City of Madeira Beach

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? Yes. The City of Madeira Beach is the AHJ for residential solar inside its limits. It runs its own Building Department at 300 Municipal Drive with an in-house Building Official (Kathleen Croteau, CBO, CFM) and five further permitting/code staff, and a dedicated Building Fund 125 whose FY2026 budget carries Salaries & Wages $758,800 (up from $441,200), FRS Regular Class $91,500, Group Insurance $179,100 and Workers' Compensation $4,925 against only $230,000 of Professional Services - an in-house-dominant department that buys some contract support, not a delegated one, and the opposite ratio to a contract-staffed shop. Its FS 553.80(7) utilization report shows 4.45 dedicated FTE, 1,086 permits issued and 2,564 inspections conducted in FY2020. Nothing is delegated to Pinellas County: PCCLB is the contractor licensing board and the author of county-wide FBC technical amendments, not the permit issuer here. Floodplain administration is in-house too (Sec. 94-30, as amended by Ord. 2018-19: 'The community development director is designated as the floodplain administrator... and will be a certified floodplain manager (CFM)'), currently Marci Forbes. 95% · adopted budget + department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both, and the city holds building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas, floodplain, zoning and fire itself. Sec. 14-30 adopts the Florida Building Code together with its Chapter 1 administration; Sec. 14-32(b) adopts 'The National Electrical Code (NEC), most current edition'; Sec. 102-3(b) states the NEC 'has been adopted as the electrical code of the city'. The city's own permit ledger of 15 Aug 2025 lists Electrical (153) and Mechanical (263) as its own issued permit types alongside Solar (8). Fire sits with the city's own Fire Department, an administrative department under Sec. 2-151(a)(4), which under Sec. 38-6 must certify to the building official before a certificate of occupancy. The only outward delegation available is the applicant-elected private provider route under FS 553.791. One power IS held above the city and it is worth knowing: under the Pinellas Gulf Beaches Coastal Construction Code (FBC Sec. 3109 as amended by PCCLB) the City of Madeira Beach is named as a local permitting, inspection and enforcement authority, and PCCLB may on a finding of substantial non-compliance 'Suspend, for a specified period of time, or revoke indefinitely, the local permitting, inspection, and enforcement authority's power to issue permits and conduct inspections pursuant to this Coastal Code'. 92% · codified ordinance
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes - and in Madeira Beach a solar permit also opens a floodplain determination, because the whole city is in a special flood hazard area. Sec. 86-52 requires a permit before any person may 'construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish... or install or alter... plumbing, mechanical or electrical equipment or any appurtenances', exempting only work whose cost of repair or modification does not exceed $500.00, produces no structural change and requires no inspection - a PV system fails all three limbs. The city publishes a dedicated SOLAR CHECKLIST and issued 8 solar permits in the post-Helene rebuild period counted to 15 Aug 2025. THE FLOOD LIMB: Sec. 94-93 states 'All of Madeira Beach is located in a special flood hazard area', the Flood Resources page repeats it ('the City of Madeira Beach is entirely within the floodplain'), and my own FEMA NFHL sampling agrees - 834 interior points on the TIGER city polygon, of which 572 fell inside a mapped NFHL polygon and 571 of those (99.8%) were AE or VE, with exactly one shaded-X point; the remaining 262 are open water, confirmed by re-querying three of them against the server. Sec. 94-33 then owes an SI/SD determination on applications 'to improve buildings and structures, including alterations (Levels 1-2-3)... and ANY OTHER IMPROVEMENT OF OR WORK ON such buildings and structures' - with NO DOLLAR FLOOR AT ALL - and the Substantial Improvement/Damage Packet is 'required... upon submitting a building permit for an improvement on a non-compliant structure in the floodplain'. So on a pre-FIRM or otherwise non-compliant house, a solar permit pulls a nine-page cost-breakdown packet with it. THREE FURTHER THINGS THAT DECIDE MONEY ON THAT PACKET. (i) THE CONTINGENCY IS 15%, NOT 10%, AND THE CITY'S OWN TWO DOCUMENTS DISAGREE: the Substantial Improvement/Damage Packet's totals page adds 'CONTRACTOR OVERHEAD & PROFIT (owner/builder minimum 10% overhead required)' and then a separate '15% CONTINGENCY' line to the subtotal before the grand total, while the SI Inclusion/Exclusion List the city publishes beside it lists '10% contingency factor'. A five-point difference on a borderline job decides whether it crosses 50%. (ii) AN ANTI-PHASING COVENANT DOES THE WORK THE REPEALED CUMULATIVE LIMB USED TO DO: the packet's owner declaration reads 'I fully understand that PHASING IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BUILDING IS NOT PERMITTED. I hereby attest that the description in the permit application... is ALL THE WORK THAT WILL BE DONE... Owner and contractor agree that the total scope and cost of this project shall not be increased in any manner without the express written consent of the Madeira Beach Building Department and Community Development Department', on pain of removal of the work, revocation of the certificate of occupancy, or an order to remove the structure. (iii) THREE DIFFERENT ELEVATIONS GOVERN THE BOX A PV INVERTER OR BATTERY BELONGS IN, AND THEY DO NOT AGREE: Sec. 94-102 requires at-grade accessory structures to 'Have mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems, including plumbing fixtures, elevated to or above THE BASE FLOOD ELEVATION PLUS ONE FOOT'; Sec. 94-140(4) 'Other development' requires 'mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems ABOVE THE DESIGN FLOOD ELEVATION or meet the requirements of ASCE 24, except that minimum electric service required to address life safety and electric code requirements is permitted below the design flood elevation provided it conforms to the provisions of the electrical part of building code for wet locations'; and the city's Next Step packet says 'If any HVAC components were damaged by flood, they must be ELEVATED TO BFE PLUS ONE FOOT... Signed and sealed plans are required', while Sec. 14-39's local FBC-R amendment sets the building's own lowest floor at BFE PLUS FOUR FEET OR THE DFE, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER. Sec. 94-25 resolves it the hard way: whichever imposes the greater restriction governs. Market value comes from a private Actual Cash Value appraisal prepared to FEMA P-758 section 4.5.3 'based on replication/replacement of existing structure, no adjacent sales data', or from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's FEMA/WLM Letter, which the city warns 'may be lower than that from a private appraiser'. 93% · codified ordinance + FEMA NFHL
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Published as ONE solar permit: the city issues a single SOLAR CHECKLIST and no separate solar-electrical checklist. But its own ledger counts Electrical (153) as a distinct issued permit type in the same period as Solar (8), and the fee schedule's opening enumeration of permit types - 'Building, Mechanical, Plumbing, Gas, Fire Roofing, Swimming Pools, Aluminum Structures, Interior or Exterior remodeling, Accessory Structures, Additions, Fuel Tanks, Alarms, Sprinklers, Driveways, Signs, Docks, Seawalls, Walls and Fences, Sheds, Infrastructure or Excavation' - OMITS ELECTRICAL ENTIRELY, catching it only under the closing 'or any other type of construction under the Florida Building Code', while paragraph (7) of the same schedule does name Electrical as one of the trades. Practical reading: apply on the solar type and expect the electrical scope inside it; confirm with the Building Department whether a sub-permit is raised. 62% · published checklist + codified fee schedule
