City of Freeport

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? No — the City of Freeport is NOT the AHJ for residential solar. Walton County Building Division is. The City is a prior land-use/zoning and floodplain reviewer only. 96% · city permit packet (dated 26 Apr 2024, uploaded 11 Apr 2025)
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Delegated. The City permits NEITHER building NOR electrical; Walton County Building Division does both. The City retains: land-use/zoning review letter (new construction), development orders, clearing permits, floodplain administration, foundation and final survey reviews, and a commercial-only approval before the County issues a C/O. 94% · codified ordinance + city and county checklists
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. Walton County Code Sec. 6-29(a)(2) (as amended by Ord. No. 2025-17, 14 Oct 2025) requires a permit to 'erect, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert, or replace any electrical ... system.' In practice the County issues a dedicated master permit of type 'Solar' (number prefix S-). 95% · adopting ordinance + live permit portal
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined. A rooftop PV job is issued as a single 'Solar' master permit; the electrical work is inside it. Recovered permit S-24-0005 (23 Stella Lee Dr, Freeport) has an EMPTY Sub-Records tab and a single 'Solar Final' inspection — no companion electrical permit. The County's separate 'Residential Electrical Sub Permit' (RE-) type exists and is demonstrably a different record type. 90% · live permit record
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? Yes for named subdivisions, as a documented prerequisite. The City of Freeport's Building Permit Checklist item 12 requires a 'Copy of Architecture Review Board letter of approval', applicable (expressly 'Not all inclusive') to: Hammock Bay, Canopies, Ashton Park, Verandas, Lafayette Creek Landing, LaGrange Landing, Cross Creek Estates, Grand Oaks Estates, Hammock Oaks Estates, Magnolia at The Bluffs, Magnolia Bay Estates, Riverwalk Phase 1 (N/A for Riverwalk North PH1 / Riverwalk Landing) and Owls Head. These are PRIVATE association boards, not a city board — the City has no architectural review board and no historic board of its own. FS 163.04(2) limits what such a covenant may prohibit for solar collectors. 80% · city permit checklist
• Is there a historic-district review? No. There is no historic district, no historic preservation board, no certificate-of-appropriateness process and no design-review body anywhere in the City of Freeport. The word 'historic' appears 49 times in the 1.69 MB Land Development Code and every occurrence is either a tree-protection concept ('historic tree', designated by City Council for notable historical interest), a comprehensive-plan cross-reference, or a flood-ordinance 'historic structure' variance clause imported from the FEMA model. 90% · full-code search with controls
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? Yes, in the form of Florida Product Approval plus a wind-load statement. Walton County Code Sec. 6-26(15) adopts 'The Walton County Wind-Borne Debris Regions and Basic Wind Speeds Map (Exhibit A)' (Ord. 2007-43); the Building Permit Checklist requires that 'Both types of plans must include the Walton County Wind Load Statement'; and item 9 requires a signed 'Product Approval Specification Sheet' with approval numbers from the vendor or floridabuilding.org. An 'Owner Wind Certification' form is also published. Freeport is NOT in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone (Miami-Dade and Broward only) and is NOT in the County's Coastal Building Zone, which the County defines as the south side of the bay. 85% · codified ordinance + county checklist
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No. A residential rooftop PV system needs no Specific Use Permit, conditional use, variance or Council approval in Freeport. The Land Development Code contains no solar use category at all, and there is NO general 'uses not listed are prohibited' clause — the only prohibition lists are enumerated nuisance/industrial lists (junkyards, landfills, tallow refining and the like) closed by a 'substantially similar to those listed above' catch-all that a rooftop array plainly does not reach. 82% · full-code search with controls
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No AHJ cap. The utility caps it: CHELCO's residential net-metering rates RS-N and RS-NTOU are available only to members who have installed 'electric generation of less than 25 kilowatts (kW) alternating current'. Tiers are sized by AC NAMEPLATE capacity: Tier 1 = 10 kW or less; Tier 2 = over 10 kW but less than 100 kW; Tier 3 = over 100 kW but less than 2 MW; 2 MW is the system-wide ceiling. Member-owned generation of 25 kW or larger must enter a Purchase Power Agreement with POWERSOUTH. No percentage-of-load and no transformer-nameplate cap was found in any CHELCO document. 92% · filed utility tariff

