schedule effective July 8, 2025 as posted on October 22, 2026 (Fee Schedule Effective 7-8-2025).

The schedule defines valuation as the total value of the work or total contract price, including materials and labor, even when they are donated or discounted, and lets the building official use the International Code Council building valuation data when that figure is higher than the estimate on the application (Sec. 103-52 in the fee schedule). Plan review and routing fees are paid when the permit is submitted, and the permit fee is paid when it is issued.

Smaller charges add up on a Fort Pierce invoice. The schedule lists a $5.00 electronic building permit processing fee, a credit card convenience fee of 5% of the total being charged, $50.00 to change contractors and $25.00 for a flood zone verification letter. Permit fees are non-refundable once a permit has been issued (fee schedule, miscellaneous fees and refunds).

A Fort Pierce single-family owner can request a state exemption from a building permit for work valued at less than $7,500, with exceptions set in Florida Statutes section 553.79 (section 553.79 of the Florida Statutes).

For a Fort Pierce home, the statute excludes work on a property partly or entirely in a flood hazard area, and any electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical or gas work on property with a single-family dwelling; it also bars dividing a project into more than one to evade the rule and requires a written request with a contract or other documents showing the nature and value of the work (Florida Statutes section 553.79).

Fort Pierce's House Bill 803 page stresses that the exemption is not automatic: a request goes in through the permitting portal first, and skipping it can lead to stop work orders and violation cases. The page limits the exemption to single-family dwellings, so condos, townhomes, duplexes, triplexes, apartments and commercial buildings do not qualify, and it adds fencing relative to pool barriers and any fence in a flood zone to the work that is not exempt (Fort Pierce House Bill 803 page).

The Fort Pierce Building Permit Exemption Application states the exemption takes effect July 1st, 2026, and its checklist asks the owner to confirm the work does not include structural components such as doors and windows, roofing, siding or soffits. The form also says a non-refundable administrative fee is due before an exemption is granted, credited toward the permit if the request is denied, and that a project over $5,000.00 still needs a Notice of Commencement under Chapter 713 (Exemption Request Form).

Fort Pierce imposes a double permit fee on anyone cited for construction without a permit, plus a $100 fee if a stop work order was issued (Construction Without a Permit page).

The Fort Pierce page explains that the Florida Building Code has no provision for inspecting a completed structure, so the after the fact permit needs certified design drawings and a Certification of Completion sealed by a Florida registered architect or engineer. If that certification cannot be obtained, the structure may need to be dismantled so the inspections can be done (Construction Without a Permit page).

The Fort Pierce penalty schedule prices the follow up: unlawful continuance after a stop work order is $500.00 per offense, per day, a hazardous condition on a construction site is $500.00 per offense, per day, and a first re-inspection is $50.00 per permit, per trade, for residential work (penalty fee schedule). Contractor citations under the same schedule start at $500.00 for a first offense.

A Fort Pierce permit for a single-family dwelling expires 1 year after issuance or when the next Florida Building Code edition takes effect, whichever is later, under state law (section 553.79 of the Florida Statutes).

The same statute lets a local government send a written notice of expiration by e-mail or United States Postal Service no less than 30 days before a building permit is set to expire. Fort Pierce charges $100.00 for a first 30 day extension, $250.00 for a second and $500.00 for the third and each later one (the second and later ones or the renewal fee, whichever is less), each needing justifiable cause; a first renewal has a minimum fee of $129.00 (fee schedule, permit extension and renewal). An inspection to confirm no work was done on an expired permit, and to close it, is $75.00, with the renewal fee added if work is found. Old permits that never closed are handled on the Request to Close Out a Permit Over 6 Years Old form on the Permit Forms page (Permit Forms page).

Last verified: October 22, 2026, against the Fort Pierce Building, Enterprise Permitting and Licensing, Permit Forms, Submittal Checklists, House Bill 803 and Construction Without a Permit pages, the July 2025 building fee schedule, the exemption request form, the permit timing FAQ and Florida Statutes section 553.79 for this permit guide.