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No. There is no codified HOA, architectural-review or design-review gate on a single-family rooftop array. 'homeowners association' is 0 hits across 2.11 MB of codified text; the five 'association' hits in the zoning and general-provisions chapters are the definitions of business entity, club, condo-hotel, condo association and mangrove stand. 'design review' resolves to a stormwater phrase. 'certificate of appropriateness' and 'architectural review' are 0. The only architectural design standards in the whole code are Appendix D Section D-113 for the John's Pass Village Activity Center, and they say in terms: 'Single family and duplex buildings are EXEMPT from the following standards and guidelines.' The nearest live gate is confined to the Planned Development district - Sec. 110-393(6) requires that 'All mechanical equipment, electrical equipment, ROOF TOP EQUIPMENT, refuse areas associated with this project shall not be visible from the public right-of-way' - which would bite an array inside a PD but not in R-1. Searched as briefed with 'association' + 'approv' inside the zoning chapter: no codified co-signature exists. 90% · codified ordinance
• Is there a historic-district review? No. Madeira Beach has no historic-district review and no historic preservation ordinance: 'certificate of appropriateness' = 0 hits and 'historic preservation' = 0 hits across the whole codified corpus, and the only 'historic district' reference is inside the NFIP definition of 'historic structure' carried in Secs. 82-2 and 94-93. That definition cuts the other way: Sec. 94-93 excludes from 'substantial improvement' 'Any alteration of a historic structure provided the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure' - leniency, not a review gate. 92% · codified ordinance
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate windstorm certificate, but the design criteria are set county-wide and are high. PCCLB Local Technical Amendment to FBC 8th Edition (2023) Building Section 1609.3, read first-hand: 'All incorporated and unincorporated Pinellas County, Risk Category I - 135 MPH with interpolation permitted as allowed in the Code and ASCE 7-16; Risk Category II - 145 MPH... Risk Category III - 155 MPH... Risk Category IV - 157 MPH'. It reaches Madeira Beach by its own terms, without an interlocal. The city adds Sec. 14-36: all new buildings or structures shall be built on pilings designed by a state licensed architect or engineer to withstand foreseeable high-velocity wave and wind forces including those produced by hurricanes. What is actually demanded on products is a current FLORIDA PRODUCT APPROVAL cover sheet with the appropriate decimal point circled plus the manufacturer's installation specs, and the city says in capitals 'DO NOT SUBMIT MIAMI-DADE NOA DOCUMENTS' - but its enumerated product classes are windows/doors/garage doors, soffit/fascia/siding and roofing materials, and the Solar Checklist asks instead for wind/roof loads inside the signed and sealed drawings. 90% · county technical amendment
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No. In the R-1 single-family district Sec. 110-178 lists the accessory uses as home occupations, private garages and carports, private swimming pools, residential signs, residential docks, essential services, and '(7) Other accessory uses customarily incident to permitted or approved special exception uses' - which is where a rooftop array sits, by right. The special exception list at Sec. 110-179 is short and closed - publicly owned parks or recreation areas, public service facilities, cabanas used as bathhouses, and amateur/marine radio antennas not exceeding 50 feet - and catches nothing solar. There is no 'more than one accessory use becomes conditional' chain in this code and no Board of Commissioners step for accessory residential work. 'Essential services' is defined at Sec. 82-2 as PUBLIC UTILITY facilities, so it does not sweep in a customer-owned array. Sec. 86-51(1) confirms the route: 'A building permit for a permitted use may be issued by the building official ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY.' 88% · codified ordinance
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No municipal cap. 'kW', 'kilowatt', 'photovoltaic', 'net meter' and 'energy storage' are all 0 hits across 2.11 MB of codified text. The binding limits are the utility's: PSC Rule 25-6.065(4)(a) confines expedited interconnection to systems whose gross power rating '1. Does not exceed 90% of the customer's utility distribution service rating; AND 2. Falls within one of the following ranges: Tier 1 - 10 kW or less; Tier 2 - greater than 10 kW and less than or equal to 100 kW; or Tier 3 - greater than 100 kW and less than or equal to 2 MW' - both limbs, and on a 200 A service the 90% limb binds first. What does cap an array physically here is height: Sec. 110-182 caps R-1 structures at 30 feet to the eave MEASURED FROM THE DESIGNATED BASE FLOOD ELEVATION ON THE FIRM PLUS REQUIRED FREEBOARD, with an absolute 40 feet from BFE to the highest point and a maximum roof pitch of 6:12. 88% · state administrative rule + codified 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 contractor registered with DBPR or with Pinellas County (PCCLB), or the property owner under the owner-builder exemption with a signed affidavit. The city's FAQ says it in those words: 'A licensed contractor registered with DBPR or Pinellas County may apply. Property owners may apply under the owner-builder exemption but must comply with state requirements and sign an affidavit.' Sec. 86-32(b) additionally requires the application to carry 'the address and city local business tax receipt and/or registration numbers of all contractors and trades people authorized by the owner'. Working hours are constrained: contractors may work 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, with no work on Sundays or public holidays. 90% · department FAQ
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Not for trade licensing - the city recognises DBPR or PCCLB licensure and runs no contractor registry of its own. It does gate on the business-tax side: 'Persons located outside the City of Madeira Beach but conducting a business and/or providing a service MUST REGISTER WITH THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT', and Sec. 86-32(b) makes the city local business tax receipt and/or registration number a required field on the permit application. Sec. 62-60 prices the trade: 'Solar installation .....$121.55' - which is the ONLY occurrence of the word 'solar' as a regulated activity in 2.11 MB of codified text. A business tax application review 'usually takes 2-3 working days'. 85% · codified fee schedule + department FAQ
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes, for one- and two-family dwellings. The owner may act as their own contractor and self-permit provided the home is for their own use and not offered for sale or lease, and they either do the work themselves or provide full-time direct on-site supervision; laborers may be hired but must be supervised, and any licensed trade may be sub-contracted. An Owner Builder Permit Affidavit / Disclosure Statement is filed at permitting. The city republishes PCCLB's 'Warning - Owner-Builder Permits are Risky Business' and advises 'It is strongly recommended that your contractor submit your remodel/repair permit application.' One cost asymmetry worth knowing: the Substantial Improvement/Damage Packet requires an owner/builder to book a MINIMUM 10% OVERHEAD in the cost breakdown, which a licensed contractor may instead carry inside its line items - so the same job can price differently against the 50% threshold depending on who pulls it. 90% · department FAQ + published affidavit