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? A licensed contractor — a state-certified or state-registered Solar Contractor (the County codifies the FS 489.105(3)(o) definition, which expressly covers 'photovoltaic systems') or an Electrical/Residential Electrical Contractor; OR the homeowner under the FS 489.103(7) owner-builder exemption. 85% · county licence fee schedule + Code Ch. 6 Art. III
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes. Registration with the Walton County Building Department is required. Solar Contractor (category 25) registration fee: $50 resident / $150 non-resident / $300 out-of-state. Certificate of liability insurance and workers' comp (or a state exemption card) naming the Walton County Building Department as certificate holder are required. 88% · county contractor form (11 Jun 2026)
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes, with conditions. Walton County publishes an Owner Builder Statement/Affidavit under FS 489.103(7). Owners MUST personally appear at the Building Department to sign it. The exemption covers a one- or two-family residence for the owner's own use, and the owner must provide direct on-site supervision and may not hire unlicensed persons. 90% · county form

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• What documents make up a complete submittal? No solar-specific checklist exists. The general County submittal is: notarized Building Permit Application; parcel number; recorded deed (proof of ownership); water/sewer availability letter (Freeport City Hall (850) 835-2822) or septic approval; plans (1 signed-and-sealed hard copy + 1 electronic PDF on CD) carrying the Walton County Wind Load Statement and, in a flood zone, a flood-zone statement; signed Product Approval Specification Sheet; fire impact fee receipt; energy form. A recorded and posted Notice of Commencement is required before the first inspection for work over $5,000 (a typical PV job — the recovered Freeport permit was valued at $24,480 and has an NOC workflow step). CHELCO separately requires an electrical one-line diagram and inverter/panel spec sheets. 78% · county checklist (rev. 21 Jul 2026)
• How many copies, and in what format? For one- and two-family dwellings outside the coastal construction zone: one hard copy signed and sealed, plus one electronic copy on CD in PDF format with an attached signed-and-sealed letter. Commercial requires two sets. Applications may also be filed through the Tyler EnerGov Civic Access portal. 80% · county checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes. Walton County Code Sec. 6-27 requires every building-permit applicant to present either a certified survey showing existing and proposed improvements, or a plot plan 'depicting all improvements to the parcel' bearing the NOTARIZED signature of the owner, applicant or contractor. Inside Freeport the City additionally requires (for new construction) a site plan showing lot dimensions, setbacks from all property lines, existing structures, driveway location and width at the right of way, assumed crown-of-road elevation, proposed finished floor elevation (minimum 1 ft above crown of road), and water and sewer connection/lateral and hydrant locations, no larger than 11x17. 85% · codified ordinance + city checklist
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Not required by the AHJ; REQUIRED BY THE UTILITY. CHELCO's Tier 1 net-metering submittal requires an 'electrical one-line diagram and specification sheets for inverter, renewable energy source and other installed equipment, such as PV panels.' For non-inverter-based systems the drawing must additionally show the electrical and physical location of the visual manual load-break disconnect switch, kVA rating, power factor and the member's estimated fault-current contribution at the point of interconnection. 90% · utility instructions (2026)
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No numeric PE threshold is published. Walton County Building Permit Checklist item 6 requires plans to be 'signed & sealed' for one- and two-family dwellings outside the coastal construction zone, and 'stamped & sealed by a Florida Registered Architect or Engineer' inside the coastal construction zone. Freeport sits on the NORTH shore of Choctawhatchee Bay and the County's own Permit Rules page defines the Coastal Building Zone as 'South side of bay — bay to beach area', so the coastal trigger does not reach Freeport. 72% · county department page + checklist

