Madison 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 Madison County, the Town of Lee (building/electrical only), and — on present evidence, though unconfirmed by Greenville itself — the Town of Greenville. NO for the City of Madison, which runs its own Building, Planning & Development department and is a separate AHJ. 88% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? The County permits and inspects building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing itself, and licenses contractors countywide through its own Competency Licensing Board. It delegates NOTHING outward. Town of Lee's own site delegates building/electrical IN to the County while keeping its own Town Planner and its own Volunteer Fire Department. Town of Greenville is inferred (not confirmed) to delegate building/electrical to the County while keeping its own 2020 Land Development Code for zoning. 78% · department page
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 90% · county fee resolution
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Effectively combined through one form: the County uses a single 'Building Permit Application' for the base permit; the 'Electrical Permit Package' download is that SAME Building Permit Application with an additional cover page (service size/voltage selection) and an Electrical Disclosure Statement attached, rather than a wholly distinct electrical-only application. 68% · county permit form
• Is there a historic-district review? A mechanism exists but has not been shown to apply to any actual designated district. County LDC Sec. 4.6-7 establishes an Historic Design Review Board and defines criteria for 'Historic Property' and 'Historic District' designation, but a full-code search (positive control 'electrical' passed; fabricated control 'zzqqx' returned zero) found ZERO mentions of solar/photovoltaic anywhere in the seven-chapter LDC, and no evidence any historic district has actually been designated in unincorporated Madison County. 55% · county Land Development Code chapter
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? A 'Wind Load Analysis (2)' is a required checklist item on the general Building Permit Application for new construction/additions; this is not solar-specific and not a distinct 'windstorm certification.' Madison County is inland north Florida (not coastal), so it is very unlikely to sit in HVHZ (Miami-Dade/Broward only, statewide) or a mapped Wind-Borne Debris Region, but no County document was found stating this explicitly. 55% · county building permit application (general, not solar-specific)

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 (DBPR-licensed, with a County Certificate of Competency), OR the property owner personally, under the FS 489.503(6) owner exemption, for a single-family/duplex residence or farm outbuilding they occupy. 85% · county disclosure form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes, in practice — the Building Department states it licenses contractors 'registered through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation within Madison County... through the Competency Licensing Board,' and the Building Permit Application itself requires a DBPR license number field at submission. 72% · department page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes — via the FS 489.103 owner-builder exemption (Owner Builder Affidavit/Statement, County's own form) for the building permit generally, and via the FS 489.503(6) exemption (Electrical Disclosure Statement) specifically for self-installed electrical wiring on a single-family/duplex residence or farm outbuilding. 85% · county owner-builder affidavit (OCR'd, image-only PDF)

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 PV-specific checklist is published. For a general building/electrical permit, the County's Building Permit Application checklist calls for: two sets of plans (four for commercial), a site plan, a wind load analysis, a Florida Energy Form, a truss layout (as applicable), Notice of Commencement, Warranty Deed, Zoning Compliance, and (commercial only) Lease Agreement/Utility Agreement. The Electrical Permit Package additionally requires service size/voltage selection and an Electrical Disclosure Statement if owner-installed. 60% · county building permit application (general, not solar-specific)
• How many copies, and in what format? Two (2) sets of plans for residential/general work; four (4) sets for commercial projects. Both a print/paper route (mail or in-person to the Annex Building) and an online route via Cloudpermit are offered. 65% · county building permit application
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? A site plan is a required checklist item on the general Building Permit Application ('Site Plan (2)'); no PV-specific statement of what it must show for a rooftop retrofit was found. 55% · county building permit application (general, not solar-specific)
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Statewide floor only: no PE stamp required for electrical work by a licensed contractor where the value is $125,000 or less and aggregate service capacity is 600A (240V) or less on a residential system (FS 471.003(2)(h)). No structural-PE threshold statement of any kind was found in County material. 55% · 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. 55% · 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? Cloudpermit (us.cloudpermit.com) 90% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes, an online application is offered via Cloudpermit; the County also still accepts a printed/paper Building Permit Application as an alternative route. 70% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? The residential electrical PV System line is billed 'by valuation' (see Q16), plus a $55 minimum permit fee and a $5 processing fee (all permits) and applicable DCA/plan-review fees; there is no separate flat PV fee. 82% · county fee resolution (OCR'd, image-only PDF)
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation (project value of the PV system) 82% · county fee resolution (OCR'd, image-only PDF)
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes — a separate Plan Review Fee, tiered by valuation (e.g. $25 for 0-50k, $50 for 50-100k, up to $400 for 5m and up), in addition to the permit fee. 82% · county fee resolution (OCR'd, image-only PDF)

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? Split by address: Duke Energy Florida and Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TCEC), headquartered in the City of Madison. No parcel map was found allocating between them. 85% · county building permit application (current, checkbox field)
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? For TCEC: County inspection and approval come FIRST — TCEC's own Interconnection Process states 'Inspection by County Inspector — The installation of the system must be inspected and approved by the county' as step 8, before the customer notifies TCEC (step 9) and TCEC performs its own site verification (step 10) and written approval (step 11). For Duke-served parcels: the state floor (PSC Rule 25-6.065) similarly requires the AHJ's inspection and approval before parallel operation. 78% · utility interconnection process document