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? From the city's own SOLAR CHECKLIST, three items: (1) Manufacturer Drawings - one set of SIGNED AND SEALED drawings and/or manufacturer's specifications for the system including the stand, wind/roof loads or roof attachment; (2) Notice of Commencement, certified and recorded by the Pinellas County Clerk of Court, for a project valued at $2,500 or more, due before the first called inspection; (3) at final, a completed Code Compliance Letter AND a Fire Inspection. Solar is the ONLY one of the city's twenty-odd per-type checklists that requires a fire inspection at final - the Generator checklist, its nearest analogue in equipment terms, does not. Off-checklist but required: the contractor's licence/BTR numbers on the application (Sec. 86-32(b)), a Subcontractor Job Card for licensed contractors or a Disclosure Statement for owner-builders, and - on any non-compliant floodplain structure - the full nine-page SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT/DAMAGE PACKET. THAT PACKET NAMES SOLAR TWICE AND BY NAME: its Floodplain Building Shell Cost Breakdown Worksheet carries a dedicated line item 'Solar Panels & Equipment', and the companion SI Inclusion/Exclusion List puts 'SOLAR PANELING AND EQUIPMENT' expressly in the INCLUDED column under 'All utility and service equipment'. So a solar spend is counted toward the 50% test by name, not by argument. 92% · published checklist + published SI packet
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic only in practice: all permit applications go through MGO (My Government Online) at mgoconnect.org/cp/portal as one uploaded set, with the instruction 'If a required document does not pertain to your application, upload a blank document.' The code has not caught up. Sec. 86-53 still requires 'two copies of a layout or site plan and construction plans drawn to scale' with every building permit application (three copies plus a sealed survey for new structures and major additions), and Sec. 86-55 still provides that 'All building permits shall be issued in quadruplicate' with a paper construction card. Payment: in person (cash, card, cheque, money order), by post (cheque or money order) or by telephone; card payments add $0.30 plus 3%. 85% · codified ordinance + published checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? For solar the city's own checklist does NOT ask for a site plan or a survey - unlike the Generator checklist, which demands a current sealed Boundary & Improvements Survey in the original size plus a site plan showing the equipment's location, size and distance from the setbacks. That is a live conflict with Sec. 86-53, which requires a layout or site plan drawn to scale showing the lot's actual dimensions and the exact size and location of the building and accessory buildings with EVERY building permit application. Where a site plan is called for, Sec. 94-50 sets its contents, and this is where the city's real flood number lives: a boundary survey signed and sealed by a registered Florida Professional Surveyor showing improvements and topography, the delineation of flood hazard areas and flood zones (including identification and mapped location of any Coastal A Zone), base flood elevation(s), 'minimum lowest floor elevation or horizontal member, as appropriate, (BFE PLUS FOUR FEET OF FREEBOARD)', ground elevations where required, coastal construction control line delineation, extent of any dune or mangrove alteration, and a 'Signed and county filed NON-CONVERSION AGREEMENT with stated right of inspection as a condition of final certificate of occupancy'. 85% · codified ordinance + published checklists
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Effectively yes, but the checklist offers an alternative to a stamp and sets no threshold. The SOLAR CHECKLIST requires 'Manufacturer Drawings - 1 set of signed & sealed drawings AND/OR manufacturers specifications for the system including the stand, wind/roof loads or roof attachment'. The FAQ generalises: 'Plans must be signed and sealed by a Florida registered architect or engineer, OR they must comply with one of the Design Criteria alternative provisions in the Florida Building Code, Residential.' No dollar, kW or area threshold is published anywhere. The Remodel/Renovation checklist is stricter in its own lane - 'Any structural drawings will need to be signed and sealed by a Florida licensed Engineer or Architect' - which catches any PV job altering structural members, and the Next Step packet repeats it. 80% · published checklist + department FAQ

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? MGO Connect - My Government Online - at https://www.mgoconnect.org/cp/portal. It is named on the Solar Checklist itself, on every other per-type checklist, on the Building Department FAQ and on the department page's 'Permits, Projects & Inspection Scheduling' link. Permits, inspections, code compliance and business tax receipts have all been moved into MGO, Planning & Zoning applications (variance, development plans) with them; the FY2026 budget records an API integration between MGO and the general ledger and a goal to 'Integrate all permits into MGO and Laserfiche'. Separately the city uses FORERUNNER (madeirabeachfl.withforerunner.com) for flood-risk lookups, elevation certificates and 'Report a Problem'. 95% · published checklist + department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes. Applications are submitted, tracked and paid through MGO; inspections are scheduled in MGO; the public can search permits through MGO's public search portal. The 'upload a blank document' instruction confirms the package is assembled entirely online. Two items leave the portal: the Notice of Commencement must be recorded with the Pinellas County Clerk of Court and returned to the city before the first called inspection, and payment can alternatively be made in person, by post or by telephone. 90% · department FAQ
• What does a residential solar permit cost? About $256 on a $25,000 system and about $383 on a $30,000 one. Appendix A (Fees and Collection Procedure Manual), Article II Section Q, as amended by Ord. No. 2025-18 adopted 12 Nov 2025: Valuation Fee = ONE PERCENT (1%) of the Total Project Value 'which includes both materials and labor and other related fees'; Florida Surcharge Fee = 2.5% per permit with a $4.00 minimum; plus, ONLY where the value is $30,000.00 or more, a NON-REFUNDABLE permit plan review deposit of 25% of total permit fees taken at application. So $25,000 -> $250.00 + $6.25 = $256.25; $30,000 -> $300.00 + $7.50 + $75.00 = $382.50. A $29,999 job and a $30,000 job are about $76 apart and a residential PV quote straddles that line. RIDERS: after-the-fact permits are five times the face value of the valuation fees, and ten times for a repeat by the same contractor, property owner or homeowner within twelve months; card payments add $0.30 + 3%; there are NO refunds once work commences or once the permit is 90 days old; and Article II Section A imposes an open-ended cost-recovery rider over the whole of Article II - 'It is the intent of the City that ALL development review costs be borne by the beneficiaries... Costs for review services including personnel, CONSULTING or material will be charged against the account of each application.' Paragraph (7) adds a discretionary power: activities not falling under a trade 'may be classified as miscellaneous... An appropriate related fee shall be set by the Building Official.' POST-DISASTER - AND THIS IS A CITY WHERE THE STORM INSTRUMENTS ACTUALLY PRODUCED SOMETHING, UNLIKE MOST OF THIS SURVEY: Ord. 2024-22 set the Hurricane Helene/Milton permit rate at ZERO PERCENT of project value, and the codified schedule still carries the clause - 'Zero Percent (0%) of the Total Project Value for all Hurricane Helene and Milton permit fees for work involving the interior and/or the exterior demolition, repairs, and/or new construction... UNTIL MARCH 26, 2026. The zero percent (0%) permit fee... only applies if the property has not been sold since September 26, 2024' - plus a standing power, 'The Board of Commissioners may vote to temporarily charge zero percent (0%) post-disaster permit fees and must include a start and end date.' The waiver-extension window closed on 26 Sep 2025 and the waiver itself on 26 Mar 2026, and the city posted the