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? Tyler Technologies EnerGov 'Civic Access' (the County calls it the CSS Portal), at https://waltoncountyfl-energovweb.tylerhost.net/apps/SelfService — version 2025.3.1.25. Public search is open, no login and NO CAPTCHA. The County's own Building Division page prints the URL with a typo (waltoncountyflenergovweb, hyphen missing), which 000s. 95% · county checklist + portal
• Can the whole application be completed online? No — partially online. The portal handles account creation, applications, invoices, payments and inspection requests, but the County Building Permit Checklist still requires a NOTARIZED application, a recorded deed from the Clerk of Courts, one signed-and-sealed HARD COPY of plans plus an electronic copy ON CD, and the owner-builder affidavit must be signed IN PERSON at the Building Department. 82% · county checklist + portal
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $0.00 right now. Walton County Resolution 2025-58 (adopted 9 Sep 2025, effective 1 Oct 2025), continued by Resolution 2025-70, abates building permit fees — sections (a) through (j), which include the building permit fee, the plan review fee and 'Other permit fees ... Electrical' — to $0.00 until 30 SEPTEMBER 2026 unless earlier terminated or extended, because the Building Department fund balance exceeds the FS 553.80 statutory limit. WHAT IT COSTS OTHERWISE, from a real Freeport rooftop PV permit (S-24-0005, valuation $24,480, issued 3 Apr 2024): Building Permit Fee $115.00 + Building Plan Review Fee $11.50 + Plan Review Deposit Fee $25.00 + BCA Deposit $2.00 + BCA Surcharge $2.00 + FBC Deposit $2.00 + FBC Surcharge $2.00 = $159.50 TOTAL. 95% · adopted fee resolution + real permit fee ledger
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation, tiered. Total valuation bands: up to $7,000 = $35.00 minimum; $7,000.01-$15,000 = $35 for the first $7,000 plus $5.00 per additional thousand or fraction; $15,000.01-$50,000 = $75 for the first $15,000 plus $4.00 per additional thousand; $50,000.01-$100,000 = $215 plus $3.00 per thousand; $100,000.01-$500,000 = $365 plus $2.00 per thousand; over $500,000 = $1,165 plus $1.25 per thousand. Sub-permits carry a $10.00 base fee; minimum fee for any permit $35.00. If instead filed as a standalone Residential Electrical permit the basis is main service size ($25/$35/$50/$75 by amperage band) plus $2.00 per circuit of miscellaneous wiring. Percentage riders apply and each applies TWICE — BCA as both a 'Deposit' and a 'Surcharge', and FBC likewise — $8.00 total at the minimums on the real Freeport permit. 92% · adopted fee resolution
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes — 10 percent of the calculated permit fee, minimum $25.00, of which $25.00 is collected at submittal and is NON-REFUNDABLE. Residential re-submittals, addenda and additional copies $25.00; commercial $50.00. Currently abated to $0.00 with everything else until 30 Sep 2026. DISCREPANCY RECORDED, NOT RESOLVED: the County's Building Permit Checklist revised 21 Jul 2026 states 'Plan Review Deposit of $29.00 will be required upon submittal' against the resolution's $25.00, and the real 2024 permit was charged exactly $25.00. 88% · adopted fee resolution vs county checklist

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• What is the stated plan-review turnaround? No plan-review turnaround is published by Walton County — its 'Wait Times' link is a live lobby-queue display, not a review clock. MEASURED INSTEAD FROM REAL RECORDS: 94 County 'Solar' permits with both dates recovered from the portal ran apply-to-issue 0 to 113 days, MEDIAN 15 DAYS, mean 21. The real Freeport case S-24-0005 took 29 days (applied 5 Mar 2024, issued 3-4 Apr 2024), of which Building Review alone took 25 days. Separately, the CITY of Freeport publishes 7-10 business days for its own planning review letter, and again 7-10 business days for each of the foundation and final survey reviews. 85% · live permit portal (94 records) + city process sheet
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Approximately 180 days. No local expiration rule exists in Walton County Code Ch. 6 (searched 'expire', 'expiration', '180 day', 'six months'), so the FBC 105.4.1 default governs. Corroborated by the portal: County solar permits that carry an Expiration Date sit ~181 days after issue (e.g. S-21-0036 issued 8 Jun 2021, expires 6 Dec 2021). 75% · live permit records + FBC default
• Which utility handles interconnection here? CHELCO — Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, Inc. A cooperative, therefore outside PSC Rule 25-6.065 substantively (FS 366.91). Energy Services: 655 US Hwy 331 N, DeFuniak Springs FL 32433, (850) 307-1122, energyservices@chelco.com. 95% · codified franchise appendix + city rate schedule + utility site
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit — and specifically after the County's final inspection. CHELCO's Tier 1 instructions: 'Once your system has been inspected by the county building department, submit the following by mail ... interconnect agreement/application ... non-refundable ($25.00 application fee, $50.00 meter connection fee) ... electrical one-line diagram and specification sheets ... PROOF OF COUNTY INSPECTION.' CHELCO then arranges its OWN inspection of the array and installs a programmed meter before interconnection. Published clocks: CHELCO returns an executed agreement within 15 days of receipt; fees due within 20 days; CHELCO installs metering and performs commissioning tests within 20 days of receiving fees, notification of installation and proper documentation. 93% · utility instructions + flow chart

