City of Lawtey

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 Lawtey is NOT the AHJ for residential rooftop solar. Building and electrical permitting and inspection for an address inside Lawtey city limits are performed by the Bradford County Building Department, 945 N. Temple Ave (Court House North Wing), Starke FL 32091, (904) 966-6223 ext 2, building@bradfordcountyfl.gov, Building Official Rod Crawford. Lawtey retains zoning/land use only. 90% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Delegated. Building and electrical are performed by Bradford County. Zoning is retained by the City of Lawtey: Bradford County's Planning & Zoning page says 'If you are looking for a zoning information for Lawtey, Brooker or Hampton you should contact their local zoning departments. Lawtey Zoning Department: (904) 782-3454... This Zoning Dept is responsible for all other areas in Bradford County.' Water, sewer, sanitation, police and fire suppression are also the City's. 88% · department page
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes - a permit is required, issued by Bradford County. The county's Building FAQ lists 'Repairs: replacement of water heaters or other plumbing fixtures, a/c units, new electrical service, rewiring, etc.' among work requiring a permit, and states that a permit is required wherever the Florida Building Code applies. No solar or PV exemption exists anywhere in the Bradford County Code. 80% · department FAQ
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate. Bradford County's permit portal offers a distinct 'Multi-Trade Permit Application - This application is for Electrical, HVAC, Mechanical, Plumbing work, etc.', separate from the 'Building Permit Application' (which is for new single-family dwellings, new modular homes, new commercial buildings and new stick-frame detached garages) and from the Mobile Home Permit Application. 80% · permit portal
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No. F.S. 163.04(2) (2026 Florida Statutes): 'A deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or similar binding agreement may not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting solar collectors... from being installed on buildings erected on the lots or parcels covered by the deed restriction... A property owner may not be denied permission to install solar collectors or other energy devices by any entity granted the power or right in any deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or similar binding agreement to approve, forbid, control, or direct alteration of property.' Neither the county nor the City of Lawtey imposes an HOA or architectural-approval step of its own. 85% · statute
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate windstorm certification, but there IS a live local wind amendment. Bradford County Code Sec. 14-33 amends Florida Building Code chapter 16: 'Pursuant to Figure 1609, the 100 mph wind speed line divides the County in to one wind load area: 100 mph. The 100 mph "wind speed line" is hereby designated as that portion of Highway 301 which lies north of County Road 225, and that portion of County Road 225 lying east...' - i.e. a single 100 mph basic wind speed for the whole county. Lawtey sits on US 301. The county's new-construction packet requires 'Truss details & Wind load calculations' for new houses. 70% · adopting ordinance

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 electrical contractor, or the property owner acting under the F.S. 489.503(6) owner-electrical exemption. Bradford County's portal publishes the statutory disclosure verbatim: 'State law requires electrical contracting to be done by licensed electrical contractors. You have applied for a permit under an exemption to that law. The exemption allows you, as the owner of your property, to act as your own electrical contractor even though you do not have a license. You may install electrical wiring for a farm outbuilding or a single-family or duplex residence... The home or building must be for your own use and occupancy. It may not be built for sale or lease.' 85% · permit portal
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes for work in the unincorporated county - Bradford County runs its own construction-trades Certificate of Competency programme (Code Ch. 14, Art. VII) and its current fee resolution charges 'Registered Contractor Renewal $40.00', 'MH Contractor Registration $50.00' and 'Change of Contractor $40.00'; the county's building page lists 'Contractor Registration' alongside permit applications and offers a contractor-licensing search. INSIDE LAWTEY CITY LIMITS THIS IS GENUINELY UNCERTAIN: Sec. 14-182(d) states the article 'shall be effective in all the unincorporated areas of the county, and in any incorporated area that has recognized the licenses and certificates granted under this article by means of a formal resolution or ordinance', and I found no such Lawtey resolution. 65% · municipal code
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes. Bradford County's Building FAQ answers 'May I do my own work and permitting? Yes you may!' and quotes F.S. 489.103(7)(a) - owner-builder for one-family or two-family residences for the owner's own occupancy, not offered for sale or lease, with a presumption of violation if sold or leased within 1 year of completion. The separate owner-electrical exemption (F.S. 489.503(6)) is published on the permit portal. 88% · department FAQ

