Glades County

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 unincorporated Glades County. The Community Development Department (Building Division) is the AHJ for residential rooftop PV outside Moore Haven's city limits. 88% · county department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? The County permits and inspects itself: Building, Mobile Home, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Aluminum, Gas, Roofing, Drywall, Carpentry, Masonry, and Concrete trades (per the Contractor Assignment & Authorization Sheet on the Building Permit Application), plus Planning/Zoning. It delegates nothing to another government for unincorporated-area work; fire is a separate in-house County division (Glades County Fire Rescue), not a delegated special district. 80% · building permit application
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes, a permit is required. 78% · county department page (general permit-exemption list)
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined — one 'Building Permit Application' covers all trades (including Electrical) via a single 'Contractor Assignment and Authorization' sheet listing Building, Mobile Home, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Aluminum, Gas, Roofing, Drywall, Carpentry, Masonry, Concrete as line items requiring separate contractor sign-off, rather than a wholly separate electrical-permit application/portal record. 78% · building permit application

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

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? A licensed electrical contractor (or the owner-builder, see Q7) signs the 'Electrical' line of the Contractor Assignment and Authorization Sheet with their license number. 68% · building permit application
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes. Contractors must register with the County before applying — a Contractor Registration Form with a $50.00 initial registration fee is required. 88% · county department page / forms list
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes. A homeowner may self-install/self-permit as an owner-builder by completing the County's Owner-Builder Affidavit Form and checking 'Owner-Builder' on the Building Permit Application. 78% · county 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? No solar-specific checklist is published. The general Building Permit Application (rev. 08/09/2023) lists 16 required-document categories: (1) plan set (1 paper+digital residential / 2 paper+1 digital commercial), (2) a scaled site plan, (3) a property survey (with 3 stated exemptions), (4) potable-water/well or sewer/septic verification, (5) right-of-way construction approval, (6) Florida Energy Code form (Central Zone 7) with load-sizing calcs, (7) truss layout/engineering, (8) mobile-home installation workbook (if applicable), (9) aluminum-structure engineering (if applicable), (10) contract/cost-to-build documentation, (11) Florida Product Approval/NOA for roofing/doors/windows, (12) proof of ownership (if recently purchased), (13) stormwater pollution prevention plan (commercial only), (14) commercial landscape/buffer plan, (15) SHIP-approval documentation (if applicable), (16) E911 address verification (new construction). 82% · building permit application
• How many copies, and in what format? One paper copy plus one digital copy for residential projects (two paper plus one digital for commercial). Plans over 11x17 must additionally be emailed as a digital copy to named staff before submittal. 78% · building permit application
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes, a site plan is required for all structural permits. It must be drawn to scale (may use the property survey as a base), show actual lot dimensions/shape, exact size/location of existing structures, location/dimensions of the proposed structure or alteration, distances between structures, adjacent roads and distance to property lines, and well/septic locations where present. 85% · building permit application

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? The County's iWorq Citizen Portal ('Citizen Portal'), at https://gladescounty.portal.iworq.net/portalhome/gladescounty — covering Existing Permits (Feb 2014-current) and Historical Permits (2005-Jan 2014). 90% · portal landing page (live-tested)
• Can the whole application be completed online? No — the application itself is not completed end-to-end online. Building Permit Applications and required forms (Short Form, full Building Permit Application, Owner-Builder Affidavit) are downloadable PDFs, and the Community Development Department's own page instructs applicants to 'Provide one hard copy and an electric copy to the Community Development Office Manager for the initial submittal.' Once a permit exists in the system, the portal DOES support online functions: checking status, viewing inspection results, requesting inspections, uploading additional documents, making payments, and sending messages. 78% · county department page + live portal test

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.

• Which utility handles interconnection here? Two utilities are present: Florida Power & Light (FPL, investor-owned) and Glades Electric Cooperative, Inc. (GEC, a member-owned rural electric cooperative headquartered in Moore Haven). 78% · county department page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? For FPL-served parcels: FL PSC Rule 25-6.065(5)(a) requires the County's own building/electrical inspection and approval BEFORE FPL will operate the system in parallel with its grid — the AHJ inspects first, utility connects after. For GEC-served parcels: GEC's own 'Considering Solar?' page directs the member to contact GEC's Engineering Department BEFORE signing with a contractor (for a transformer load analysis and to execute GEC's Net Metering Agreement) — GEC involvement precedes and runs parallel to the County's permit process rather than strictly following it. Separately, for utility RECONNECTION after a service outage (not a new PV interconnect), the County's own 'Information You Should Know' page describes a distinct sequence: the County's Community Development Department sends a 'Power Release Request' to Glades Electric after receiving a licensed electrician's affidavit. 65% · Florida Administrative Code rule text + utility's own member page

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 (the statewide floor), reached in Glades County via a FLOATING/silent local adoption: County Code Sec. 109-2 incorporates 'the National Electrical Code, as adopted by the Florida Building Commissioner, and all subsequent amendments' by reference, with no year printed in the ordinance text itself. 78% · county code (floating adoption)
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023) — the statewide floor, reached via a FLOATING local adoption: County Code Sec. 109-1 incorporates 'the Florida Building Code, including all volumes, and all subsequent amendments, and all local technical and administrative amendments' with no edition year printed. 70% · county code (floating adoption) + conflicting current permit-application masthead
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code, current edition (state floor: 8th Ed., 2023) — reached via a FLOATING local adoption: County Code Sec. 109-3 incorporates 'the Florida Fire Prevention Code, as adopted by the Florida State Fire Marshall, and all subsequent amendments,' with no year printed. 70% · county code (floating adoption)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? No codified local technical or administrative amendments to the FBC, NEC, or Fire Prevention Code exist in the current Code — Secs. 109-4 through 109-18 (where such amendments would sit) are marked 'Reserved,' and Ord. No. 2022-5 (2022) affirmatively REPEALED the two local amendment sections that had existed (107.6.1 permits-by-affidavit and 117.1 flood hazard areas). This is a clean silent/floating adoption, not a stale one. 75% · county code
• What is the installation judged against? The Florida Building Code (floating to current 8th Ed., 2023 per Sec. 109-1) and the National Electrical Code (floating to current 2020 per Sec. 109-2), both incorporated by reference county-wide with no local technical amendments. 78% · county code