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? NEC 2020 is the operative edition (state adoption, effective 31 Dec 2023, under FBC 8th Edition (2023)). BUT the local adoption FLOATS and its literal words outrun the state: Walton County Code Sec. 6-26(6), as amended by Ord. No. 2025-17 (14 Oct 2025), reads 'The Electrical Code shall be the MOST RECENT EDITION of the National Electric Code NFPA 70' — no year pinned. The County's own Permits page states '(2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) took effect on January 01, 2021)'. The CITY of Freeport separately still has a 1975/1976 adoption of 'The National Electrical Code, the Standard Building Code, the Standard Plumbing Code and the Standard Mechanical Code' at Code Sec. 5-1 — a dead fossil, the Standard Codes having been superseded by the FBC in 2002. 90% · codified ordinance (2025) + county department page
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023). Walton County Code Sec. 6-26(1)-(4) adopts 'the most recent edition' of FBC Building, Residential, Existing Building and Accessibility — a floating adoption — and the County's own Permits page and Building Codes page both state '2023 Florida Building Code takes effect January 1, 2024' and 'All projects that require building permit applications, submitted after December 31, 2023 will have to be designed and built using the 2023 version of the Florida Building Code.' 93% · codified ordinance + county department pages
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code 8th Edition (2023). Walton County Code Sec. 10-41 (Ord. No. 2025-18, 14 Oct 2025): 'The latest edition of the Florida Fire Prevention Code (FFPC) specified in F.S. 633.208 is adopted by reference' — floating, no year pinned. Sec. 6-26(14) adopts it identically. The City of Freeport adopts NO fire code at all: its Chapter 8 dates entirely from Ordinance No. 6 of 10 November 1964 and names no edition, no NFPA standard and no year. 90% · codified ordinance (Oct 2025)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes. Live local amendments: the Walton County Wind-Borne Debris Regions and Basic Wind Speeds Map (Ord. 2007-43, adopted at Sec. 6-26(15)); the Coastal Building Zone Ordinance 2007-53, with FEMA-55 adopted as the Coastal Construction Code at Sec. 6-26(12); automatic sprinklers required in all structures over three stories under NFPA 13 (Sec. 10-28); the ICC Property Maintenance Code as the Unsafe Building Code; and the City of Freeport's own floodplain ordinance (Code Ch. 5 Art. I, Ord. 2016-04, 28 Apr 2016) which governs inside the city limits. Two FOSSILS also sit on the books and are recorded not reconciled: City Code Sec. 5-1 (1975/1976) still adopts the Standard Building/Plumbing/Mechanical Codes, and County Code Sec. 6-36 still grants the building official powers 'under section 102 of the edition of the Standard Building Code in force in the county'. 85% · codified ordinances
• What is the installation judged against? Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) — Residential and Building — plus the National Electrical Code (2020 by state adoption; 'most recent edition' by the County's literal words), plus Florida Product Approval filed on a signed Product Specification Approval Sheet, plus the Walton County Wind-Borne Debris Regions and Basic Wind Speeds Map. CHELCO adds IEEE 1547 as a mandatory interconnection standard: 'All distributed resource installations must comply with IEEE 1547 in order to be allowed to interconnect with CHELCO's distribution system.' 88% · codified ordinance + utility instructions

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

Nothing recorded for City of Freeport on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Rapid shutdown is required by the adopted NEC (690.12), and NOBODY here restates it. 'Rapid shutdown' returns ZERO hits in the City of Freeport's full code, in Walton County's full code, in the City's 1.69 MB Land Development Code, and in every CHELCO document read (Interconnect Agreement, Net Metering Tariff, Technical Requirements, Distribution Guide, Tier 1/2/3 instructions). Which edition therefore follows the NEC-year answer at Q29: NEC 2020 by state adoption, or literally 'the most recent edition' by Walton County Code Sec. 6-26(6). 80% · adopted code, inference

