City of Williston

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 Williston is the AHJ for residential solar inside the city limits: it issues the permit, sets the fee by resolution, does the zoning/LDR review in-house and books the inspections. Its contracted Building Official is SafeBuilt, LLC. A 'Williston' mailing address is NOT proof of city jurisdiction - the City's own electric utility serves 'the incorporated City of Williston and other areas generally located in the western portion of Levy County', so many Williston-addressed parcels are unincorporated and permit through Levy County Development Services, Bronson. 90% · authority permit page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? The City permits and inspects everything itself, through a private operator. Plan review and inspections for all trades are performed by SafeBuilt, LLC for 83.7% of the municipal permit fee (Exhibit A to Letter Agreement, effective 1 Mar 2026). Zoning/LDR review stays in-house with the Land Development Regulations Administrator (Code Sec. 46-91, 46-92). Fire inspection stays in-house with the City Fire Department's certified Fire Inspector (Code Sec. 44-13). Nothing is delegated to Levy County except impact-fee collection. Contractor licensing is the State's. 88% · council agenda packet (contract exhibit)
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. A building permit is required, and the City publishes a dedicated 17-page '2022 Solar Permit Package' (Rev. 06/29/2022) containing the permit checklist, building permit application, site plan form, product approval sheet, and the City's Application for Interconnection plus the full Tier 1 Standard Interconnection Agreement. 'Before any development activity occurs on a piece of property, a permit must be obtained.' 93% · authority permit package
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? FLAGGED TWO-DOCUMENT CONFLICT. The 2022 Solar Permit Package checklist item 9 says 'EACH SUB TRADE REQUIRES A SEPARATE PERMIT APPLICATION: (Ex: Electric, Plumbing, Mechanical, Roof)'. The 2024 Building Permit Package (Rev. 07/22/2024) replaced that with item 9: 'EACH SUB TRADE REQUIRES A SIGNATURE OF LICENSED QUALIFIER ON THE SUBCONTRACTOR LIST, AND MUST BE REGISTERED WITH THE CITY OF WILLISTON' - i.e. one permit with a Subcontractor List naming the electrical contractor. The 2026 fee schedule prices 'Electrical' as 'See above Building permit fees', i.e. not a separately priced permit. Read the 2024 package as current; an installer following the published solar package would file an unnecessary second application. 72% · authority permit package
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No. There is no city-level HOA or architectural approval gate on residential work. The City's design standards (Code Sec. 60-64) are expressly 'Commercial development design requirements', apply only 'to new development or renovation of buildings where total cost exceeds 50 percent of the tax appraised value', and are exempted outright on 'any commercially zoned lot or a lot in the residential business (RB) district where a conforming or nonconforming residential use is the principal use'. The only 'homeowners association' references in 1.57 MB of code text are about stormwater maintenance responsibility and about PD-plat covenants being reviewed by the city attorney - neither is an approval gate on a permit. Private deed restrictions are unaffected by this and are governed by FS 163.04. 86% · codified zoning
• Is there a historic-district review? No. There is no historic district and no certificate of appropriateness in Williston. 'Certificate of appropriateness' returns zero hits in the whole code. The body whose name suggests otherwise - the 'Historical and Beautification Committee', Code Sec. 2-151/2-152, which is the Planning and Zoning Commission wearing a second hat - has purely advisory duties: 'to recommend and survey the need for municipal improvements'. It issues nothing and reviews no permits. 86% · codified ordinance
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate windstorm certification. What the City requires is the Florida Product Approval Specification Sheet under FS 553.842 / FAC 9B-72, listing manufacturer and approval number for each affected component, with the warning that products not demonstrating approval at plan review must have the approval, the tested performance characteristics and the manufacturer's installation requirements available to the inspector on site, and 'may have to be removed if approval cannot be demonstrated during inspection'. Levy County is NOT in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone (which is Miami-Dade and Broward only). The City publishes no design wind speed. 76% · authority form
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No Special Use Permit, special exception or Council approval for a residential rooftop array. What IS required is zoning sign-off: Code Sec. 46-92 - 'no building permit shall be issued without written certification that plans submitted conform to applicable land development regulations' - which appears on the application as the 'Zoning' box in the FOR OFFICE USE ONLY approvals block (Zoning / Building / Fire / Engineering / Other). Code Sec. 46-94 additionally requires a Certificate of Land Development Regulation Compliance before any altered structure may be used or occupied. 78% · codified LDR + permit application
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? Yes, three separate caps, all on the utility side. (1) TIER: City of Williston offers Tier 1 at 10 kW or less and Tier 2 above 10 kW up to and including 100 kW, and 'In no case does the Tier 1 or Tier 2 interconnection agreement cover increases in GPR above 100 kilowatts (kW)'. (2) PER-SERVICE: 'The RGS GPR must not exceed 90% of the City of Williston's distribution service rating at the Customer's location'; above that the customer pays for the distribution upgrade. (3) SYSTEM-WIDE: supply is 'on a first-offered first-accepted basis and subject to diminution and/or rejection in the event the total amount of electricity delivered ... from all participating City of Williston customers, exceeds 2.5 percent (%) of the aggregate customer peak demand on the City of Williston's electric system' - on a 7.7 MW peak that is roughly 190 kW of aggregate customer generation before the brake applies. CFEC's ceiling is far higher: 'Facilities up to 1,000 Kilowatt nameplate rating may qualify as a Small Photovoltaic System.' The City's zoning code sets no generation cap. 88% · utility interconnection agreement

