Port St. Lucie Building Permits

The Port St. Lucie Building Department issues permits from City Hall Building B at 121 SW Port St. Lucie Blvd. and answers at 772-871-5132 (City of Port St. Lucie Building Department).

The hours above are from the Building Department page and the Plan Review page. The department says it has been accredited by the International Accreditation Service since 2016, one of only four accredited departments in Florida, and that all applications and documents must comply with the 8th Edition of the Florida Building Code (Building Department page). For after-hours paperwork it keeps a drop box at the front of City Hall Building B (Inspections page).

Port St. Lucie posts a separate permit application and checklist for each kind of job, from water heater replacements to new single-family homes (Building Permits: Applications, Fees and Checklists).

Those names are taken from the city's application list, which also lists fence, pool, dock, sign and demolition applications. The accessory structure form covers sheds, detached garages, tiki huts, pergolas, gazebos, detached carports and workshops, and asks whether the structure is prefab or built on site (Accessory Structure Permit Application).

The matching checklist asks for a product approval for prefabricated structures, a site plan or survey showing the location, and construction plans signed and sealed by a licensed architect or engineer, with a formboard survey when a concrete foundation is poured (accessory structure checklist). The Port St. Lucie application must be signed and notarized by the contractor and the owner.

Yes, as an owner-builder, but Port St. Lucie requires owner-builder permits to be applied for in person, with the homeowner personally appearing and signing the application under Florida Statute 489.103(7)(b) (Building Permits page).

The Port St. Lucie page adds that owners acting as their own contractor must show that the occupancy is for their use only, with the property not offered for sale or lease, and links a city handout titled Pulling an Owner/Builder Permit is Risky Business! (Building Permits page). The statute itself says that if an owner-builder sells or leases the structure within 1 year after completion, the law presumes it was built for sale or lease, and the owner must provide direct, onsite supervision of the work (Florida Statutes section 489.103).

For an accessory structure, the Port St. Lucie checklist asks an owner-builder for a copy of the recorded warranty deed or a property card from the property appraiser's website showing the owner's name, along with the HOB affidavit, and the homeowner must appear at the Building Department to have the signature notarized (accessory structure checklist). The Owner Builder Affidavit is posted on the city's forms page (Building Forms and Documents).

State-licensed contractors apply through the Port St. Lucie Contractor E-Permitting Portal, which also handles revisions, inspection scheduling and permit status (Building Permits page).

To start, the qualifier completes the Computer Member Application for Online Permitting Registration with its required documents and emails it to contractorlicensing@cityofpsl.com, and a Single Sign-on Manual walks through registration and uploads (Building Permits page). Since Nov. 18, 2024, sign applications have also gone through the portal (Sign Permit Process notice). Supporting files such as notices of commencement go in through the city's Document Upload Portal (Building Department page).

Port St. Lucie publishes its permit fees as schedules and online calculators, separate for one and two family homes and for commercial work, and every permit fee carries the State of Florida surcharge (Building Permits page).

The Port St. Lucie fee section lists a One and Two Family Residence Fee Calculator, a Residential Permit Fees schedule, a Commercial Fee Calculator, Commercial Permit Fees, Contractor Licensing Fees and Single-Family and Duplex Impact Fees effective Oct. 1, 2026 (Building Permits page). Since March 1, 2023, a 2.35% service fee applies to all online and over-the-counter electronic payments; a third-party vendor charges it per transaction and the department keeps none of it (Building Permits page).

One fixed fee is printed on the Port St. Lucie page: a permit extension costs $25, requested with the Permit Extension Application before the permit expires (Building Permits page).

Port St. Lucie inspections are booked online through the E-Permitting Portal, and an inspection scheduled before midnight is carried out the following business day (Inspections page).

Port St. Lucie contractors schedule from their profile, and owner-builders can use the Schedule Inspection page with the permit number and the 3-digit pin on the receipt; the permit card and approved documents must be on site, and an owner or representative 18 or older must be present to grant access (Inspections page). Virtual inspections, for A/C changeouts, water heater changeouts and pool heaters, run by FaceTime or WhatsApp in 1-hour slots Monday through Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and the inspector makes two attempts to call before the inspection fails (Inspections page). The Inspections Division answers at 772-871-5040 (Inspections page).

Before the first inspection, a notice of commencement has to be recorded with the St. Lucie County Clerk of Court, at the South County Annex, 250 NW Country Club Drive, Port St. Lucie, or the main office at 201 South Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, and a copy submitted to the Building Department before any inspection is scheduled, with 24 hours allowed for processing (Building Department page). The accessory structure checklist ties the recorded notice to work valued at $5,000 or more (accessory structure checklist).

Under Florida Building Code 105.3.2, as the Port St. Lucie page quotes it, an application is abandoned if no action is taken within 180 days of filing, unless it has been pursued in good faith or a permit has been issued (Building Permits page).

The building official may grant one or more 90-day extensions, each requested in writing with a justifiable reason (Building Permits page). If a permit expires and becomes null and void, the Port St. Lucie page gives two routes: a demolition permit to remove the work done under it, or a new permit with updated plans meeting current codes and all fees paid again (Building Permits page).

The codes in force, as listed by the Inspections Division, are the 2023 Florida Building Code 8th Edition in its building, residential, plumbing, mechanical, existing and accessibility volumes and the 2020 National Electric Code (Inspections page). Last verified: October 22, 2026; hours, the $25 extension fee, the 180-day and 90-day rules and the owner-builder terms were each matched to the Port St. Lucie Building Department, permits, inspections, plan review and forms pages, the accessory structure application and section 489.103.