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? NONE beyond the NEC's own labelling, from either government. Neither the City of Freeport nor Walton County specifies any PV placard: 'placard' returns 1 hit in the city code (a legal-notice posting requirement) and 4 in the county code (park signs, disability parking placards, beach flag signs) — all contaminated, all read. CHELCO specifies none either. So the applicable signage is whatever the adopted NEC requires at the service equipment, and nothing local is layered on top. 85% · full-code search with controls
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. Neither the City nor Walton County specifies any placard wording of its own. 85% · full-code search with controls
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No. No letter height, colour, contrast or material specification exists in any City or County instrument. 85% · full-code search with controls
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? No. CHELCO specifies NO placard or label of any kind. Enumerated across five documents: the Application/Interconnect Agreement 2025_V2, the filed Net Metering tariff (Sheets 8.2.1-8.2.6), the Technical Requirements for Distributed Generation Connection, the Member Guide to Interconnected Distributed Resources, and the 2026 Tier 1 instructions — 'placard' 0, 'label' 0, 'warning' 0 in all five. THE IMAGE-ONLY-DRAWING-PAGE CHECK WAS RUN: the Technical Requirements PDF has a page 10 with zero extractable text, it was rendered at 300 dpi and inspected, and it is a genuinely blank trailing page, not a drawing. So the 'no placards' finding here is not the false negative that trap produces. 88% · utility technical standard

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? DISCRETIONARY, and that is the whole answer — CHELCO does not mandate an AC disconnect. Interconnect Agreement 4(c): 'The Member MAYBE required to install a visible, open, lockable disconnect capable of isolating the Member's generator NEAR THE MEMBER'S SERVICE ENTRANCE AND METER PANEL.' Technical Requirements, Isolation Switch: 'The installation of a switch shall be installed at the point of common coupling (PCC) for the purposes of isolation MAYBE REQUIRED' — and if required it shall be capable of being locked in the closed and open positions, its position must be verifiable by visual inspection without removing covers with tools, and CHELCO must be granted access to lock it open. The Tier 1 submittal only demands the disconnect be drawn for NON-INVERTER-BASED systems, which residential PV is not. CORROBORATED INDEPENDENTLY in CHELCO's Member Guide to Interconnected Distributed Resources: 'A readily accessible, lockable, visible-break isolation switch device located between the resource and the distribution system MAY BE REQUIRED. CHELCO will provide specifications for the isolation switch. The member should gain approval for the proposed switch and the location PRIOR TO PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION to assure that it is acceptable.' So the practical instruction is: do not buy a disconnect for a CHELCO job until CHELCO has approved the make and the location. 93% · utility interconnection agreement
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes — Florida Product Approval. Walton County Building Permit Checklist item 9: 'Product Approval Specification Sheet — You may acquire approval numbers from the Vendor / Supplier or from www.floridabuilding.org. Note: This form must be signed.' The County publishes the form itself (Product Specification Approval Sheet). CHELCO adds, separately, that all distributed resource installations must comply with IEEE 1547. AND A DOCUMENTARY DELIVERABLE THAT IS EASY TO MISS: CHELCO's Member Guide states 'All installations must be certified as IEEE 1547 compliant IN WRITING either by the manufacturer, a recognized independent testing laboratory, or by a REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER prior to connection. CHELCO reserves the right to verify compliance through inspection/testing.' It also says a UL 1741-certified inverter-based system meets the protection requirements of IEEE 1547 — so the manufacturer's UL 1741 listing is normally the writing that satisfies this. 90% · county form + checklist
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Permitted, with no local rule of any kind. No City or County instrument addresses energy storage: 'battery' and 'ESS' return nothing substantive in either code. The only battery-aware document in the whole chain is CHELCO's Interconnect Agreement/Application, whose facility description block carries a tick-box 'Battery Storage: Yes ___ No ___'. So the governing text is NFPA 855 as incorporated through the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the FBC, with no local amendment. 70% · utility application form + inference
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes. Walton County Code Sec. 6-29(a)(1) defines 'Structure' as 'Anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on and/or below the ground, measuring 30 inches above natural grade' — so a ground-mounted array over 30 inches is a structure requiring a permit. Inside Freeport it is also an accessory structure under Land Development Code Sec. 3.06.22.B.1, which requires a permitted principal development on the parcel, compliance with the principal-use standards, and expressly bars it from 'a required buffer, landscape area, or minimum building setback area', requires it to be 'included in all calculations of impervious surface and stormwater runoff', and requires it to be shown on any concept development plan. 82% · codified ordinance + LDC (13 Jan 2026)

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

• How is an inspection booked? Phone. 'To schedule an inspection, call the Building Department @ (850) 892-8160 Monday through Friday, 8:00 am through 2:30 pm.' The EnerGov Civic Access portal also carries a 'Request Inspections' function for account holders. 92% · county department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? Same-day is achievable and no AM/PM window is offered. The County's published Inspection Check List states 'Inspections are taken between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.', and the Inspections page gives the same window for booking. REAL EVIDENCE: on the recovered Freeport solar permit S-24-0005 the 'Solar Final' inspection IBD-019344-2024 has Request Date 07/14/2024 and Scheduled Date 07/14/2024 — booked and scheduled the same day, and passed. 85% · county checklist + live inspection record