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 Florida state-licensed contractor who has first registered with the City, or the property owner under the owner/builder exemption. The electrical subcontractor must sign the City's Subcontractor List as licence holder and must itself be registered with the City. Registration requires General Liability insurance with the City of Williston named as Certificate Holder, Workers' Compensation or a filed exemption, the state licence, a local business tax receipt if the office is inside the city limits, and a $30 yearly fee. 87% · authority form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes. Contractor registration with the City is mandatory before a permit issues and costs $30 per year (2026 fee schedule, 'Contractor Registration $30'). All subcontractors must also be registered. Change of Contractor costs $30. 92% · fee schedule (adopted by resolution)
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes. The City publishes an Owner/Builder Disclosure Statement & Affidavit (Rev. 05-24-22), notarised, tracking FS 489.103(7): the owner 'may build or improve a one-family or two-family residence or a farm outbuilding', must provide direct on-site supervision, and may not hire an unlicensed person as contractor. The disclosure is item 7 on the solar permit checklist. 92% · authority 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? Per the 2024 package (current): (1) notarised Building Permit Application; (2) proof of ownership; (3) a digital copy AND two paper copies of a site/building plan; (4) a digital copy AND two complete sets of SIGNED AND SEALED construction drawings and supporting documentation; (5) Product Approval Specification Sheet (FS 553.842); (6) recorded Notice of Commencement for projects of $5,000 or more; (7) Owner/Builder Disclosure if applicable; (8) state and local licences plus Workers' Compensation insurance or exemption, with the City of Williston as Certificate Holder; (9) signed Subcontractor List with each sub registered with the City. 'INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.' The 2022 solar package differs on (3), (6) - $2,500 threshold - and (9). 88% · authority permit package
• How many copies, and in what format? A digital copy plus TWO paper copies of the site/building plan, and a digital copy plus TWO complete sets of signed and sealed construction drawings (2024 package). Applications and site plans may be emailed as PDF to permits@willistonfl.org, but the Permitting page says plans themselves are to be 'Submit[ted] in person (2 copies)'. The 2022 solar package asks for two paper copies only, with no digital copy. 85% · authority permit package
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes. The package's SITE PLAN sheet lists eleven items: subdivision/lot/block or parcel number, property dimensions, location of all existing and proposed structures, setbacks from all property lines, roads and rights-of-way including centre lines, a north arrow, the scale used, septic/drain field/well locations (extending to adjoining parcels if within 75 ft of a property line), all natural and man-made surface waters, existing and proposed water lines and meters, driveways and sidewalks, and LP tank size/type with distance to the structure and to external ignition sources. Separately, Code Sec. 46-93(a) requires the application to be accompanied by 'a survey and site plan of the lot, prepared by a land surveyor or engineer registered in the state' with 'all property stakes ... in place at the time of application' - a materially heavier requirement than the form, and one no solar-specific document repeats. 82% · authority form + codified LDR
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? No one-line or three-line diagram is named on any City document. THE ABSENCE IS THE FINDING, and it is only visible by diff: Levy County's published permit-type table requires, for 'SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC', an ELECTRIC RISER DIAGRAM and ELECTRIC LOAD CALCULATIONS (items Y and Z) on top of application, proof of ownership, NOC, site plan/zoning approval and engineered plans - while the City's solar package names neither. What the City demands instead is broader and heavier: 'TWO COMPLETE SETS OF SIGNED AND SEALED CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS', which a reviewer would expect to carry a one-line. 64% · authority permit package (absence) vs county permit-type table
• Are string and conductor calculations required? No string or conductor calculations are required by any City document. The diff that makes this visible: Levy County's published permit-type table demands ELECTRIC LOAD CALCULATIONS (item Z) for SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC - and also for ELECTRIC UPGRADE, ELECTRIC MISC. and GENERATOR - while the City's solar package, building package, fee schedule and code name no calculation of any kind. The City's blanket 'signed and sealed construction drawings' requirement is what stands in its place. 62% · authority absence vs county permit-type table
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? The City requires signed and sealed construction drawings for every permit with NO dollar or scope threshold: checklist item 4, 'A DIGITAL COPY AND TWO (2) COMPLETE SETS OF SIGNED AND SEALED CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION'. On its face that is a PE/RA seal on a residential rooftop array at any value. No exemption for one- and two-family dwellings is published. 76% · authority permit package
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Same blanket 'signed and sealed construction drawings' requirement, with no separate electrical trigger and no threshold. This conflicts with FS 471.003(2)(h), which exempts electrical work below $125,000 / 600A from the engineering seal; the City publishes neither the statutory threshold nor an exemption. 65% · authority permit package vs FS 471.003(2)(h)