approved extension addresses publicly. Around it the city built a real machine: 1,369 substantial damage determination notifications sent by 1 May 2025; 342 individual substantial-damage letters published as documents on its own website; 2,955 permit applications processed and 2,606 permits issued and 4,284 inspections (3,417 passed, 865 failed) between 27 Sep 2024 and 2 Jul 2025; a Substantial Improvement/Damage Packet, an Appraisal Checklist, an Interior Remodel/Renovation Checklist 'Post Hurricane', a Next Step Permit Notification, a Nonconversion Agreement and a Storm Repair Authorization Form for condominiums; the Building Fund's FY2026 salary line raised 72 percent to staff it; and two hard cliffs - 'If damages were less than 50% of fair market value, all permit applications must be submitted by MARCH 26, 2026 to continue existing as a non-compliant floodplain structure', and 'Permits must be issued by SEPTEMBER 25, 2026... Failure to meet this deadline may result in losing the ability to perform future work on the structure unless it is brought into full compliance with current zoning and floodplain regulations.' That second deadline is twelve days from today. Impact fees do not reach a rooftop array: they are charged per square foot of enclosed building area ($9.70/sq ft FY2026) and a PV system adds none. 90% · codified fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation. One percent of Total Project Value, defined as including 'both materials and labor and other related fees'. No flat base, no per-kW, no per-panel rate, and no minimum other than the $4.00 floor on the state surcharge. The check on an understated value is codified in the flood chapter rather than the fee schedule: Sec. 94-43(5) requires the application to 'State the valuation of the proposed work consistent with values per square foot defined by a PROFESSIONAL COST ESTIMATING SOFTWARE DESIGNATED BY THE BUILDING OFFICIAL ON AN ANNUAL BASIS for that purpose, at the time of application with adjustments for building type' - a valuation override that names software rather than a published table, and so cannot be priced in advance. 92% · codified fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes, but only above a threshold, and it is a deposit rather than a fee: 'Residential and Commercial (NON-REFUNDABLE) permit plan review deposit fee - a. Value of $30,000.00 or more .....25% of total permit fees', collected at the time the application is submitted and 'in addition to any other applicable fees'. Below $30,000 there is none. TWO DEFECTS IN THE CURRENT TEXT. (i) The clause cross-refers to 'Article II, Section I (Building Permit Fee Schedule)' - but Section I is the Land Development Regulations Amendment fee; the Building Permit Fee Schedule is Section Q. (ii) The deposit barely shows up as revenue: Plan Review was $200 (FY2023 actual), $500 (FY2024 actual), $500 (FY2025 projected) and $1,000 (FY2026 budget) against building permit revenue of $785,848 to $1,300,000, and $1,100 against $803,188 in the FY2020 statutory utilization report. Either almost nothing reaches $30,000 or the deposit is booked into the permit line. LEDGER RECONCILIATION, AS FAR AS IT COULD BE TAKEN: the FS 553.80(7) utilization report gives $803,188 of building permit revenue against 1,086 permits issued in FY2020 - an average of $739.58 a permit, which at a one-percent valuation fee implies an average declared project value near $74,000, a plausible figure for a barrier-island rebuild market and consistent with the published schedule. I could NOT reconcile a single permit to the cent: mgoconnect.org returns a byte-identical 1,346-byte HTTP 406 error page to every path attempted, including fabricated ones, so its public permit search fails its own control and no figure and no absence was taken from it. Recording the limit rather than a guess. 88% · codified fee schedule + adopted budget

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.

• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 180 days. FAQ: 'A permit is valid for 180 days from the date of issuance, or from the last approved inspection date. If the project is dormant for six months, then the permit is expired.' Sec. 86-58 says the same in code terms - expiry after six months if the applicant fails to implement, any six months' suspension of activity voids it, and 'Ninety-day extensions for cause may be granted'. Extension is by the Building Official alone on a written request with a Permit Extension Affidavit, priced at $50.00 per extension (Appendix A Art. II Q(4)(f)). The floodplain limb runs separately: a floodplain development permit or approval becomes invalid if work is not commenced within 180 days or is suspended or abandoned for 180 days, extendable in further 180-day blocks for justifiable cause (Sec. 94-45). 92% · codified ordinance + department FAQ
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Duke Energy Florida, LLC d/b/a Duke Energy - settled in the city's own codified text, not inferred. Appendix B FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS, item 1, is ORDINANCE 2022-19, 'AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MADEIRA BEACH, FLORIDA GRANTING TO DUKE ENERGY FLORIDA, LLC d/b/a DUKE ENERGY, A NON-EXCLUSIVE UTILITY RIGHTS OF WAY UTILIZATION FRANCHISE... FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING ELECTRIC SERVICE'. Ten-year term plus two five-year renewals; franchise fee six percent (6%) of Base Revenues; and Section 4(C) provides 'During the term of the Franchise granted herein Company shall be the SOLE ELECTRIC UTILITY allowed to use and occupy the Rights-of-Way' - so 'non-exclusive' is non-exclusive only against entities not providing electric energy. The only other franchisee in Appendix B is People's Gas System. Three city-side operational rungs corroborate: the FAQ 'How do I turn on my power/electricity? Contact DUKE ENERGY at: 727-443-2641'; 'DUKE ENERGY MAINTAINS THE POWER AND STREET LIGHTING for the City of Madeira Beach'; and the Hurricane FAQ's who-to-call table, which is diagnostic precisely because it splits the utilities - Duke Energy AND TECO/Tampa Electric AND TECO Peoples Gas AND Clearwater Gas all appear, and only Duke answers the electricity question. BUDGET TRAP, RECORDED SO NOBODY RE-DERIVES IT: the FY2026 budget's franchise revenue account is still 001.1400.323100 'PROGRESS ENERGY Franchise' ($560,000 budgeted), naming the predecessor company four years after the franchise was re-granted; 'Duke' is 0 hits in the whole 362 KB budget. A run worked from the budget alone would have recorded the wrong corporate name. 97% · codified franchise ordinance
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel to the permit, with the local sign-off a hard precondition to energising. PSC Rule 25-6.065(5)(a), read as adopted text, requires every investor-owned utility's Standard Interconnection Agreement to contain 'A requirement that customer-owned renewable generation must be inspected and approved by LOCAL CODE OFFICIALS PRIOR TO ITS OPERATION IN PARALLEL with the investor-owned utility to ensure compliance with applicable local codes.' The clock: a downloadable application must be on the utility's website (hard copy within 5 business days on request); within 10 business days of receipt the utility must give written notice that it has all required documents or say how the application is deficient, and within 10 business days of a completed application must verify receipt and give dates for any physical inspection; the Standard Interconnection Agreement must be executed by the utility within 30 calendar days of a completed application (Tier 1); the customer must execute and return it at least 30 calendar days before beginning parallel operation and within one year after the utility executes; all physical inspections must be completed within 30 calendar days of the executed agreement. City-side, the FAQ adds 'Power will not be released under most circumstances until the building has received all required inspections and all fees due are paid.' 93% · state administrative rule