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 Glades County 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? No County-specific rapid-shutdown statement exists; rapid shutdown (NEC Art. 690.12) applies only by inheritance through the floating adoption of NEC 2020 (state floor) at Sec. 109-2 — the County's Code, fee ordinance, and permit forms do not mention 'rapid shutdown,' 'solar,' or 'photovoltaic' anywhere (confirmed by a Municode-wide search with passing positive/fabricated controls). 60% · inference from floating code 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.

• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes, for FPL-served parcels: FPL's own Net Metering Guidelines require (a) for Tier 2/3 systems (>10 kW), a manual visible load-break disconnect switch mounted separate from but adjacent to the meter socket, lockable by FPL, with a sign at the meter noting the disconnect's location and a warning sign that both sides may be energized (FPL must approve sign wording/location); (b) for ANY battery-storage installation, a placard permanently affixed to the meter enclosure reading 'Battery storage utilized in this facility,' with the battery certified to UL 1741. For GEC-served parcels: NO placard or exterior-disconnect specification is published anywhere on GEC's site — GEC's own Net Metering Guide states only that inverters 'are required to have an automatic shut-off to avoid back-feeding electricity onto the grid,' with no exterior placard or manual-disconnect-switch requirement stated. This absence was proven, not assumed: GEC's full public document set (5 pages / ~415 items of its WordPress media library, including its Tariffs Volume II, Fee Schedule, and Net Metering Guide) was enumerated and none specifies a placard. 78% · utility's own current guidelines page + utility's own filed tariff/media enumeration
• Where must the labels be placed? FPL: the disconnect switch must be mounted separate from, but adjacent to, the FPL meter socket, readily accessible to FPL at all times, and capable of being locked open with a single FPL padlock; a sign noting its location must be installed at the meter. GEC: no label-placement rule is published (see Q42). 75% · utility's own current guidelines page

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? FPL: Tier 1 systems (≤10 kW, the great majority of residential rooftop PV) require NO AC disconnect at all. Tier 2/3 systems require a manual visible load-break disconnect mounted separate from, but adjacent to, the FPL meter socket. GEC: no manual exterior AC-disconnect switch is specified in any of GEC's published material — GEC's Net Metering Guide states only that the customer's inverter itself 'must have an automatic shut-off to avoid back-feeding electricity onto the grid,' with no separate physical disconnect switch or meter-relative placement rule published. 65% · utility's own current guidelines/tariff + county absence
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Batteries/ESS are not addressed anywhere in the County's own Code or permit forms (a Municode search for 'battery' across the full Code returns zero solar/ESS-relevant hits — only cemetery-lighting, junkyard, and unrelated criminal-statute references, confirmed with passing controls). At the utility level: FPL requires battery-storage equipment to carry NRTL certification to the current UL 1741 standard and a placard reading 'Battery storage utilized in this facility'; export of stored energy back to the grid is not currently allowed on FPL's system. GEC publishes no battery-specific policy. 65% · county code search (absence) + utility's own guidelines

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? Two routes: the County's iWorq Citizen Portal ('Request an Inspection' function on an existing permit record), or by phone/email directly to the Building Division (863-946-6018, kfischer@myglades.com or ajones@myglades.com). 82% · county department page + live portal test
• How much notice is required? Inspection requests must be called in by 4:00 pm the day before to be scheduled for the next day. 88% · county 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 County performs its own final inspections in-house; there is no private-provider outsourcing. 92% · FS 553.80(7)(b) statutory utilization report
• If delegated, to whom? N/A — not delegated to anyone; the County's own Building Division performs the inspection. 90% · FS 553.80(7)(b) statutory utilization report

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 Glades County 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? No PV-specific on-site document requirement is published. The general Building Permit Application states the retained approved plan set 'must be retained at the construction site and made accessible to the building inspector.' 55% · building permit application (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.

• Who notifies the utility for PTO? For a standard net-metering PTO, the CUSTOMER/INSTALLER notifies the utility directly — GEC's own 'Considering Solar?' page instructs the member to contact GEC directly (before AND to complete the Net Metering Agreement); FPL's PSC-filed interconnection process places the notification obligation on the customer. The County's own documented 'Power Release Request' duty (Community Development Department notifying Glades Electric) was found ONLY in the context of restoring power after a long service disconnection, not confirmed as the same mechanism used for a brand-new PV interconnection. 55% · utility's own member page
• Is there a re-inspection fee? Not directly published in the current documents reviewed for solar; the County's Building Department Schedule of Permit Fees (Ordinance No. 2020-16, effective for permits filed 10/1/2020 or after, corrected for a scrivener's error 7/7/2021) sets general re-inspection penalty fees: $50 for the 1st re-inspection, $100 for the 2nd, and $200 for the 3rd or more (2nd/3rd apply only to the same noncompliance). 70% · county fee ordinance (OCR'd scanned document)