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? NONE. There is no permitting portal. Applications go by email as PDF to permits@willistonfl.org; plans are submitted in person in two copies; fees are paid by cheque mailed to City of Williston Building Department, 50 NW Main Street, or at the front office of City Hall. The only online system the City runs is Edmunds WIPP (wipp.edmundsassoc.com/Wipp/?wippid=WILL), which is UTILITY BILL PAYMENT ONLY, not permitting. 88% · authority permit page
• Can the whole application be completed online? No. The application can be emailed, but plan review requires plans in person ('Submit plans in person (2 copies)') and payment is by mailed cheque or at the front office. There is no online submittal, no online payment of permit fees, and no online inspection booking. 85% · authority permit page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? 1.25% of the cost of construction, minimum fee $133, plus a $30 Administrative Fee, plus the Florida State Building Surcharge. There is NO solar line on the fee schedule; a PV job prices under 'Electrical' or 'Other Permits', both of which point back to the same 1.25%/min-$133 residential rate. Worked example: a $25,000 residential system = $312.50 permit + $30 admin = $342.50, plus surcharges (~$8.60 at the FS 553.721 1% and FS 468.631 1.5% rates) = about $351. A $12,000 system falls to the $133 minimum + $30 = $163 plus surcharges. NOTE THE STALENESS TRAP: the fee schedule PDF linked from the City's Permitting page is the 2024 one (Resolution 2024-45, min fee $125, re-inspection $83). It has been superseded twice - April 2025, and again effective 1 March 2026 by resolution adopted 17 March 2026 for SafeBuilt's 3.0% CPI increase. 88% · fee schedule adopted by resolution 17 Mar 2026
• How is the fee calculated? Percentage of construction valuation: residential 1.25%, commercial 1.5%, with residential minimum $133. The application defines valuation as 'total value of work, including materials and labor, for which the permit is being sought, such as building, electrical, gas, plumbing, mechanical, equipment and permanent systems' - so the fee is charged on the full installed price of the array, not on a hardware subtotal. 92% · fee schedule + permit application
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No separate plan-check fee. 'Plan reviews, inspections (if required by code) are included as part of the building permits fee. City Engineer Review may be additional cost.' A revision after submittal costs $133 residential. 90% · 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? 'Permits are processed 10-30 days from a complete permit package submittal. Once approved a staff member will contact you via phone or email to let you know it is ready for pick up.' 80% · authority permit package
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? THREE PUBLISHED ANSWERS, ALL SHORTER THAN THE STATUTE. The permit application says a permit becomes invalid unless work is commenced within 180 days, or is suspended/abandoned for 180 days, with an approved inspection needed every 180 days - and, in the paragraph immediately above, 'within six (6) months'. Code Sec. 46-93(d) says six months with extensions not exceeding 90 days each. FS 553.79(1)(c) provides that 'A building permit issued by a local government for a single-family dwelling expires 1 year after the issuance of the permit or on the effective date of the next edition of the Florida Building Code, whichever is later.' Plan for 180 days; the statute is the floor an installer can point to. Permit Extensions cost $56 (two maximum, 90 days each, plus one minimum inspection at $75). 84% · permit application + codified LDR + FS 553.79(1)(c)