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? There is NO published solar/PV submittal checklist for this jurisdiction. The route is Bradford County's online 'Multi-Trade Permit Application' (Electrical), which the portal says must be filled in with all fields and required uploads before submission; a recorded Notice of Commencement is required for any project over $5,000 (blank form published); the applicant must have a 911/site address at time of permitting. For NEW residential construction - a different application - the county does publish a document list: truss details and wind-load calculations, Manual J / load short form with EPL/energy forms, notarised subcontractor verification list, survey showing flood-zone verification and site plan, minimum two sets of sealed engineered drawings including a typical wall section, recorded Notice of Commencement over $5,000, warranty deed if bought within 3 months. 55% · published checklist
• How many copies, and in what format? Digital. Bradford County's building page: 'There are a few ways to get your BUILDING permit application to us. Email building@bradfordcountyfl.gov (three pages or less 8MB or less), Mail, or bring it in!... Send all permit applications in PDF format and titled correctly... We also have a "box" for you to upload large documents. PLEASE email us if you need that link.' For new residential construction the packet requires 'Min 2 sets of sealed engineered drawings' and 'One SITE COPY set of your drawings' posted on site. 70% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Not required in print for an electrical/multi-trade permit. For new residential construction the county requires a 'Survey showing Flood Zone verification and site plan' and states that property lines must be clearly marked by the first inspection; the Zoning Department separately reviews zoning, setbacks and flood zone for the property on a $25 fee - but for an address inside Lawtey that zoning review is Lawtey's, not the county's. 55% · published 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? iWorQ Citizen Portal, at bradfordfl.portal.iworq.net/portalhome/bradfordfl (run by Bradford County, not by the City of Lawtey). Separate iWorQ front ends exist for building permit search (portal.iworq.net/BRADFORDFL/permits/600), the building permit archive 2000-April 2019 (bradfordfl2.../permits/602), fire permits (bradfordfl23.../permits/605), zoning permits (portal.iworq.net/BRADFORDFL/permits/603) and contractor licensing (bradfordfl.../entities/1101). Card payments go through Point & Pay (client.pointandpay.net/web/BradfordCountyBuildingandZoningFL). The City of Lawtey has NO permit portal - its only online payment system is PayGov.US, introduced 11 July 2024 for 'general city payments and utility payments' (water/sewer). 88% · permit portal
• Can the whole application be completed online? Mostly, but not guaranteed. The portal's own instructions are '1 Click on the icon to begin. 2 Fill out all fields and attach required uploads. 3 Click Submit to send the application to the City.' Inspections can be requested online and results checked online, and fees can be paid online through Point & Pay. But the county's building page still offers email, mail and walk-in as equal routes, caps emailed submissions at 'three pages or less 8MB or less', requires you to email for a Box upload link for anything larger, and requires a mailed $25 cheque on letterhead for a permit search. 70% · permit portal
• What does a residential solar permit cost? Bradford County fee, calculated on DECLARED VALUE of the electrical work: $50.00 for the first $1,000 of value plus $5.00 for each additional $1,000 (Resolution 2026-02, Sections 10 and 11.D). Minimum fee for any permit is $50.00; the county's FAQ puts the real-world floor at $54.00 ('the permit being $50 & a $4 state surcharge fee'). If a Private Provider is used for inspections or plan review the permit fee is reduced by 50% or $50.00, whichever is greater. Worked example: a $20,000 declared-value PV install = $50 + (19 x $5) = $145, plus the state surcharge. The CITY OF LAWTEY charges nothing - its adopted FY2025-26 budget shows Licenses and Permits as $0 in both funds. 88% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation - specifically declared (contract) value. Resolution 2026-02 Sec. 9.C: 'Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Roofing, Docks, Pool, Spa, Sign, or Demolition. The declared value of the work shall be used as the basis for calculating the permit fee.' Sec. 8.B defines declared value as 'the amount to be charged by the contractor for construction, alteration, or repair of a building or structure or portion thereof, as documented by a written contract.' (New residential buildings instead use a square-foot 'standard value' table; mobile homes use a flat rate.) 90% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No separate plan-check fee for a building or electrical permit. Resolution 2026-02 contains no plan-review line for building work; the only review-related charges are 'Re-submittal of Plans $75.00' and a private-provider discount. Fire plan review IS separately priced but only on a square-foot scale aimed at commercial site and building plans ($55 for 0-10,000 sf up to $110 for 50,001 sf or greater), plus fire sprinkler/alarm/standpipe review. 75% · fee schedule