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? 2020 NEC in practice, via the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) - but the city's own adoption language does not say so and, read literally, points elsewhere. Sec. 14-32(b) adopts 'The National Electrical Code (NEC), MOST CURRENT EDITION, as adopted and amended, including appendices'; Sec. 102-3(b) says 'The current National Electrical Code, and any subsequent editions and amendments, with minor local changes... has been adopted as the electrical code of the city'. Those are rolling references and no edition is named anywhere in 2.11 MB of code; read literally they would reach the 2023 NEC, while the code actually enforced through FBC 8th Edition (2023) Chapter 27 is NFPA 70 (2020). The county amendment is written against the same cycle: the footer reads 'PCCLB Local Technical Amendment FBC 8th Edition (2023) - Building Sec 2701 - NEC Article 250.96.doc'. Confirm the edition with the Building Official before relying on an edition-sensitive provision. 65% · codified ordinance
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), effective 31 December 2023 and still current - the Florida Building Commission's own home page states the effective date and shows the 2026 Update in progress. Sec. 14-30(a) adopts the FBC 'as amended from time to time as well as Chapter 1 (Scope and Administration)', most recently re-enacted by Ord. No. 2025-17 on 1 Oct 2025. Also in force: the International Property Maintenance Code, most current edition, for maintenance of residential properties (Sec. 14-32(a)). TWO PRE-FBC FOSSILS SURVIVE: Sec. 14-62 still defines 'Building code' as 'the Standard Building Code, as amended', and Sec. 110-788(e)-(f) still require satellite dish antennas to meet 'the wind loading requirements of the STANDARD BUILDING CODE' - a body that ceased to exist in 2003. 95% · codified ordinance + state agency page
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code, 8th Edition (2023), effective 31 December 2023; the 9th Edition (2026) is in rulemaking (notice of proposed rule hearing 14 July 2026) and is not yet in force. Sec. 14-31 adopts 'The National Fire Protection Association 1 (NFPA 1) Uniform Fire Code, most current edition, AS ADOPTED BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA, including appendices and annex' and NFPA 101 Life Safety Code on the same rolling terms (last re-enacted by Ord. No. 2025-17, 1 Oct 2025); Sec. 14-32(d) adopts the Florida Fire Prevention Code under FS 633.0215. Enforcement is by the city's OWN Fire Department (Sec. 2-151(a)(4)), 727-391-3400, and Sec. 38-6 requires 'The chief of the fire department shall certify to the building official of the city that each new or modified building, which requires a certificate of occupancy, has been inspected and has suitable and adequate fire protection devices.' That matters for PV here because the Solar Checklist makes a Fire Inspection a condition of final. 90% · codified ordinance + state fire marshal page
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes, at two levels, and the city-level one is the number that governs a flood-zone job. CITY: Sec. 14-39 'Technical amendments' modifies FBC Residential R322.2 - 'Buildings and structures in flood hazard areas not including flood hazard areas designated as Coastal A Zones shall have the lowest floors elevated to or above THE BASE FLOOD ELEVATION PLUS 4 FEET OR THE DESIGN FLOOD ELEVATION, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER'; AO zones take the FIRM depth number plus 4 feet, or not less than 6 feet where no depth number is given; basement floors below grade on all sides take BFE plus 4 feet or the DFE, whichever is higher; 'Structural fill shall not be used to elevate buildings'; and enclosed areas below the DFE are limited to 299 square feet with prescriptive flood openings (two openings on different sides, 1 square inch per square foot of enclosed area, bottom of each opening not more than 1 foot above adjacent grade, minimum 3 inches in any direction). COUNTY: PCCLB publishes seven live local technical amendments to the FBC 8th Edition (2023) at pcclb.com/amendments.htm, three of which matter - Building Sec 2701.1/NEC Article 250.96, Building Sec 1609.3 wind speeds, and Building Sec 3109 the Pinellas Gulf Beaches Coastal Construction Code. INDEXING TRAP CONFIRMED: the electrical amendment's link text reads only 'Building Chapter 27 Section 2701.1 - NFPA 70 National Electric Code'; the string 250.96 appears nowhere in the link text and ONLY in the PDF footer. Match on the filename (NFPA70.pdf) and read the footer. *** THIRD OF THREE PCCLB FLOODPLAIN PDFs CHECKED IS STALE, AND THIS ONE IS STALE ON THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER. *** pcclb.com/pdf/amendment/floodplain/madeira_beach.pdf is a 30-page scan (PDF created 21 Nov 2016, no text layer, OCR'd at 200 dpi) of ORDINANCE NO. 2016-11, which amended Chapter 94 in its entirety and was adopted 15 Nov 2016. The base ordinance is still the right one - every history note in the codified Chapter 94 begins '(Ord. No. 2016-11, Sec. 2, 11-15-16)' - so this is NOT the South Pasadena/Belleair shape of a repealed-and-replaced chapter. IT IS A THIRD SHAPE: the original enactment, AMENDED FIVE TIMES SINCE and superseded in part - Ord. No. 2018-19 (8 Jan 2019), Ord. No. 2021-06 (11 Aug 2021), Ord. No. 2022-02 (9 Feb 2022), Ord. No. 2024-21 (20 Nov 2024) and Ord. No. 2025-05 (12 Mar 2025) - touching roughly 25 of the chapter's sections. THREE MATERIAL DIVERGENCES, ALL AGAINST THE READER OF THE PDF: (i) FREEBOARD. The posted PDF says 'Madeira Beach requires TWO FEET of freeboard above base flood elevation' and its Secs. 94-50 and 94-111 read 'BFE plus two feet of freeboard'. The codified chapter says FOUR: Sec. 94-93 'The City of Madeira Beach requires FOUR FEET of freeboard above base flood elevation', and Secs. 94-50(1) and 94-111(1) both read '(BFE PLUS FOUR FEET OF FREEBOARD)'. 'plus two' is 0 hits in the codified Chapter 94. Anyone working from the PCCLB PDF would design to HALF the current freeboard. (ii) THE CUMULATIVE LIMB HAS BEEN REPEALED, exactly the Belleair pattern in mirror image. The posted PDF's substantial-improvement definition reads 'any combination of repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a building or structure TAKING PLACE DURING A ONE-YEAR PERIOD, the CUMULATIVE COST of which equals or exceeds 50 percent... For each building or structure, the one-year period begins on the date of the first permit issued for improvement or repair subsequent to November 15, 2016.' The codified definition, as last amended by Ord. No. 2024-21 on 20 Nov 2024 - i.e. AFTER Helene and Milton - has NO one-year period, NO 'cumulative' and no start date: 'any combination of repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a building or structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value'. (iii) THE REPETITIVE-LOSS LIMB HAS ALSO GONE. The PDF's substantial-damage definition adds 'Substantial damage also means flood-related damage sustained by a structure on TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS DURING A 10-YEAR PERIOD for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25 percent of the market value'; the codified definition stops at the plain 50% test. So the stale PDF would import a cumulative one-year test and a 25%/10-year repetitive test that no longer exist, and understate the freeboard by two feet. STANDING FINDING FOR KEV: three of twenty municipal PDFs on pcclb.com/amendments.htm have now been checked and all three are superseded, in three different ways. Check the posted PDF's ordinance number AND its amendment history against the codified chapter's history notes before using it - the ordinance number matching is not enough. 95% · codified ordinance + county technical amendments