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 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70 2020), per the County's own Building Codes page, which states it was 'adopted statewide and effective on work permitted after January 1, 2021.' 85% · county building department webpage
• Which building code edition is in force? The statewide-adopted edition is the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), effective Dec 31, 2023. HOWEVER, the County's own current Building Codes webpage states only that 'the current Florida Building codes' are 'effective on work permitted after December 31, 2017' — the effective date of the PRIOR (6th Edition, 2017) cycle. This is a local staleness finding: the County's own live page has not been updated to reflect the 8th Edition (2023) cycle's effective date, even though it presumably enforces the current code in practice. 65% · county building department webpage (dated/stale text)
• Which fire code edition is in force? Statewide floor only: Florida Fire Prevention Code, 8th Edition (2023). No County or Fire Rescue document names any fire-code edition or year at all. 45% · state floor; county fire rescue page silent on code edition
• What is the installation judged against? Florida Building Code (current statewide 8th Ed. 2023, though the County's own page still cites a 2017-cycle effective date — see Q30) and the 2020 NEC (per the County's own Building Codes page, see Q29). 65% · county building department webpage

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 Madison 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? Not locally confirmed. No County, Fire Rescue, or TCEC document mentions NEC 690.12 or 'rapid shutdown' by name anywhere. Recorded as an INFERENCE from the adopted 2020 NEC (which carries full array-boundary and module-level rapid-shutdown requirements), not as a confirmed local fact, per this run's standing instruction. 50% · inference from adopted NEC edition; not a confirmed local fact

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? TCEC requires 'warning/safety labels' as part of construction, in general terms, with no specified wording, colour, or lettering height: its own Interconnection Process states the member must 'Construct the power generating installation and install a disconnect switch, warning/safety labels, and other protective equipment as may be required by the Cooperative.' No numeric or material spec (of the kind found at SECO or WFECA in this survey) was found in TCEC's Interconnection Agreement or its 2018 Service Rules and Regulations (25 pages, searched directly for sign/placard/label/plaque/lettering terms — zero technical-spec hits). 55% · utility interconnection process document

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? For TCEC: the manual AC disconnect must be mounted SEPARATELY from the meter socket, readily accessible at all times to the Cooperative, and capable of being locked in the open position by TCEC — no size/tier exemption stated. For Duke-served parcels: state floor only (PSC Rule 25-6.065) — mounted separate from, but adjacent to, the meter socket; Tier 1 (<=10kW) systems are exempt from the switch requirement unless the utility elects to install one at its own expense. 78% · utility interconnection agreement
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? TCEC requires the RGS, inverters and associated equipment to adhere to IEEE-1547, UL-1741, the National Electrical Code, and — if applicable — Florida Solar Energy Center certification (FSEC Std 203-05). 80% · utility interconnection agreement

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 phone: call (850) 973-6785. 90% · department page
• How much notice is required? The County calls it 'Next Day' inspection: the request must be received before 8:00 AM on the working day before the inspection is wanted; requests received after 8:00 AM go onto the following working day's schedule. 90% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM or same-day window option is described anywhere on the Inspections page — only the 'next working day' scheduling described in Q50. 60% · 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, in-house, for the County's own jurisdiction (unincorporated county, Lee, and inferred Greenville). 78% · department contact page (staff-domain fallback test)
• If delegated, to whom? N/A for the County's own territory — not delegated, per Q52. For the Town of Lee, building/electrical IS delegated outward, to the County (see jurisdiction.why). For the City of Madison, its own in-house staff perform its inspections (separate AHJ, not otherwise researched in this run). 78% · department contact page

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? Not fully specified. The one documented sequencing fact: 'Temporary and permanent power for new construction will only be granted when the required inspections have been passed and final septic and final driveway approvals have been received by the building department' — implying septic and driveway final approvals are preconditions to any power release, alongside unspecified 'required inspections.' No PV-specific stage sequence (rough-in, mid-roof, final, etc.) is published. 55% · department page

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? A recorded Notice of Commencement must be posted at the job site before the first inspection (general requirement, not PV-specific). No PV-specific on-site document list (e.g., equipment spec sheets, listings) was found. 60% · county building permit application (general, not solar-specific)

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 TCEC-served parcels: the customer/installer notifies TCEC directly — TCEC's own Interconnection Process step 9 states 'Notify TCEC of Completion... Upon completion of installation, please notify TCEC by sending an email to engineering@tcec.com,' at least 10 business days before energizing per the Interconnection Agreement. For Duke-served parcels: the state floor (PSC Rule 25-6.065) places the same notification duty on the customer. No Madison County document assigns this duty to the County's own electrical inspector (unlike Lynn Haven, FL, elsewhere in this survey). 75% · utility interconnection process document
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $35 for the first re-inspection; $50 for a second re-inspection of the same item. 85% · county fee resolution (OCR'd, image-only PDF)