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? Bradford County's building page: an emailed application gets a reply 'within 2 business days' ('If you do not get a reply, WE DID NOT GET IT!'), 'If you choose to submit through email please allow 24 hrs for a permit to be issued', and 'If REVIEWS are needed from the Building Official it will take 2-3 weeks'. The new-residential packet adds 'It may take up to 7-10 business days to review on your application.' Over the top of all of these, F.S. 553.792(1)(a)1 caps review at 5 BUSINESS DAYS for an electrical permit on an existing single-family dwelling where the value of the work is under $15,000 (30 business days if the structure is under 7,500 sq ft), with a mandatory 10%-per-business-day permit-fee reduction under 553.792(1)(e) if the deadline is missed. 80% · department page
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Either Florida Power & Light (FPL) or Clay Electric Cooperative - I could not resolve which one serves Lawtey addresses. Bradford County's own New Residential Construction packet names both, side by side, as the electric service providers a Bradford applicant deals with: 'For new electrical service or transfer of electrical service an application must be submitted through your electrical service provider FPL - 1-800-462-0561 CLAY ELECTRIC - 352-473-8000 EXT 8356.' Clay Electric's own Quick Facts page confirms its service area includes Bradford County (one of 15 North Florida counties). The CITY OF LAWTEY IS NOT AN ELECTRIC UTILITY: its municipal utilities are water, sewer and sanitation only - its audited FY2024 financial statements show a single Water/Sewer business-type fund and no electric operation, and its budget carries an electric franchise fee ($45,500 received in FY2024, $43,000 budgeted FY2025-26), which is what a city collects FROM an outside electric provider. (Contrast the City of Starke, 10 miles south, which does run Florida's oldest municipal electric utility - that is Starke's, not Lawtey's.) 60% · AHJ packet + utility company page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? No AHJ-side dependency is published. Bradford County's own new-construction packet puts the utility step on the applicant: 'For new electrical service or transfer of electrical service an application must be submitted through your electrical service provider'. Neither the county nor the City of Lawtey conditions permit issuance on prior utility approval in anything I could read. 45% · AHJ packet

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? Bradford County Code Sec. 14-61 adopts 'that certain electrical code known as the National Electrical Code, published by the National Fire Protection Association, in the most recent edition in effect at the time of application' - a FLOATING adoption with no year in the ordinance text. In practice Florida's electrical requirements ride on the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), which references NFPA 70-2020; a current Florida building department's own residential permit application (City of Live Oak, last revised 01/16/2024) states the pairing as '8th EDITION (2023) FLORIDA BUILDING CODES and 2020 NEC'. 60% · adopting ordinance
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023). The Florida Building Commission's own site states on 14 Sep 2026: 'The Effective Date for the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), is December 31, 2023.' Bradford County Code Sec. 14-31 adopts it by reference - 'that certain building code known as the Florida Building Code which is a single statewide unified code developed and maintained by the Florida Building Commission' - including the Building (with energy, accessibility and state agency regulations), Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes. Sec. 14-34 fixes each permit to the FBC version in effect on the date of application. 92% · adopting regulation
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code, 8th Edition. Bradford County's Fire Prevention page states 'FL Fire Prevention Code is the 8th edition' and that the office 'enforces the Fla. Fire Prevention Code'. Bradford County Code Sec. 36-1 adopts it floatingly: 'Bradford County hereby adopts the Florida Fire Prevention Code, more particularly set forth in F.S. ch. 633, as if fully set forth herein and as the same may be amended from time to time.' Sec. 36-2 makes the County Fire Marshal responsible for 'the application, implementation and enforcement of NFPA 1 and NFPA 101'. 85% · department page
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes, but none of them touch PV. Bradford County Code Sec. 14-33 amends FBC chapter 16 to set a single 100 mph basic wind speed area for the whole county (with the wind-speed line described along Highway 301 north of CR 225 and along CR 225); Sec. 14-34 fixes permits to the FBC version in force at application. Fire is adopted floatingly with no local amendment (Sec. 36-1). Electrical is adopted floatingly with no local amendment (Sec. 14-61); Sec. 14-62 simply says 'The building official shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this article.' The City of Lawtey publishes no code of ordinances at all, so it has no visible amendments. 85% · adopting ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? The Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) as adopted at Bradford County Code Sec. 14-31, the National Electrical Code as adopted at Sec. 14-61, and the Florida Fire Prevention Code 8th Edition as adopted at Sec. 36-1 - all enforced by the Bradford County Building Official, who Sec. 14-62 makes 'responsible for the administration and enforcement of' the electrical article. Sec. 14-32 adds 'No building permit shall be issued for any structure which does not, or shall not, comply with any ordinance.' 80% · adopting ordinance