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? Yes — Walton County performs its own final solar inspection, and it is a NAMED inspection type. On S-24-0005 (Freeport) the inspection is 'Solar Final', record IBD-019344-2024, result Passed, inspector McGuire Michael. The alternative is a private provider under FS 553.791, which Walton County actively incentivises: Code Sec. 6-31 (Ord. 2023-28) gives a 55 percent discount on all permit fees including sub-permits and charges no plan-review fee at all when a private provider is used. 93% · live permit record + codified ordinance
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated. Optionally a licensed private provider under FS 553.791 and Walton County Ord. 2023-28, at the owner's election, for a 55 percent fee discount and no plan-review charge. 90% · codified ordinance

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? ONE inspection: 'Solar Final'. The complete workflow on the real Freeport permit S-24-0005 was: Confirm application complete (passed 03/06/2024) -> Building Review (passed 03/31/2024) -> Issue Permit (passed 04/04/2024) -> Notice of Commencement (passed 07/12/2024) -> Solar Final (passed 07/15/2024). No rough-in, no separate electrical, no structural step, no sub-records. NOTE THE CONFLICT: the codified list at County Code Sec. 6-35 enumerates fifteen required inspections (footing, slab, framing, power, final C/O or C/C and so on) and contains no solar entry — it derives from Ord. 92-11 of 1992 and is stale relative to the live 'Solar' permit type. The live record is the better evidence. 90% · live permit record vs codified ordinance
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No. The recovered Freeport rooftop PV permit has exactly one inspection, a final. There is no rough-in, mid-roof, or before-modules-installed step, and the permit generated no sub-records that might carry one. 85% · live permit record

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? Yes, but it is general and not solar-specific. Walton County publishes a Building Inspection Check List (revised Aug 2024) listing the basic inspections and the items needed before each, plus separate Mobile Home and Swimming Pool inspection checklists. Nothing on it addresses PV, labels, listings or rapid shutdown. 90% · county inspection checklist
• What must be on site at inspection? A recorded and posted Notice of Commencement, for any job over $5,000 — which a typical PV job exceeds (the recovered Freeport permit was valued at $24,480). The County's Inspection Check List: 'If construction is over $5,000.00, we will require a Notice of Commencement (NOC) recorded by The Clerks Office' before the first inspection. The standalone permit application repeats the statutory warning that the NOC 'MUST BE RECORDED AND POSTED ON THE JOB SITE BEFORE THE FIRST INSPECTION.' NOC is a discrete passed step on the real Freeport solar permit's workflow. 88% · county checklist + live permit workflow

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? On a passed Solar Final the permit is finalized — the portal shows Status COMPLETE with a Finalized Date (07/14/2024 on the real Freeport permit) and Progress 100%. The codified instrument is County Code Sec. 6-35(7), 'Final—Certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion'; a PV retrofit with no occupancy change takes a Certificate of Completion, not a C/O. The City of Freeport issues nothing on a rooftop PV job — its sign-off role ('no one can occupy the house/structure until after the C/O has been issued by Walton County') is a new-construction and commercial function. 78% · live permit record + codified ordinance
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? The installer/member notifies the utility — the AHJ does nothing. CHELCO's flow chart: 'Member notifies CHELCO when installation is complete and provides documentation as required in the Interconnection Agreement.' The Interconnect Agreement section 3(a) requires 'Confirmation of the inspection report of the local code enforcement agency indicating compliance of the facility with all applicable local codes', and the Tier 1 instructions require 'proof of county inspection' in the mailed submittal. CHELCO then arranges its own inspection and installs a programmed meter, within 20 days of receiving fees, notification and documentation. 92% · utility flow chart + interconnection agreement
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $30.00 per trip, per trade (Walton County Resolution 2025-70 paragraph (h)) — currently abated to $0.00 along with everything else until 30 Sep 2026. Separately, the CITY of Freeport charges $25.00 for a re-inspection of its own foundation/final survey inspections, 'due PRIOR to scheduling re-inspect', payable in exact cash or check only, at 16040 Business 331. 90% · adopted fee resolution + city process sheet