• Which utility handles interconnection here? TWO SELLERS INSIDE ONE 2,976-PERSON CITY, AND NEITHER IS INVESTOR-OWNED. (1) CITY OF WILLISTON ELECTRIC - a municipal utility, FMPA member, established 1900, 1,462 customers, 7.7 MW peak, serving 'the incorporated City of Williston and other areas generally located in the western portion of Levy County'; FY2024-25 retail electric revenue $4,463,536; nine-person line crew. (2) CENTRAL FLORIDA ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. - holds the only electric franchise in the Code's Appendix A (Ord. 308, 16 Feb 1988; Ord. 365, 5 May 1998; Ord. 376, 22 Sep 1998), and the FY2024-25 budget carries a separate, live line '001-323-100 Franchise Fees - Electricity $60,000' which the City cannot be paying itself. At the codified floor of 13% of revenues (Code Sec. 42-32) that implies roughly $460,000/yr of CFEC retail sales inside the city limits. THE SET IS CLOSED: Code Sec. 42-31 - 'No entity or person may sell or provide electric utility services to any customer within the corporate limits of the city ... without first obtaining a franchise from the city' - plus a one-entry electric franchise appendix. DUKE ENERGY DOES NOT SELL RETAIL HERE: it holds no franchise; its appearance on the City's own Public Works news page ('Duke Energy Making Improvements to Power Grid', 10 Aug 2026) is transmission/grid work, and Williston's FMPA entry shows NO project participation, consistent with buying wholesale rather than through FMPA's All-Requirements Project. BECAUSE NEITHER SELLER IS INVESTOR-OWNED, FAC 25-6.065 BINDS NEITHER: no $0 Tier 1 fee, no inverter-based disconnect exemption, and no bar on requiring liability insurance. NO PUBLIC SOURCE SAYS WHICH PARCELS ARE WHICH - ask whose meter it is before quoting. 88% · codified franchise appendix + adopted budget + FMPA member list
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? The utility sits on BOTH sides of the permit. Before: the customer files the City's 'Application For Interconnection Of Customer-Owned Renewable Generation Systems' with the non-refundable fee and proof of liability insurance; the City executes the Tier 1 agreement within 30 calendar days of a completed application, and the customer must return the executed agreement at least 30 calendar days before beginning parallel operation. After: 'Prior to commencing parallel operation ... Customer shall have the RGS inspected and approved by the appropriate code authorities having jurisdiction' and 'agrees to provide the City of Williston with a copy of the Local Building Code Official inspection and certification of installation'; then at least 10 business days' written notice of the intended in-service date; then the City issues written notice that parallel operation may commence within 15 business days. CFEC's sequence is the same shape: it will not open a service order until a copy of the city/county permit is on file, and requires 'Final permit approval by the county or local agency having authority' before interconnection. 88% · utility interconnection agreement