• What is the installation judged against? The FBC 8th Edition (2023) family (Sec. 14-30), the NEC as the city's adopted electrical code (Secs. 14-32(b), 102-3(b)), the Florida Fire Prevention Code, Chapter 94 Floodplain Management, and three county-wide PCCLB technical amendments - with the Pinellas Gulf Beaches Coastal Construction Code on top where the work is a substantial improvement. THE COUNTY ELECTRICAL AMENDMENT IS THE ONE THAT CHANGES A PV WIRING METHOD AND IT IS LIVE COUNTY-WIDE: FBC-B 2701.1 / NEC Article 250.96(A) is amended to add 'ALL RACEWAYS SHALL CONTAIN AN EQUIPMENT-GROUNDING CONDUCTOR SIZED IN ACCORDANCE WITH TABLE 250.122', with the fiscal note 'Minimal cost impact associated with this amendment since this requirement has been in effect in Pinellas County SINCE 1987.' THE GULF BEACHES CODE DOES REACH MADEIRA BEACH, and I proved it from the Code's own scope rather than by assumption: FBC Sec. 3109 as amended (12.5 MB, image-only Toshiba e-STUDIO3515AC scan, OCR'd at 200 dpi) names at 3109.1.4 the twelve local permitting, inspection and enforcement authorities and 'CITY OF MADEIRA BEACH' is the sixth of them; Sec. 94-101 of the city code independently invokes it for structures seaward of the CCCL in a flood hazard area, and Sec. 94-70 carves it out of the special magistrate's variance jurisdiction ('This section does not apply to Section 3109 of the Florida Building Code, Building'). BUT ITS SCOPE IS NARROW AND THAT IS THE USEFUL PART: 3109.1.3 applies the Coastal Code only to '1. New construction, SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT of, or repair of substantial damage to existing residential and non-residential structures. 2. Mobile homes. 3. Construction, which would change or alter the character of the shoreline', and '4. Minor structures need not meet specific requirements of this chapter.' So an ordinary rooftop array is outside it unless the job is a substantial improvement. Its 45% glass mandate is a marine-turtle rule, not a solar one - 'The visible transmittance (VT) of all glazed fenestration products (windows, glazed doors, and skylights) visible from the marine turtle nesting areas of the beach must be limited to a transmittance value of 45% or less... determined in accordance with NFRC (National Fenestration Rating Council) 200 by an accredited, independent laboratory, and labeled and certified by the manufacturer' - but the enforcement limb attached to it is general and real: 'The BUILDING OFFICIAL SHALL SUSPEND ANY PERMITTED CONSTRUCTION when the permittee has not provided the required protection for marine turtles and their habitat.' Conflict rule, twice: Sec. 94-25 gives the greater restriction, and 3109.1.2 says 'In the event of a conflict between this Coastal Code and other Chapters of the applicable Florida Building Code, or other Federal, State, or local laws or regulations, the more restrictive standard shall apply.' 90% · county technical amendment + codified 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 Madeira Beach 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? Required by force of the adopted NEC rather than by any local rule. Sec. 102-3(b) states the NEC 'has been adopted as the electrical code of the city' and Sec. 14-32(b) adopts it in its most current edition, so NEC Article 690.12 rapid shutdown applies as written in whichever edition is in force. The city restates nothing: 'rapid shutdown' = 0 hits and no relevant '690.' hit across 2.11 MB of codified text, and 0 across the full 1,798-URL city website corpus, with positive and fabricated controls passing in both. Because the city names no NEC edition (see Q29), the applicable rapid-shutdown text - 2017/2020 array-boundary rules against 2023 changes - cannot be pinned from published Madeira Beach sources alone. 60% · codified 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? The city specifies none of its own. 'placard' returns 15 hits in the codified corpus and every one is either the Chapter 14 unsafe-structure placard (Secs. 14-92 to 14-97) or the Chapter 102 definition of 'Sign'; none is a PV or service-equipment placard. What is actually fitted at the service equipment is Duke's, and Duke fits it: the White Book (Florida Service Area, revised 1 April 2026, downloaded by plain curl at 5.56 MB with a clean text layer) states 'Duke Energy labeling on all distributive generator sites shall be applied by Duke Energy person[nel]', with notes '1. Signs and labels are installed by Duke Energy. 2. Install signs and labels on ALL KW SIZES of Distributed Generation sites. 3. Clean the surface before installing labels.' Beyond that, NEC-required labelling applies through the city's adoption of the NEC. 88% · utility service standard
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes - six catalogued Duke items, and Duke fits them itself on all kW sizes. From the White Book's Section VI table: 1505316 Label, Electric Generator Warning 3"x2", Meter Base/Primary Meter, lower left; 1505322 Label, Electric Generator Warning 6"x4", Pad-Mounted Transformer, above the lock; 1505691 Sign, Electric Generator Warning 9"x6", Overhead Transformer Pole, 5' to 6' above the ground; 1505328 Label, Generator Isolation Device 3"x2", Small Disconnect Switch, near the OFF position; 1505332 Label, Generator Isolation Device 6"x4", Large Disconnect Switch, near the OFF position; 4205529 Sign, Generator Isolation Device 9"x6", Recloser/Pole Disconnect Switch, 5' to 6' above the ground. 93% · utility service standard
• Where must the labels be placed? Per the Duke table: the 3"x2" Electric Generator Warning goes on the meter base or primary meter, LOWER LEFT; the 6"x4" version on a pad-mounted transformer ABOVE THE LOCK; the 9"x6" sign on an overhead transformer pole 5 TO 6 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND; the Generator Isolation Device labels NEAR THE OFF POSITION of the small (3"x2") or large (6"x4") disconnect switch; the 9"x6" isolation sign on a recloser or pole disconnect switch at 5 to 6 feet. Duke installs all six and requires the surface to be cleaned first. The city itself specifies no label placement anywhere. 90% · utility service 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? Adjacent to the meter socket and within sight of the meter base. Duke White Book Figure 48A ('NET' GENERATION METERING SINGLE OR THREE-PHASE SELF-CONTAINED METERED SERVICE RESIDENTIAL/SMALL COMMERCIAL), REVISION 3 DATED 3/31/24 WITH THE DEF COLUMN TICKED, notes verbatim: '1. GENERATION DISCONNECT REQUIRED AT ALL CONNECTION POINTS A, B, C, OR D. 2. GENERATION DISCONNECT REQUIREMENTS: MUST BE LOAD-BREAK RATED, INCORPORATE A LOCKABLE OPEN POSITION, AND PROVIDE A VISIBLE OPEN. 3. GENERATOR DISCONNECT LOCATION: MUST BE WITHIN SITE [sic] OF METERBASE AND READILY ACCESSIBLE. 4. WARNING LABEL REQUIREMENTS - PLEASE REFER TO SECTION 6. 5. CONNECTION AT POINT A: METERBASE MUST BE RATED/DESIGNED FOR DUAL LUG CONNECTORS AND MUST NOT BE MODIFIED TO ACCEPT DUAL LUG CONNECTORS. 6. THE METERBASE MUST NOT BE USED AS A CABLE TROUGH... 7. CABLE TROUGH "D" MUST BE LOCKABLE.' The companion figure adds 'CUSTOMER OWNED DEVICES OF ANY KIND ARE NOT ALLOWED BETWEEN THE COMPANY'S METER AND THE METER SOCKET.' PSC 25-6.065(6)(a) agrees on placement - 'mounted separate from, but adjacent to, the meter socket and shall be readily accessible to the investor-owned utility and capable of being locked in the open position with a single investor-owned utility padlock' - and exempts inverter-based Tier 1 systems 'unless the manual disconnect switch is installed at the investor-owned utility's expense'. That is an exemption from PAYING, not from HAVING: Figure 48A requires the disconnect regardless. TWO TRAPS AVOIDED: the White Book's contents page indexes the 'devices between the meter and the meter socket' drawing as FIG 48C while the drawing's own title block reads FIG 48B - cite the drawing, not the index; and the 5"x8" plate with 1/2-inch letters and 'Red font or red background color is not permissible' in Section VII belongs to THREE-PHASE-TO-THREE-PHASE MODULAR METER CENTERS and does not govern a single-family PV job. 93% · utility service standard + state administrative rule