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 Lawtey 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? Yes, by way of the adopted NEC rather than by any local rule - Bradford County Code Sec. 14-61 adopts the National Electrical Code 'in the most recent edition in effect at the time of application', which carries the 690.12 rapid-shutdown requirement. Neither Bradford County nor the City of Lawtey publishes a rapid-shutdown provision of its own. 55% · adopting ordinance

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 of its own. Neither the City of Lawtey nor Bradford County publishes any placard, label or marking requirement for PV service equipment - what applies is whatever the adopted NEC requires, as the Bradford County Building Official enforces it under Sec. 14-62. 65% · municipal code
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. Neither authority specifies placard wording of its own. 70% · municipal code
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No. No letter height, colour, contrast or material is specified by either the City of Lawtey or Bradford County. The only lettering specification either authority publishes is for the 911 site address, not for electrical placards: 'Address must be posted with 4in. #'s that contrast from their background.' 70% · AHJ packet

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.

• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? No local approved-equipment list. Neither the City of Lawtey nor Bradford County maintains or references a product list of its own; the county's Building & Zoning Links page simply points at floridabuilding.org (the statewide Florida Product Approval system) and nfpa.org. 60% · department page
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No local rule. Bradford County Code Ch. 14 Art. III (Electrical Code) is two sections long - Sec. 14-61 adopts the NEC and Sec. 14-62 assigns enforcement to the building official - and Secs. 14-63 to 14-90 are reserved. There is no service-upgrade, busbar, or interconnection provision anywhere in the chapter, and the current fee resolution has no service-upgrade line item. The City of Lawtey publishes nothing. 70% · municipal code

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? Portal or phone, through Bradford County. The county's building page: 'Schedule Inspections: Call 904-966-6223 X1 OR Schedule Online 1 business day before you need the inspection. Must be before 4:30PM. You can also check your inspection results online.' Online requests go through the iWorQ Citizen Portal's 'Request An Inspection' form, which needs a contractor Access Code (with an 'Email me my code' link), requester name, phone, email, requested date and inspection type. Separate request forms exist for building, fire and zoning permits. 90% · department page
• How much notice is required? One business day, and the request must be in before 4:30 PM. Bradford County: 'Schedule Online 1 business day before you need the inspection. Must be before 4:30PM.' The portal repeats it: 'No inspection can be scheduled for the next day if the request is made after 4:30 PM.' The portal's date picker also rejects weekends ('Weekends are not available dates for inspections'). 92% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM windows are offered. Bradford County's FAQ: 'Inspections are generally performed from 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. In certain circumstances the Building Official can perform inspections after 5 pm (if for instance he must enter someone's home to perform an inspection and no one will be home until after 5 pm, he will work with you to setup a time to do the inspection after hours). You can contact our office to speak with the Building Official or to get his mobile contact information.' Same-day is not available - requests must be made a business day ahead. 80% · department FAQ

