City of St. Augustine

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 for parcels actually inside St. Augustine city limits — the Planning & Building Department is the AHJ for residential building/electrical/PV permitting. CAUTION: a 'St. Augustine' mailing address does not guarantee city jurisdiction; St. Augustine Beach is a separate municipality and large areas with St. Augustine addresses are unincorporated St. Johns County. The City's own Zoning page directs users to an Interactive GIS map to confirm. 80% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? The City permits and inspects itself: building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, fence, pool, solar, and all other listed permit types on the Building Permit Information page, plus HARB (historic) and Fire Prevention/Life-Safety review, all in-house. Contractor Certificate-of-Competency-style licensing is via the State (State Certified/Registered License required per the City's own Contractor Requirements sheet), not a separate county competency-card layer that I could find. 78% · City requirements handout
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. The City's own Building Permit Information page lists 'Solar' as one of its permit types (requiring Solar Plans and Specification Sheets), and the new (eff. 1 July 2026) $7,500 permit-value exemption explicitly still requires permits for 'Electrical... Structural work' regardless of cost — a PV system cannot use that exemption. 92% · department page
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? The City's permit-type list treats 'Solar' as its own single permit type (paired only with 'Solar Plans' + 'Specification Sheets' in both the web page and the current 'Documents Required for Building Permits' PDF), distinct from the separately-listed 'Electrical' work implied elsewhere on the same page ('a separate permit must be secured for... ELECTRICAL WORK'). It is unclear whether 'Solar' as filed is a combined building+electrical permit or purely an electrical sub-permit under a different name. 55% · City requirements handout (Documents Required for Building Permits, current)
• Is there a historic-district review? YES — historic-district review is a real pre-permit gate, and it NAMES solar. The City has five locally-designated Historic Preservation zoning districts (HP-1 through HP-5, Code Ch. 28 Div. 4). A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) is required for most work in an HP district, AND per Code Sec. 28-89/Ch. 28 Div. 3, 'a Certificate of Appropriateness is required before a building permit may be issued' — a pre-permit gate, stated as plainly as Key West's rule. The City's Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation (AGHP), the design-guideline document actually applied by HARB, explicitly names 'solar heating panels' under its 'Electrical and Mechanical Equipment' section and 'solar collectors' under its Roof section, with a VISIBILITY-FROM-THE-STREET/PUBLIC-RIGHTS-OF-WAY test: for Post-1821 buildings, electrical/mechanical equipment 'is not appropriate on visible roof locations' and must not be visible from the street or on significant facades; for Pre-1821 buildings, equipment may be on the roof only if completely screened by a parapet wall or lattice; and separately, under the Roof section's prohibited ('Don't') list, changing a roof's character by adding 'dormers, vents, skylights, air conditioners and solar collectors which are visible from public rights-of-way' is expressly disallowed. This sits in the DESIGN GUIDELINES rather than the codified ordinance itself — the same pattern this survey found at Key West. Buildings over 50 years old anywhere in the city (not just in an HP zoning district) can also trigger HARB review per the Building Permit Information page. HARB review is required for MOST work but 'except for those projects that meet pre-approved guidelines' (a staff-level administrative track exists for minor/matching-replacement work per Sec. 28-88/AGHP and the current HARB Applications page). HARB's own review criteria (Sec. 28-89) explicitly distinguish properties that are 'contributing or potentially contributing to a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places' or 'listed as a local historic landmark' from other structures, at least for demolition/relocation review — a contributing-vs-non-contributing distinction is codified, though not spelled out specifically for a solar COA review. 88% · City design guidelines (Architectural Guidelines for Historic Preservation), PDF metadata dated 2012, currently linked as authoritative from the 2026 HARB Appli

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.

• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes — contractors must hold a State Certified or Registered License, carry liability insurance of at least $300,000, and provide Workers' Compensation coverage or an exemption form, per the City's own Contractor Requirements sheet (Planning & Building Department). 85% · City requirements handout
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Likely yes via the general Owner-Builder Affidavit route (FS 489.103/489.503), which the City provides as a standard form; not solar-specific and not confirmed to extend to the electrical trade specifically. 55% · department page (links to Owner Builder Affidavit form)

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

• What documents make up a complete submittal? For the 'Solar' permit type specifically, the City's own Building Permit Information page and its 'Documents Required for Building Permits' PDF list exactly two required items: Solar Plans, and Specification Sheets. Notably, unlike most other permit types on the same list (Deck, Garage, New Single Family Home, etc.), no Property Survey is listed as required for Solar. 88% · City requirements handout, corroborated by department web page
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic only, through the online Permit Portal; the City states it 'currently exclusively issues permits online,' and building submittals must follow the City's Electronic Submission Standards (Google Chrome required). 80% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Not required for the Solar permit type specifically — the Solar line item on the City's documents-required list carries no Property Survey requirement, unlike most other permit types (Deck, Garage, Shed, New Construction, etc., all of which do list a Property Survey). 70% · City requirements handout
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No City-specific structural PE-stamp threshold for solar was found; the statewide floor is FS 471.003(2)(h): no PE stamp required for electrical work performed by a licensed contractor valued at $125,000 or less with 600A or less aggregate service capacity on a residential system. 60% · Florida Statute (state floor)
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Same statewide floor as Q13: FS 471.003(2)(h), $125,000/600A. 58% · Florida Statute (state floor)