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Two separate listing regimes, neither of which the Solar Checklist mentions. (1) INTERCONNECTION: PSC Rule 25-6.065(4)(b) - 'Customer-owned renewable generation shall be considered certified for interconnected operation if it has been submitted by a manufacturer to a NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TESTING AND CERTIFICATION LABORATORY, and has been tested and listed by the laboratory' - so inverter listing is a precondition of expedited interconnection, not merely good practice, and (4)(d) provides that where a system complies with (4)(a) and (b) 'the investor-owned utility SHALL NOT REQUIRE FURTHER DESIGN REVIEW, TESTING, OR ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT other than that provided for in subsection (6)'. (2) BUILDING: the city requires a current FLORIDA PRODUCT APPROVAL cover sheet 'with the appropriate decimal point circled that is being used, and set of Manufacturers installation specs... Required for EACH PRODUCT being used', and in capitals 'DO NOT SUBMIT MIAMI-DADE NOA DOCUMENTS' - but its enumerated product classes are exterior windows/doors/garage doors, soffit/fascia/siding and roofing materials, and the Solar Checklist asks for manufacturer's specifications instead. Whether racking and modules are treated as Florida Product Approval items here is not published. 78% · state administrative rule + published checklists
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes, and the definition is wide enough to catch the equipment as well as the array. Sec. 82-2: 'Structure means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the land or attachment to something having permanent location on the land. Structures include buildings, walls, screened enclosures, fences, advertising signs, billboards, swimming pools AND EXTERIOR MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT SUCH AS AIR-CONDITIONING COMPRESSORS.' So R-1 setbacks apply: front 20 feet measured from the right-of-way line, rear 30 feet on waterfront lots and 25 feet otherwise, side a total of 15 feet with a minimum of 7 feet either side (Sec. 110-181; the medium-density Sec. 110-206 mirrors it). ONE RELIEF VALVE WITH THREE CONDITIONS: Sec. 110-181(4) allows 'platforms for MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT' to project into the side-yard setback to no more than half its required depth, but only for dwellings whose lowest habitable space is already elevated at or above the FIRM elevation, only in the middle one-third of the structure, and 'All mechanical equipment must be APPROPRIATELY SHIELDED FROM PUBLIC VIEW with materials including, but not limited to louvers, lattice and the like' - a screening duty that reaches a ground-level inverter or battery. Where relief is still needed, Sec. 86-29 lets the City Manager or designee grant an ADMINISTRATIVE WAIVER of up to 15 percent of a setback or 5 feet, whichever is smaller, 'without a public hearing or public notice' - far cheaper than the $1,800.00 special magistrate variance for one- and two-family dwellings, which doubles for an after-the-fact application. In Zone V and Coastal A Zones Sec. 94-143 adds that development other than buildings is permitted only if located outside the footprint of and not structurally attached to the building and supported by a registered design professional's no-harmful-diversion analysis. 88% · codified ordinance
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No busbar or service-upgrade rule of its own - NEC 705.12 is unmodified and the county amendment touches only 250.96 grounding. But there is a local rule that bites a PV service upgrade hard and is easy to miss because it sits in the buildings chapter, not an electrical one. Sec. 14-123(a): 'NEW OVERHEAD UTILITY SERVICE DROPS SHALL NOT BE ALLOWED. Permitting of all new construction OR IMPROVEMENTS OF STRUCTURES shall require all utility service drops located on the lot to be placed underground. Any service drops that cannot be placed underground due to technical or physical impossibility may remain above ground.' Sec. 14-123(c) adds that the underground system must be installed to engineered drawings PREPARED BY THE UTILITY and 'A copy of said drawings to be submitted for city approval with a building permit application.' Sec. 14-121 states the same duty in its heading form. And the Planning & Zoning inspection checklist tests for it at inspection: 'Underground electric (no ohw)'. On a house still fed overhead, an 'improvement' that touches the service can therefore pull in an undergrounding plus a Duke-prepared drawing. 85% · codified ordinance
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? No prescriptive attachment spacing and no named mounting system. The requirement is performance-based and sits on the Solar Checklist: one set of signed and sealed drawings and/or manufacturer's specifications 'for the system including THE STAND, WIND/ROOF LOADS OR ROOF ATTACHMENT'. Design wind speed comes from the PCCLB 1609.3 amendment (145 mph Risk Category II, ASCE 7-16, interpolation permitted). For a ground stand, Sec. 14-36 requires new structures to be built on pilings designed by a licensed architect or engineer against foreseeable high-velocity wave and wind forces, and Chapter 94 Article V (Sec. 94-140) requires all other development to '(2) Be anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement resulting from hydrostatic loads, including the effects of buoyancy, during conditions of the design flood' and '(3) Be constructed of flood damage-resistant materials'. 80% · published checklist + codified ordinance

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. 'Required inspections are listed on your permit card. Inspections are scheduled through the MGO portal and must be performed in the priorities outlined in your permit.' The department page routes to the same place under 'Permits, Projects & Inspection Scheduling'. Queries go to buildingdept@madeirabeachfl.gov or 727-391-9951 ext. 284. Counter support is walk-in Monday to Friday 10:00 to 15:00 for general permitting, inspection and floodplain questions - the city abolished its former designated 'Open Wednesday' hours on 24 Nov 2025 - but those hours are expressly 'not intended for permit review or same day permits', and zoning, new-build or elevation discussions need an appointment. 92% · department FAQ + department page

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, the city inspects - and for solar there is a second, fire inspection on top. Department page: 'The Building Official performs various inspections through all phases of construction to ensure the facility is in compliance with established codes. A final inspection is conducted before the structure can be occupied.' The SOLAR CHECKLIST adds the limb no other Madeira Beach checklist carries: 'Final inspection requires a completed Code Compliance Letter AND FIRE INSPECTION.' The Generator checklist - the closest analogue in equipment terms - requires only the Code Compliance Letter, so the fire inspection is specific to solar here. The city's Fire Department is its own department (Sec. 2-151(a)(4)) on 727-391-3400, and Sec. 38-6 makes the fire chief's certification to the building official a precondition of a certificate of occupancy. The floodplain limb is inspected separately by Planning & Zoning against a published checklist. An applicant may instead elect a PRIVATE PROVIDER under FS 553.791; the city publishes a Private Provider Packet and a Notice to Building Official / Job Site ID / Plan Compliance Affidavit. 92% · published checklist + department page
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated. Inspections are performed by the city's Building Department, with the city Fire Department carrying the fire limb and Planning & Zoning the floodplain and landscaping limbs. The only route out of city inspection is the applicant's own election of a PRIVATE PROVIDER under FS 553.791: the city publishes a Private Provider Packet and a Notice to Building Official / Job Site ID / Plan Compliance Affidavit, and requires that 'Private Provider inspections must submit signed inspection reports WITHIN 24 HOURS of performing inspection.' Take-up is negligible - the FS 553.80(7) utilization report records 'Number of Private Provider Inspections: 3/158 Types' for FY2019 and '2/158 Types' for FY2020, against 2,831 and 2,564 city inspections, and 'Number of Private Provider Audits: -' in both years. That same line incidentally discloses a catalogue of 158 INSPECTION TYPES, which the city does not publish. 90% · statutory utilization report + department FAQ

