St. Lucie County Building Permits

St. Lucie County issues building permits only for unincorporated land; property inside Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce or St. Lucie Village gets its permit from that city or town.

The St. Lucie County Permitting page says the Building and Code Regulation Division has permitting jurisdiction over unincorporated St. Lucie County, which it describes as 418 square miles with an estimated population of 76,600 in 2020. It names the City of Ft Pierce, the City of Port St. Lucie and the Town of St. Lucie Village as places with their own permitting requirements, and offers an interactive map for owners unsure which side of a boundary a parcel sits on.

The same St. Lucie County page lists the two city offices. Port St. Lucie permits are handled in Building B of the City Hall Complex at 121 SW Port St. Lucie Boulevard, (772) 871-5132, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM weekdays. Fort Pierce permits are at 100 North US Highway 1 downtown, (772) 467-3000, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM weekdays. Some development in St. Lucie County also needs state permits, and the county directs applicants to Florida's Online Permitting One-Stop Center for those.

The St. Lucie County permit lobby is at 2300 Virginia Avenue in Fort Pierce, open 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM on weekdays, and most applications, payments and inspection requests can be handled online through Citizen Self Service by Tyler EnerGov.

According to the St. Lucie County Permitting page, the main lobby sits on the first floor at the southwest corner of the county Administration building, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Ft. Pierce, FL 34982, and the phone number is (772) 462-1553. The department has reduced service staff from 12:00 noon until 2:00 p.m. daily because county policy schedules staff lunch breaks in that window, so fewer staff are at the counter in that window.

EnerGov is the county's online platform for permitting, planning, code enforcement and contractor licensing, and the St. Lucie County page says residents and contractors can submit applications, track progress, request inspections and pay fees there at any hour. The county moved to the EnerGov 2025.1 version and posts help videos and guides for it. Online payments carry service fees: a credit card costs 3.95% or $2.50, whichever is greater, and an eCheck costs $1.50, with a maximum eCheck payment of $99,999.99 (St. Lucie County Permit Applications page).

In unincorporated St. Lucie County a permit is required for building, altering, repairing, moving or demolishing almost any structure, under section 102.2 of the Florida Building Code that the county quotes.

The St. Lucie County Building FAQs quote that section of the Florida Building Code: a permit applies to the construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, equipment, use and occupancy, location, maintenance, removal and demolition of every public and private building, structure or facility, floating residential structure, or attached appurtenance. The Permitting page notes that as of January 1, 2024 the current edition is the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023), and the St. Lucie County application list includes a wind load certification form for that 8th Edition.

The application list on the St. Lucie County Permit Applications page shows which projects carry extra paperwork: a Fence Survey Affidavit, a Boat Dock Elevation Affidavit, a Guest House Affidavit, a Concrete Slab Survey Affidavit, a Re Roof Application with a Roof Decking Affidavit, a Manufactured Home Installation Specification and a Mobile Home Inspection Report, plus wind storm risk category forms. The page says many supporting documents must accompany a building permit application before it can be processed, and asks callers to the Building Department at (772) 462-1553 to be specific about the project.

St. Lucie County permit fees vary by permit type and come from an adopted fee schedule, with staff calculating value-based fees; the county aims to issue a building permit within 14 workdays and minor permits within 24 to 48 hours.

The St. Lucie County Building FAQs say the cost varies with the permit type, that the fee schedule is on the county website, and that for value-based permits the fee is calculated by staff. The two county pages name different adopting resolutions for that schedule: the Permitting page says the department fee schedule was adopted pursuant to Resolution 2026-123, while the Permit Applications page describes the posted schedule as the updated one adopted pursuant to Resolution 2025-93. The St. Lucie County Building Department at (772) 462-1553 can confirm which schedule applies to a given application.

The timing figures and the after-the-fact rule come from the St. Lucie County Building FAQs; the online fees from the Permitting page. The county's expedited permit review policy is set out in Resolution No. 10-060, also listed on the Permitting page.

Yes, a St. Lucie County owner who owns and occupies the house can act as the contractor under section 489.103(7), Florida Statutes, but must supervise the work, hire licensed trade subcontractors and sign the application in person.

The St. Lucie County Building FAQs limit the owner-builder exemption to owners who own and occupy the home. An owner who does not do all the work personally must supervise it and hire licensed electrical, plumbing, air conditioning and roofing subcontractors, and owners acting as their own contractor or listed as a subcontractor must personally appear and sign the permit application. The St. Lucie County Permit Applications page carries an Owner Builder Affidavit and an Owner Builder Permit Flowchart for this route (Permit Applications page).

Section 489.103, Florida Statutes sets the state limits that St. Lucie County applies. The exemption covers farm outbuildings and one-family or two-family residences built or improved for the owner's own use and not offered for sale or lease, and commercial buildings at a cost not to exceed $75,000. A sale or lease within 1 year after completion creates a presumption that the work was done for sale or lease. The owner may not delegate direct supervision to anyone who is not registered or certified for that work, and the term owner includes the owner of a mobile home on a leased lot.

The St. Lucie County FAQ also gives a warning about contractors: ask to see the state license and check it on the state licensing site, be wary if a contractor asks the owner to secure the permit, and get a written contract with a set cost rather than paying in full before work starts (Building FAQs).

After a St. Lucie County permit is issued, the inspections listed on the permit placard must be passed, and the job ends with a Certificate of Occupancy or a Certificate of Completion.

The St. Lucie County Building FAQs say the list of required inspections comes with the permit placard, along with instructions for scheduling them, and the owner-builder or contractor must make sure every inspection is done before work proceeds. For a new home, a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) is issued once all fees are paid and inspections are complete; for minor projects a COC (Certificate of Completion) can be obtained on request. Inspections are scheduled online, as the Permitting page notes.

Section 713.13, Florida Statutes requires the notice of commencement to be recorded and posted on the site of the improvement before the first inspection, and makes the notice void if the improvement is not actually commenced within 90 days after recording. The St. Lucie County application list carries a current Notice of Commencement form, and the notice is recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, which the St. Lucie County official records and deeds guide explains.

Timing matters after issue too. The St. Lucie County FAQ says permits expire and become null and void if work is not started and an inspection requested within 180 days, and that a lapse of 180 days without an approved inspection after work starts is treated as a suspended or abandoned job (Building FAQs). A Permit Renewal Request form is on the county application list for that situation.

Unpermitted work in unincorporated St. Lucie County draws a notice from Contractor Licensing or Code Enforcement, a doubled after-the-fact permit fee, and possibly fines and a lien if nothing is done.

The St. Lucie County Building FAQs say there is a penalty for working without a permit, that the fee is double for an after-the-fact permit, and that concealed work areas may need a third-party engineering analysis at the owner's cost. If no action is taken, a Notice of Violation is issued, which could result in fines and a lien on the property. The St. Lucie County permitting menu lists After-the-Fact (ATF) Permit Guidelines and a post-storm roof and reroof inspection guide among its additional links (Permit Applications page).

For a Port St. Lucie or Fort Pierce address, permit questions go to that city's own permitting office listed on the St. Lucie County Permitting page. Last verified: October 22, 2026; on that date the county Permitting, Building FAQ and Permit Applications pages and Florida Statutes 489.103 and 713.13 were all reread.