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

• Which NEC edition is in force? NEC 2020, in force through the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023), effective 31 December 2023. Williston has NO local electrical code and no local NEC amendment: 'national electrical code' returns ZERO hits in 1.57 MB of harvested code text, and Chapter 40 Article IV (Secs. 40-141 to 40-149, 'electric service') was REPEALED outright by Ord. No. 2023-722, adopted 11 December 2023 - a repeal stated in the codifier's editor's note, which is the strongest form of a proved absence. 85% · codified repeal note + state adoption
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023). The City's 2024 Building Permit Application states 'The code in effect in this jurisdiction is the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023).' THE TRAP: the City's only SOLAR-specific document, the 2022 Solar Permit Package, still prints 'the Florida Building Code, 7th Edition (2020)' - one full cycle out of date - and so does the Owner/Builder Disclosure bound into both packages. 90% · authority permit application
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code, adopted by floating reference with no edition named. Code Sec. 60-1 defines it as 'the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) and the Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1) as adopted by Rules 69A-60.004, Florida Administrative Code.' Because the reference floats to the state rule, the current edition applies automatically. (Statewide that is the 8th Edition, 2023.) 82% · codified definition
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes, but ALL of them are flood amendments and NONE touches electrical. Code Sec. 14-1 (Ord. 640, 5 Aug 2014) is the City's entire Chapter 14: (a) adds FBC Sec. 107.6.1 barring permits issued on affidavit from reaching flood-load and flood-resistant construction requirements; adds Sec. 117 routing flood-hazard variances to the floodplain ordinance; (b) modifies SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT in both FBC Sec. 1612.2 and Sec. 202 to a TWO-YEAR CUMULATIVE test - 'the cumulative cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure', the 2-year window starting at the first improvement after 5 August 2014. STALENESS: Municode is codified through Ord. 2026-757 (3 Mar 2026, Supp. 15, posted online 10 Jun 2026). Uncodified since: Ord. 2026-765, second reading 8 Sep 2026, ADDS Sec. 14-2 'Knox Boxes' to Chapter 14 - scope-checked and it does not reach a single-family house (applicability is commercial property, existing commercial with alarms/sprinklers/suppression, and multi-family of three or more dwelling units, plus a Fire Chief catch-all). Ord. 2026-758, first reading 8 Sep 2026, amends the Comprehensive Plan including the Conservation Element and the FEMA floodplain/wetlands/soils inventory maps. 88% · codified amendments + uncodified ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? The Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) and NEC 2020, Florida Product Approval for affected components, plus - on the utility side - 'the City of Williston's Code of Ordinances, including Land Development Regulations and minimum electrical service specifications as determined by the Public Works Director', IEEE 1547 (2003), IEEE 1547.1 (2005), UL 1741 (2005) and, in the application's own words, 'National Electrical Safety Code 2008 or latest version, Florida Building Code and local codes and regulations'. The Public Works Director's minimum electrical service specifications are NOT published. 82% · utility interconnection agreement

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 Williston on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Rapid shutdown is required by NEC 2020 Article 690.12 as adopted statewide through the FBC 8th Edition; the City adds nothing and subtracts nothing. Williston has no local electrical code at all - its electric-service article was repealed in December 2023 and 'national electrical code' returns zero in the whole code. 72% · codified absence + state adoption

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 - and unusually, that holds across all three possible sources. The City AHJ specifies no placard: 'placard' returns exactly one hit in the entire code and it is a parade-permit rule about signs carried in processions. The City's Tier 1 interconnection agreement specifies a disconnect switch in detail and says nothing about labels. CFEC's interconnection agreement likewise specifies the disconnect and says nothing about labels. So the only labelling that applies is the NEC 2020 default (Articles 690 and 705) plus any manufacturer listing requirement. THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE NEIGHBOURING CO-OP PATTERN: SECO, one county east, mandates two engraved quarter-inch white-on-red placards with peel-and-stick expressly barred. CFEC mandates none. 78% · codified absence + both utilities' agreements
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. The City specifies no placard wording of its own. Searched: the full Code of Ordinances, the 2022 Solar Permit Package including both the interconnection application and the Tier 1 agreement, the 2024 Building Permit Package, and the 2026 fee schedule. 80% · codified absence + authority packages
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No. No letter height, colour or material is specified by the City or by either electric seller. Contrast CFEC's neighbour SECO, which specifies quarter-inch minimum engraved white-on-red on non-ferrous metal or poly-plastic; CFEC's own agreement contains no such clause. 80% · utility interconnection agreement
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? No. Neither seller requires any placard. What BOTH require instead - and they agree almost word for word - is the AC disconnect: see q48. That agreement between a municipal utility and a co-op on the disconnect, with neither specifying a label, is the commercially useful fact here: on a Williston job you need the same switch whichever meter it is, and no signage beyond NEC default. 78% · utility interconnection agreements
• Where must the labels be placed? Not specified by the City or by either electric seller; NEC 2020 Articles 690 and 705 placement rules apply by default. The only placement rule the City does publish for anything on the building is the Inspection Record Placard, which must be 'displayed in a conspicuous location on the construction site, accessible to inspection personnel'. The one placement rule either utility publishes is for hardware, not labels: the disconnect must be on an exterior surface adjacent to the meter and separate from the meter socket (City), or separate from the meter socket and readily accessible at all times (CFEC). 70% · codified absence + utility agreements