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? Partially established. The city's answer is procedural rather than enumerated: 'Required inspections are listed on your permit card... and must be performed in the priorities outlined in your permit.' What is fixed for solar is the END of the sequence - the final inspection requires a completed Code Compliance Letter AND a Fire Inspection - and the START - a recorded Notice of Commencement must be on file 'before the first called inspection' for any project valued at $2,500 or more, and the FAQ makes it a precondition to scheduling any inspection at all. The floodplain limb runs its own inspection, by Planning & Zoning against a published Planning & Zoning Inspection Checklist (rev. 5.19.26). The full catalogue of 158 inspection types is unpublished, so the intermediate stages for a PV job cannot be listed. 62% · published checklist + department FAQ

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? Partly, and the gap is telling. The city publishes a 'Planning & Zoning Inspection Checklist' (revision 5.19.26) covering the Floodplain Inspection and the Landscaping Inspection, which sets out exactly what that inspector looks for: no ductwork or HVAC vents below the DFE or directly into the ground floor; only flood-resistant materials below the DFE; enclosure use limited to storage, parking and access; no sub-enclosures or doors other than those shown on the plans; vents confirmed against the Elevation Certificate and plans, with the EC crediting only exterior wall openings; breakaway walls matching the plans in Coastal A/V; 'NO UTILITIES OR ELECTRICAL ATTACHED TO OR PENETRATE THROUGH BREAKAWAY WALLS'; and on the landscaping side 'UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC (NO OHW)'. There is NO published building or electrical inspection checklist, and none for solar. So the trade that has its own permit type gets no published inspection criteria while the landscaping inspector's criteria run to three pages. 85% · published inspection checklist
• What must be on site at inspection? A construction card, the recorded Notice of Commencement, and at final the Code Compliance Letter and the fire inspection result. Sec. 86-55: 'A CONSTRUCTION CARD also will be issued and shall be kept conspicuously on the premises affected AND PROTECTED FROM THE WEATHER.' The Solar Checklist requires the Notice of Commencement certified and recorded by the Pinellas County Clerk of Court for any project valued at $2,500 or more, 'due before the first called inspection'; the FAQ makes it a precondition to scheduling any inspection. Licensed contractors file a Subcontractor Job Card; owner-builders a Disclosure Statement. NOTICE-OF-COMMENCEMENT THRESHOLD CONFLICT, THREE WAYS, IN THE CITY'S OWN DOCUMENTS: Solar, Generator, Roofing and Demolition checklists all say $2,500; the Remodel/Renovation and Interior Remodel checklists say $5,000; the Mechanical/HVAC checklist says $15,000; and the FAQ states the general rule as 'Projects over $5,000 and HVAC (Mechanical) projects over $15,000'. Solar sits on the strictest figure, and it is stricter than the city's own stated general rule and than FS 713.135. 88% · published checklists + codified ordinance

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 final inspection approval; where a certificate is issued it is a Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion at $50.00 (Appendix A Art. II Q(4)(a)). Sec. 86-76 confines the CO itself to a new building, an addition, or a change in occupancy or the nature of the use, so an added PV system on an existing dwelling closes out on a passed final rather than a fresh CO; the Solar Checklist's final requires a completed Code Compliance Letter and a Fire Inspection. One priced step matters specifically to PV: 'Early release of power (before electrical final) .....$50.00' - the city will release power ahead of the electrical final for a fee, which is otherwise blocked by the FAQ rule that 'Power will not be released under most circumstances until the building has received all required inspections and all fees due are paid.' 75% · codified fee schedule + codified ordinance
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? The customer or their installer notifies the utility, not the AHJ, and the AHJ's sign-off is the precondition. PSC Rule 25-6.065(5)(b): 'The customer shall notify the investor-owned utility AT LEAST 10 DAYS PRIOR to initially placing customer equipment and protective apparatus in service'; (5)(a) makes local code official inspection and approval a mandatory term of the Standard Interconnection Agreement before parallel operation; (7) requires the utility's physical inspection within 30 calendar days of the executed agreement, rescheduled within 10 business days if the customer delays it. Nothing in Madeira Beach's code, checklists or FAQ describes the city notifying Duke. The city's only published contribution to the sequence is negative: 'Power will not be released under most circumstances until the building has received all required inspections and all fees due are paid', with a $50.00 early-release-of-power fee as the only exception. BOUNDED LIMIT: Duke's retail rate options and net-metering programme terms could not be confirmed because duke-energy.com's renewable pages are a JavaScript shell that returns no content to a fetch; that is an unestablished point, not an absence. 85% · state administrative rule
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $50.00 per failed inspection, flat, with no escalating ladder. Appendix A Article II Section Q(4)(h): 'Failed inspection(s) (per inspection) .....$50.00'. The fire side matches at Article IV Section B(3) 'Failed inspections(s) (per each inspection) .....$50.00', and Article IV Section A(8) prices a fire-and-life-safety return inspection at $30.00. An after-hours inspection (beyond normal business hours) is $250.00; a floodplain or damage pre-permit inspection - fire or structural including trades, and building code, life and health safety - is $150.00; a tagged property (yellow or red) and stop-work order is $100.00 per order and a Fire Department red tag/stop work order $50.00. I checked for a ladder by searching the schedule for 'third', 'subsequent', 'four times' and 'each additional': there is none. Only the after-the-fact permit escalates (5x, then 10x for a repeat within 12 months). LEDGER NOTE: the Building Fund's reinspection account 125.5240.329103 shows nil actual revenue in FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 and only $500 budgeted for FY2026 - the line exists in the chart of accounts and has effectively never been collected. 90% · codified fee schedule + adopted budget
• How are corrections issued and cleared? Through MGO, chargeably, and with a hard consequence for proceeding without a permit. Corrections and re-inspections are handled in the permit record in MGO, each failed inspection costing $50.00, and the city publishes a 'Revision / Resubmittal Cover Sheet' (updated 15 Jan 2026) for resubmitted plans. Enforcement sits behind it: the city announced on 3 Jun 2025 that 'Starting June 12th, work without a permit will result in an after the fact permit fee which is FIVE (5) TIMES the amount of the standard permit rate', rising to ten times for a repeat by the same contractor or owner within twelve months, plus a $100 stop-work order fee; the FAQ repeats 'fines or penalties may be assessed at 5 times the normal rate'. The city also warns 'The City receives copies of ALL FLOOD INSURANCE CLAIMS. Unpermitted work will be identified.' Scale of the correction load in the post-storm period: 865 of 4,284 inspections failed by 2 Jul 2025, a 20.2% failure rate, with 187 open code violation cases of which 90 were FEMA-related. 78% · codified fee schedule + city notices