Florida SB 526: Construction Regulations

Bill Text

526 
Construction Regulations 
2026-02-03T07:20:37Z 
Prohibiting a governmental entity that contracts for a public works project from taking certain actions; requiring the Florida Building Commission to adopt by rule uniform commercial building permit acceptance standards for a specified purpose by a specified date; requiring a local jurisdiction to include a certain reduction in the permit fee on its schedule of fees posted on its website; requiring nonresidential structures built in a flood zone after a specified date to have the lowest floor elevated above the required design flood elevation; revising the products requiring statewide approval to include mitigation products, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 526 

 By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; 
 and Senator Grall 

 585-02410-26 2026526c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to construction regulations; creating 
 3 s. 255.0994, F.S.; defining terms; prohibiting a 
 4 governmental entity that contracts for a public works 
 5 project from taking certain actions; providing 
 6 construction; providing severability; providing 
 7 applicability; amending s. 553.71, F.S.; defining the 
 8 term “commercial construction project”; creating s. 
 9 553.789, F.S.; requiring the Florida Building 
 10 Commission to adopt by rule uniform commercial 
 11 building permit acceptance standards for a specified 
 12 purpose by a specified date; specifying the 
 13 information to be included in the acceptance 
 14 standards; requiring the commission to adopt rules to 
 15 create additional trade-specific acceptance standards 
 16 for certain trades; requiring a local enforcement 
 17 agency to accept a completed application if it 
 18 provides the information set forth in such acceptance 
 19 standards adopted by the Florida Building Commission; 
 20 authorizing the local enforcement agency to require 
 21 additional documentation or plans; amending s. 553.79, 
 22 F.S.; requiring that permit fees that are imposed by a 
 23 local enforcement agency be limited to the actual and 
 24 reasonable costs incurred in reviewing, processing, 
 25 and administering the permit; prohibiting such fees 
 26 from being based on industry standards, market rates, 
 27 or comparable retail pricing; requiring that such fees 
 28 be proportional to the work performed in reviewing, 
 29 processing, and administering such permits; 
 30 prohibiting a political subdivision from imposing 
 31 certain requirements for glazing on certain proposed 
 32 construction or restoration projects; defining the 
 33 terms “primary facade” and “glazing”; conforming a 
 34 cross-reference; amending s. 553.791, F.S.; requiring 
 35 a local jurisdiction to include a certain reduction in 
 36 the permit fee on its schedule of fees posted on its 
 37 website; prohibiting the local jurisdiction from 
 38 charging fees for plans review services under certain 
 39 circumstances; requiring the local jurisdiction to 
 40 specify the services covered by the administrative 
 41 fees on its website; requiring the local enforcement 
 42 agency to reduce the permit fee by specified 
 43 percentages for an owner or a contractor that retains 
 44 a private provider for specified purposes; providing 
 45 that a local enforcement agency forfeits its ability 
 46 to collect any fees for a commercial construction 
 47 project if it does not reduce its fees by such 
 48 specified percentages; requiring that a certain 
 49 surcharge be calculated based on the reduced permit 
 50 fee; providing construction; creating s. 553.8411, 
 51 F.S.; requiring nonresidential structures built in a 
 52 flood zone after a specified date to have the lowest 
 53 floor elevated above the required design flood 
 54 elevation; authorizing the building of such a 
 55 structure below the required design flood elevation if 
 56 all structural areas below the required design flood 
 57 elevation are substantially impermeable to water and 
 58 capable of resisting certain effects of the regulatory 
 59 floodplain; amending s. 553.842, F.S.; revising the 
 60 products requiring statewide approval to include 
 61 mitigation products; creating s. 553.8992, F.S.; 
 62 requiring the Florida Building Commission to 
 63 incorporate into the Florida Building Code certain 
 64 standards for all new construction commercial or 
 65 residential pools by a specified date; amending ss. 
 66 497.271 and 553.902, F.S.; conforming cross 
 67 references; providing an effective date. 
 68 
 69 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 70 
 71 Section 1. Section 255.0994, Florida Statutes, is created 
 72 to read: 
 73 255.0994 Public works projects; unenforceability of certain 
 74 contract provisions regarding delays.— 
 75 (1) As used in this section, the term: 
 76 (a) “Concurrent delays” means two or more unrelated delays 
 77 in th