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? Delegated. The City of Lawtey performs no inspections of any kind - it has no building official and no inspections budget. Inspections are performed by Bradford County's own in-house Building Official (Rod Crawford, on a county email address, not a contract firm). A private-provider route also exists under the county's current fee resolution, Sec. 7: 'If a Private Provider is used for inspections or plan review the permit fee shall be reduced by 50% or ($50.00) whichever is greater' - i.e. the Florida private-provider option (F.S. 553.791) is live in Bradford County. 85% · department page
• If delegated, to whom? Bradford County Building Department. Rod Crawford, Building Official; Aleshia Dye, Executive Assistant. 945 N. Temple Ave, Court House North Wing, Starke FL 32091. Mailing: P.O. Box B, Starke FL 32091. (904) 966-6223 ext 2 (inspections ext 1). building@bradfordcountyfl.gov. Counter hours Mon-Thu 10:00-16:30 (closed 12:00-12:30 for lunch; also closed to the public 08:00-10:00 until further notice due to staffing shortages), Fri 08:00-13:30 with no lunch closure. 88% · department page

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? No PV-specific inspection sequence is published. Bradford County's live inspection-request form exposes its full inspection-type list, which includes Rough Electric, Rough Electric #2, Early Power, Open Ceiling, Ceiling Cover-Up, Final Cover-Up, Final, Final #2, Final #3, Final C/O, Final COC, Cert of Occupancy, Roof Dry In, Roof Nail & Dry-In, Roof Nailing, Footings, Framing / Open Wall, Fire Inspection and Setbacks. There is no 'Solar', 'PV', 'Solar Tie Down' or 'Solar Electrical Final' type in that list. 60% · permit portal

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? No. There is no published inspection checklist for solar PV in this jurisdiction. CAUTION: a file that looks exactly like one is reachable at cityoflawtey.org/wp-content/uploads/Solar-Photovoltaic-System-Inspection-Process-1.pdf - it is NOT Lawtey's. It is the CITY OF LIVE OAK's (Office of the Building Official, 416 Howard St E, Live Oak FL 32064, Suwannee County) solar PV inspection procedure, sitting in Lawtey's WordPress media library alongside Live Oak's building-official job description, Live Oak's residential and commercial permit applications and Live Oak's Ordinance 1504-1511 business impact estimates. It is not linked from any Lawtey page. 80% · department FAQ
• What must be on site at inspection? Bradford County's FAQ: 'One SITE COPY set of your drawings and your Permit must be posted on the construction site. By Law the 911 site address must be properly posted before the First Inspection or the inspection will be cancelled.' The new-construction packet adds that the address must be posted with 4-inch numbers that contrast with their background, that property lines must be clearly marked by the first inspection, and that a properly sized port-a-let must be on site before the first inspection if construction will run longer than a day. 88% · department FAQ

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? A passed final inspection, recorded in the county's online inspection results; for work that needs one, a Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion. The county's inspection-type list contains 'Final', 'Final C/O', 'Final COC', 'Cert of Occupancy' and 'Partial CO', and the FAQ refers homeowners and insurers to 'the Final County Inspection Report'. 60% · department FAQ
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Not the AHJ - the applicant/installer deals with the utility directly. Bradford County's only published statement on the utility step puts it on the applicant: 'For new electrical service or transfer of electrical service an application must be submitted through your electrical service provider FPL... CLAY ELECTRIC...'. Nothing published by Bradford County or the City of Lawtey says either of them notifies an electric utility of anything. 45% · AHJ packet
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $40.00. Bradford County Resolution 2026-02, Sec. 11.F: 'Re-inspection $40.00'. The same table sets 'Re-submittal of Plans $75.00' and 'Stop Work Order / Not Pulling a Permit $50.00 (plus permit fee)'. Fire re-inspections are priced separately and escalate ($40 first re-inspection; second re-inspection $80-$150 by square footage; third $95-$160). 90% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? Results are published online - the county's building page says 'You can also check your inspection results online' and the portal offers 'Schedule Inspections/See Results'. Money-side consequences are in the fee resolution: re-inspection $40, re-submittal of plans $75, stop-work order $50 plus permit fee. Beyond that the county publishes no correction-notice or clearance procedure. 60% · department page