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? REQUIRED BY BOTH SELLERS, AND THEY AGREE. City of Williston, Tier 1 agreement paragraph 14: 'The Customer must install, at Customer's expense, a manual disconnect switch of the VISIBLE LOAD BREAK TYPE ... The manual disconnect switch shall be MOUNTED SEPARATE FROM THE METER SOCKET ON AN EXTERIOR SURFACE ADJACENT TO THE METER. The switch shall be readily accessible to the City of Williston and capable of being LOCKED IN THE OPEN POSITION WITH A CITY OF WILLISTON PADLOCK.' CFEC: 'a manual disconnect switch of the visible load break type ... shall be mounted separate from the meter socket and shall be readily accessible at all times to the Cooperative and shall be capable of being locked in the open position by the Cooperative.' NEITHER publishes a mounting-height range and NEITHER publishes a maximum distance from the meter - so unlike SECO (5 ft max, 48-72 in) there is no published dimension to design to. There is NO inverter-based exemption: FAC 25-6.065's Tier 1 exemption does not reach either seller because neither is investor-owned. On termination the utility opens and padlocks the switch at the customer's expense. 92% · utility interconnection agreements
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes, on the utility side. The City requires an inverter 'submitted by a manufacturer to a nationally recognized testing laboratory (NRTL) to comply with UL 1741', the NRTL to be OSHA-approved, and documentation of compliance with IEEE 1547 (2003), IEEE 1547.1 (2005), UL 1741 (2005) and the National Electrical Safety Code 2008 or later. CFEC requires the same three standards AND, distinctively, approval by the FLORIDA SOLAR ENERGY CENTER (FSEC Std 203-05) - a requirement the City does not impose. On the building side, Florida Product Approval under FS 553.842 applies to affected components. 88% · utility interconnection agreements
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? A ground mount is an accessory structure. Code Sec. 60-34: 'in all districts accessory uses and structures shall not be located in front yards but may be located in side or rear yards not less than five feet from the rear lot line', and Sec. 60-34(b) 'No separate accessory building shall be located within five feet of any building.' Maximum height in the RSF district is 35 feet (Sec. 60-218). FLOOD OVERLAY: in any flood hazard area Sec. 62-67(a)(5) requires 'mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems above the design flood elevation, 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' - which is the clause a ground mount lands on. AIRPORT OVERLAY, AND IT IS THE UNUSUAL ONE: Code Sec. 12-35(a)(2) (Ord. 236, 6 Sep 1977) provides that 'No operations from any type shall produce smoke, GLARE or other visual hazards within three statute miles of any usable runway of a public airport.' Williston Municipal Airport sits inside the city and a three-statute-mile radius covers effectively the whole municipality, so on its face every array in Williston is inside a codified glare prohibition. Record it as a risk to raise, not a requirement to assert: the clause is written about 'operations' and land uses rather than passive reflective surfaces, no City form asks about glare, and the same article's height limits (150 ft above airport height in the horizontal zone) do not bite a 35-ft house. 74% · codified zoning + airport zoning + floodplain
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No local service-upgrade or busbar rule in the code or on any form. The nearest thing is a utility-side capacity test: Tier 1 agreement paragraph 2 - 'The RGS GPR must not exceed 90% of the City of Williston's distribution service rating at the Customer's location. If the GPR does exceed the 90% limit, the Customer shall be responsible to pay the cost of upgrades to the distribution facilities'. The interconnection application also warns that the fee is 'plus the cost of upgrades to the transformer or service drop which would be caused by installation of the RGS'. 80% · utility interconnection agreement + codified absence
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? No local mounting-system or attachment-spacing rule. What governs is Florida Product Approval: the Product Approval Specification Sheet demands manufacturer and approval numbers for structural components (wood connectors, wood anchors, truss plates, lintels) and roofing products, and the inspector may require the approval, the tested performance characteristics and the manufacturer's installation requirements on site. 66% · authority form + codified absence

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? By email to permits@willistonfl.org, or by phone on (352) 528-3060. The request must include the permit number, project address, type of inspection, and a contact name and telephone number 'in the event there are questions or delays'. There is no online inspection portal. 90% · authority permit page
• How much notice is required? Requests must be in before 3:00 P.M. the prior business day. No same-day inspections are offered. 88% · authority permit page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM windows are published - only inspection DAYS, and the two City documents disagree on which days. The live Permitting page says 'Inspections are scheduled for Mondays and Wednesday'; the 2022 Solar Permit Package says 'Inspections at this time are Tuesday and Thursday'. Take the web page as current. Either way it is a TWO-DAY-A-WEEK calendar with no same-day requests, so a failed final costs the better part of a week: fail on Wednesday and the earliest re-inspection is the following Monday. Out-of-cycle work is priced: Special Inspections / Off Day Inspections $138 per hour during normal business hours, two-hour minimum; after 5 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays 1.5 times the hourly rate, two-hour minimum. 82% · authority permit page vs permit package