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? Cityworks PLL 'PublicAccess' portal, branded the 'City of St. Augustine Permitting Public Portal,' hosted at gis.citystaug.com/COSAPermits (software version 7.5.0 shown on the login screen). A SEPARATE payment-only portal, 'Navigator' (cityofstaugustinefl.tylerportico.com), handles utility billing, business license and general billing payments but is NOT the permit-tracking system. 85% · live portal (navigated directly)
• Can the whole application be completed online? Application submittal, status tracking, and document upload can be completed online end-to-end through the Permit Portal (account required). Fee PAYMENT could not be confirmed as available online for building/electrical/solar permits — the related Civil Plan Review portal FAQ states explicitly 'Payment is not currently accepted online; email Public Works Permits Technician for payment options,' and no online-payment statement was found for the building-permit side specifically. 65% · department page (Permit Portal FAQ)

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? 6 months. A permit becomes invalid if work does not begin within 6 months of issuance, or if started work is stopped/abandoned for 6 months. 90% · department page
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Not confirmed by name from any City document. No electric franchise appears in Code of Ordinances Ch. 14 (Franchises), which covers only sightseeing-vehicle, cable-TV, and animal-drawn-vehicle franchises — an electric franchise, if any, is not codified there. The City's own FY2025-26 budget carries a populated 'Franchise Fees' line ($2,275,000-$2,433,000) separate from a 'Utility Service Taxes' line ($1,780,000-$1,983,000) in the General Fund, and Code Ch. 17 Art. II (Public Service Tax) levies a generic 10% tax on 'each purchase of electricity' within city limits — both consistent with an investor-owned retail electric utility operating under an UNCODIFIED franchise agreement, but neither document names the utility. No municipal electric utility was found (the City's only 'Electric' web page is the Municipal Marina's boat-slip shore-power rate sheet, unrelated to residential retail electric service) and St. Augustine is not on this survey's list of confirmed Florida municipal utilities. Given St. Johns County is overwhelmingly FPL territory elsewhere in this survey (with Beaches Energy Services confirmed only in the Jacksonville Beach/Ponte Vedra area), FPL is the most probable utility but this is an elimination-based inference, not a City confirmation. 50% · City adopted budget (General Fund revenue detail)

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? National Electrical Code, 2014 Edition (Code of Ordinances Sec. 8-112) — codified and NOT amended since Ord. No. 18-15 (Dec. 10, 2018). This is STALE relative to the Florida statewide floor established elsewhere in this survey (NEC 2020, effective 31 Dec 2023, under FBC 8th Ed. 2023): St. Augustine's own codified electric-code section is four years further behind than most other Florida authorities checked in this survey, none of which found an NEC edition older than 2020 codified as still in force. 88% · codified ordinance (Sec. 8-112)
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, Building, 7th Edition (2020) — Code of Ordinances Sec. 8-101, last amended by Ord. No. 21-10 (14 June 2021). This is one cycle behind the current statewide FBC 8th Edition (2023) baseline established elsewhere in this survey and corroborated from floridabuilding.org. 85% · codified ordinance (Sec. 8-101)
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code, 6th Edition (Code of Ordinances Secs. 8-501, 8-502) — two editions behind the current statewide 8th Edition (2023) floor. 82% · codified ordinance (Secs. 8-501/8-502)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes. The Building Code section (Sec. 8-101) has been amended by ordinance as recently as 2021 (Ord. 21-10) and the same Article II framework saw a new section added in October 2025 (Sec. 8-117, condominium milestone-inspection repair timelines, Ord. 25-31) — so the chapter is actively maintained in places even though the core code-edition citations (Secs. 8-101, 8-112, 8-501/502) have not themselves been touched to move to the current statewide editions. 80% · codified ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? Installation is judged against the codified Florida Building Code 7th Edition (2020) and National Electrical Code 2014 Edition (referenced as NFPA 70 via FBC Ch. 27) per Secs. 8-101/8-112 — both stale relative to the current statewide floor (FBC 8th Ed. 2023 / NEC 2020). No City document was found stating a different, newer edition is actually being enforced in practice, so I cannot say this is 'floating forward' silent adoption rather than a genuine fossil; it should be verified with Planning & Building staff before relying on it for an actual job. 75% · 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 St. Augustine 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? The codified electric code is NEC 2014 Edition (Sec. 8-112), which itself contains an initial (2014-vintage) version of NEC 690.12 rapid shutdown, but not the stronger module-level/2017-2020-vintage rapid shutdown requirements found in later editions. No City document explicitly discusses rapid shutdown by name or edition. 50% · inference from codified NEC edition (Sec. 8-112)

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.

Nothing recorded for City of St. Augustine on this step yet — 6 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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.

• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? Yes, but historic-district-specific rather than a general busbar rule: Code Sec. 22-3 requires that 'all new electrical services or electrical service upgrades installed within the historic preservation district... shall be served underground from the existing public service utilities, whether or not the existing [service is aboveground].' A PV-driven service upgrade at a property inside HP-1 through HP-5 would trigger this undergrounding requirement. No general (non-historic) City rule on service-upgrade sizing or busbar capacity was found. 78% · codified ordinance (Sec. 22-3), read via search excerpt

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.

Nothing recorded for City of St. Augustine on this step yet — 3 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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 — City staff perform final building/electrical inspections; no delegation to county or a private provider was found. 78% · department page
• If delegated, to whom? N/A — not delegated (see Q52). 70% · 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.

Nothing recorded for City of St. Augustine on this step yet — 2 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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.

Nothing recorded for City of St. Augustine on this step yet — 3 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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.

• How are corrections issued and cleared? The City publishes a 'Revision Form (PDF)' among the additional documents listed on the Building Permit Information page, implying corrections/plan revisions are submitted via that form and routed through the Permit Portal, but no PV-specific or general correction-and-clearance procedure narrative was found. 45% · department page (form link)