On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis added five more laws to the count, adding to the growing list of more than 60 new laws already passed so far this year.
MORE: Gov. DeSantis signs 9 new Florida laws. Here’s the full list
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Notably, legislation waiving building permits on single-family residential projects valued under $7,500 was among the latest batch of laws signed.
“A local government that issues building permits shall exempt an owner of a single-family dwelling or the owner’s contractor from the requirement to obtain a building permit to perform any work valued at less than $7,500 on the owner’s property,” the bill states.
The measure (HB 803) also limits local government officials from inspecting the work, allows certain out-of-state licensed building officials to work for one year after a declared state of emergency, and provides an exemption from building permits for certain temporary residential hurricane or flood protection walls.
A staff analysis of the bill, which both chambers unanimously approved, states projects may not be divided to evade permitting requirements.
But local governments can still require a permit for any electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, or structural work, regardless of the appraised value.
Like most of the new laws, the bill will take effect on July 1. One went into effect immediately upon being signed.
The rest of the list of newly signed laws is as follows:
HB 271 — Foreign and Alien Bail Bond Insurers
House Bill 271 requires foreign and alien bail bond insurers authorized to transact surety business in Florida to report bail bond premiums and other related information to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) in the same manner that is required currently of domestic bail bond insurers.
The bill requires such foreign and alien bail bond insurers to:
- Report bail bond premiums to the OIR net of any amounts retained by licensed bail bond agents or appointed managing general agents.
- Establish direct written premiums for bail bonds which may not be less than 6.5 percent of the total consideration received by the agent for all bail bonds written by the agent.
- Apply the prescribed reporting requirements to bail bond premiums assumed by foreign and alien insurers for purposes of filing financial statements with the OIR.
- Maintain records of the total consideration paid by the foreign and alien insurers for bail bonds written by the insurer.
- Disclose all the following information in the annual statements filed with the OIR:
- Gross premiums written in each state by the agents of the insurer.
- Premium taxes incurred by the insurer in each state.
- Total consideration withheld by agents and not reported as an expense by the insurer.
- The amount of bail bond premium included in the surety line of the insurer’s annual statement as filed with the OIR.
The provisions take effect on July 1.
HB 589 – Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System Permits
The bill provides that if a building or plumbing permit is issued for a single-family residence that requires the use of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system (septic system), a municipality or political subdivision of the state may not require an owner or builder to obtain a construction permit for the septic system as a condition of issuing the building or plumbing permit. The bill requires the owner or builder to provide proof that they submitted an application for the septic system when applying for the building or plumbing permit.
The bill requires a property owner or applicant for a septic system permit to assume all legal, financial, and safety liabilities arising from the construction of a septic system if the construction commences before the issuance of the septic system permit.
The bill also provides that any new rules relating to the use and installation of a septic system that are adopted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will not apply to permit applications submitted within 90 days after the date the rules are adopted. This provision is effective July 1, 2026.
These provisions take effect immediately.
HB 927 – Local Land Planning and Development
The bill requires counties and cities of a certain size to create and implement a program by January 1, 2027, for the use of qualified, preapproved private professionals from a local government-maintained registry to perform a preapplication review of permit applications, plan reviews, and plat approvals before submission to the local government for final approval. The mechanics of this review as supplementing the local government’s staff resources are to be determined by the governing body.
If an applicant chooses to use this process, the county must, within 5 days of a preapplication certification, confirm receipt, verify completeness, and notify the applicant of completion or deficiencies. The county must then process the complete or deemed-complete application for final action and approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application within 45 days. Failure to take final action within 10 days following notice by the applicant results in the application’s automatic approval. Approvals are made through administrative review, without a public hearing or other review.
Each local government must establish and maintain a registry of at least four qualified contractors or two qualified contractor firms free of conflict of interest with the local government, either individually or through agreement with another local government.
With respect to platting approval and expedited platting review, the bill:
- Prohibits a local government from creating or establishing any additional regulations or requirements that a platting applicant must meet for the approval of a final plat;
- Expands the expedited building permit process from residential subdivisions or planned communities to include one or more phases of a community or subdivision;
- Requires the expedited application program to approve stabilized access roads that can support emergency vehicles in addition to preliminary platting;
- Provides that the utilities plans required prior to the issuance of building permits do not include completion of any infrastructure or improvements required under such plans except for access and roadway improvements required by the fire code for fire department access and operations; and
- Provides that an applicant has a vested right in a preliminary plat approved by a governing body so long as the applicant relies on such approved plat and incurs obligations and expenses or commences construction of the residential subdivision or community. Such vested rights exist for a minimum of 5 years from approval without such conditions.
The law takes effect on July 1.
SB 848 – Stormwater Treatment
The bill amends numerous provisions related to stormwater treatment through the use of regional stormwater systems and water quality enhancement areas (WQEAs).
The bill requires environmental resource permit (ERP) applicants for regional stormwater management systems to provide documentation of adequate financial responsibility, which must be updated every five years. ERPs for regional stormwater management systems must include a graphic depicting the drainage area served by the system. The bill allows ERP applicants located within a regional stormwater management system’s drainage area to purchase and use pollution reduction allocations from the system to meet stormwater treatment performance criteria. The drainage area must be based on a hydrologic unit code (HUC) 12 subbasin as set by the U.S. Geological Survey, unless the applicant can demonstrate through modeling or other evaluations that the proposed area outside the HUC 12 would provide the same degree of compensating treatment.
The bill authorizes ERP applicants to use compensating stormwater treatment as a mitigation measure when existing ambient water quality prevents compliance with water quality standards. The bill provides that the use of enhancement credits from a WQEA constitutes compensating stormwater treatment under the ERP program. The bill provides that the use of a WQEA credit transfers the legal responsibility for complying with applicable regulatory water quality treatment requirements from the purchaser and user of the credit to the generator of the credit. The bill prohibits referring to pollutant reductions as “credits,” except for enhancement credits generated from a WQEA. The bill provides that water quality enhancement service areas must consist of a HUC 8 subbasin as set by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt WQEA rules no later than October 1, 2026. Pending the adoption of such rules, DEP must accept applications for WQEA provisional permits and issue such permits if the applicant provides reasonable assurance that it will meet applicable statutory criteria. Enhancement credits may be used from a WQEA established under a provisional permit. The bill authorizes DEP to modify a provisional permit to conform to the adopted rules but requires continued recognition of any enhancement credits issued under the provisional permit.
The bill provides that regional stormwater systems and WQEAs operated by non-local governmental entities may not provide stormwater treatment, achieve net improvement of water quality, or convey enhancement credits for proposed port activities that cause or contribute to stormwater pollution at certain seaports.
The law takes effect on July 1.