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's inspection, performed by its contracted Building Official. SafeBuilt, LLC provides 'Commercial & residential inspections for all trades' for 83.7% of the municipal permit fee. The City's own FS 553.80(7)(b) Building Permit and Inspection Utilization Report for FY2023 records 1,198 inspections and re-inspections requested, 1,198 conducted, and 'Number of building inspections conducted by a private provider: 1198' - i.e. 100% - with 'Number of audits conducted by the local government of private provider building inspections: 0' and only 2 personnel dedicated to enforcing the Florida Building Code. READ THAT NUMBER CORRECTLY: it means the City's own contracted operator did every inspection, NOT that owners were hiring FS 553.791 private providers. 88% · FS 553.80(7)(b) utilization report
• If delegated, to whom? SafeBuilt, LLC - the City's contracted Building Official. Contact for the contract is Todd Phelps, tphelps@safebuilt.com; the agreement was extended by City Council in October 2022 and carries a 3.0% CPI escalator that took effect 1 March 2026. Day-to-day permit contact remains City staff: BJ Bishop, permits@willistonfl.org, (352) 528-3060 ext. 108, and Laura Jones, Community Development & Grants Manager, ext. 111. 90% · council agenda packet (contract)

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 Williston 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.

• What must be on site at inspection? The Inspection Record Placard and an approved set of plans. 'The Inspections Record Placard must be displayed in a conspicuous location on the construction site, accessible to inspection personnel. No work shall proceed, and no inspections shall be made unless the placard is posted, and an approved set of plans is available at the job site.' A recorded Notice of Commencement must also be posted on the job site before the first inspection for any project of $5,000 or more. 92% · authority permit page

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 Certificate of Completion ($30) for work that does not create a new occupancy - which is what a PV retrofit is - or a Certificate of Occupancy ($30) where occupancy changes. Temporary versions are priced separately (residential $75). Separately, Code Sec. 46-94 requires a Certificate of Land Development Regulation Compliance, issued by the LDR Administrator 'upon completion of the work', before any altered structure may be used or occupied. 74% · fee schedule + codified LDR
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? THE CUSTOMER NOTIFIES THE UTILITY, NOT THE AHJ - and the paperwork runs the other way from most jurisdictions. Under the City's Tier 1 agreement the customer 'agrees to provide the City of Williston with a copy of the Local Building Code Official inspection and certification of installation. The certification shall reflect that the local code official has inspected and certified that the installation was permitted, has been approved, and has met all electrical and mechanical qualifications' (paragraph 20), and must give at least ten business days' written notice of the intended in-service date (paragraph 9). Then: 'Once the City of Williston has received Customer's written documentation that the requirements of this Agreement have been met, all agreements and documentation have been received and the correct operation of the manual switch has been demonstrated to a City of Williston representative, the City of Williston will, WITHIN FIFTEEN (15) BUSINESS DAYS, send written notice that parallel operation of the RGS may commence' (paragraph 16). On the CFEC side the member - expressly, 'it is the member's responsibility to collect documents from contractors, county offices, and insurance agents and provide them to CFEC' - supplies the final permit approval, then CFEC tests the equipment, executes the contract and installs the bi-directional meter. 88% · utility interconnection agreements
• Is there a re-inspection fee? Yes - $86, and it must be paid before the re-inspection happens. '$86 shall be charged for all re-inspections that result from the work on a corrective action notice not being complete.' The Permitting page adds: 'If you fail an inspection, there will be a re-inspection fee, before it can be re-inspected. Pay at the front office of City Hall.' On a job at the $133 minimum permit fee, one failed final adds 65% to the permit cost. NOTE: the fee schedule PDF the City links from its Permitting page still says $83 - that is the superseded 2024 schedule. 90% · fee schedule adopted 17 Mar 2026
• How are corrections issued and cleared? By a corrective action notice. The re-inspection fee is triggered by 'work on a corrective action notice not being complete', and the fee must be paid at the front office of City Hall before the re-inspection can be booked. Re-booking then follows the normal route: email or phone by 3:00 pm the prior business day, for the next inspection day. 80% · fee schedule + authority permit page